A/N: Thanks to Calyn and banzi for reviewing! I appreciate the encouragement and advice; being new to fanfic, I need both and I really appreciate you taking the time! I'm not yet sure how much involvement there will be from her siblings, but we'll see. Enjoy!
Episode 2 – Ethan
He was insanely handsome. Even in her drunken state, she could see that. As the stumbled back to her apartment, he whispered sweet sentiments in her ear and she once again threw herself at him, covering his mouth with hers until her back met the door.
"Keys, you have to let me find my keys," she sloshed, searching through her purse as he lavished her neck with open mouth kisses.
"Got 'em," she exclaimed breathlessly, turning, now, to find the lock. After a couple tries, she finally heard the click of the latch and turned back to the handsome man she'd been flirting with for the past hour, but he was gone.
"Hello," she called, wavering a little from the alcohol that still plagued her mind and couldn't help feeling a little hurt that he'd just ran out on her. How had he disappeared so quickly?
"Looking for someone," a man called out, approaching her on the sidewalk.
"Uh… my friend… seems to have disappeared," she admitted.
"Well, it's his loss." As he spoke she noticed that he was devastatingly handsome, with dark black hair, a little too long for the current style, but complementing his face, and penetrating ice blue eyes. In an instant, he had her backed against the door and the butterflies were gathering in her stomach. This man was a much better trade off, but there was something menacing about him.
"I'm sorry your entertainment ran off, but if you like, I can take his place," he offered.
"Sounds good to me," she breathed, thinking as he leaned down that he was about to kiss her. Instead, his lips continued to her throat. He kissed her once and then she felt the sensation of teeth on her neck. At first it excited her, but then they seemed to grow painfully sharp and began to scratch her skin.
"Ow," she exclaimed.
His face broke into a smile as he rose to meet her gaze, and his eyes began to darken with deep veins running down his face; it was truly the face of a demon. As his smile broadened, it exposed two sharp teeth protruding from his lips.
"Don't worry, darling. There are worse ways to go," he laughed. She let out a terrified scream before she felt his teeth sink into her neck, and then she slumped and fell silent as the blood left her body.
Every muscle in Susan's body ached and the warm water was just what she needed. Although she'd just had a shower last night, training with James every afternoon had left her feeling as if she'd been hit by a truck. As she stepped out and grabbed her towel, she examined herself in the mirror. Last night she'd had some ugly bruises, but now they were almost gone, just some slight yellow discoloration on her light skin. It still surprised her how fast her body healed now.
Susan dressed in the guest bedroom Ellie had kindly given her, and she couldn't help the wave of sympathy that drifted over her. Ellie had explained on her first night here how her parents had been killed by vampires, trying to send her a message. It had happened almost a year ago. She lived here now with her aunt, a women in her mid-fifties who owned an antiques shop in town. Susan was surprised how easily Ellie's aunt had allowed Susan to stay, having never met her before. But Susan was grateful; Rueben had explained that a vampire can only entire a house if they're invited in, but since the boarding school campus was a public place, no invitation was necessary.
Just before heading out into the hall, Susan paused at the picture on her desk as she did every morning. She'd drawn it after the vampire attack; when the shell she'd built around her to keep the emotions and the hurt out had finally cracked.
Caspian's face.
She was a very good artist, but in her mind, she hadn't done him justice. It was all she had to remind her of him, and why she was doing this. Willing the tears to stay in place, she plastered on a fake smile and made her way to the kitchen.
"Something smells good," Susan exclaimed.
"Thanks, I hope it tastes just as good," Ellie smiled back, pulling the bacon from the pan onto a plate.
"I really appreciate the hospitality, but you don't have to cook me breakfast every morning."
"Now what kind of host would I be if I didn't offer you a home-cooked meal," Ellie joked. Susan had to admit that she'd grown to like Ellie, even if she was a little goofy sometimes. They ate in companionable silence until the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Susan offered with a smile.
James came every morning to pick her up for practice before school, which she'd actually been attending, so she was already expecting him to be on the other side of the door. Instead, she was met with Rueben.
"Oh, hey; what are you doing here," she asked, feeling a little embarrassed at giving him such a greeting. He only flashed her his most charming smile before waltzing past her through the door.
"Not the reaction I was hoping for," he quipped.
"Sorry, I'm just surprised. I was expecting James."
"I know, I offered to do the training today; give him a break." His smile held in place, but something in his eyes appeared vulnerable, as if he desperately hoped she would accept him as a replacement.
"Okay, but I have to warn you, I'm not that good."
In truth, the combat fighting she had learned in Narnia had been mostly with bow and arrow, not her fists. She had no real idea how to conduct hand to hand combat, even with her new gift.
"That's fine, I'm a patient man."
Susan momentarily found herself locked in his eyes, but the reminder that those eyes were not the warm brown ones she desperately wished them to be pulled her gaze down to her feet.
"So, was there any lead on the vision I had last night, with the woman," Susan asked, mostly as a distraction. Her stomach rolled once again as she remembered the woman she'd seen last night, attacked in front of her apartment building. It felt so real, like she was standing right beside her, even though she knew she was safe in the house.
"James and I went as soon as you called, but she was already dead. The vampire had laid her out on her bed, as if she was sleeping, with a rose clutched in her hand." Something in his eyes clued Susan into the fact that Rueben was hiding something; he had more information on this vampire than he wanted to disclose. All her years as queen had made her very good at reading people, and she could also tell that he wouldn't share his knowledge even if she confronted him about it, not yet.
"Well, are you ready to go," she asked.
"Yeah, of course," he responded, opening the door for her. Susan snatched her coat and school bag and preceded him out the door.
Dr. Allen sat, as usual, with his nose in a book. Something about the killing last night had tugged on something in his mind; something he just couldn't reach. He'd already poured over several volumes of vampire history and had come up empty.
The rose; something was significant about the rose. But what?
"Hey Doc," came a voice from the figure that had suddenly appeared in front up him. As a result of the shock, Dr. Allen had dropped his book and accidently flipped his chair.
"Sorry, didn't think it'd scare you that much," James laughed from his new position beside the doctor.
"I rarely find your antics funny, James."
"No sense of humor; you know, that's your problem."
Dr. Allen only scowled in response as he picked himself up off the floor, righting his chair and straightening his dress shirt.
"Before you popped in, I was researching last night's attack."
"Didn't set well with you either," James asked, a conspiratorial look in his eyes.
"You sense something about it to?"
"Not the killing as much as Rueben's reaction to it. The rose is clearly a calling card and Rueben seemed to recognize it."
At this new information, Dr. Allen began cleaning his glasses; a nervous habit.
"You think this is a vampire he's familiar with," he asked, returning his glasses to his face, still deep in thought.
"I'm sure of it. What makes me nervous is that he wouldn't admit it; he's hiding something."
"Well, you can't forget, we don't actually know that much about Rueben."
"Yeah, not the most open guy in the world." James chuckled a little at this. He still gave off his usual carefree façade, but Rueben had been at this a lot longer than he had, and anything that had him nervous definitely didn't bode well for the rest of them.
"Where is he now," Dr. Allen asked as he returned to the bookshelf, selecting three more volumes of interest.
"He decided to take over Susan's training for the day; thinks he knows a few techniques that might be more effective on her." James only rolled his eyes at this. He'd seen the way Rueben looked at her; that light that came into his eyes when she entered a room. Rueben was undeniably into her.
James had to admit, he was fascinated with her himself, but so far, she'd managed to shoot down every one of his advances. Seeing Dr. Allen return to his desk with the books, he assumed it was his cue to leave; bookworm wasn't really his style.
"So, where do we start today," Susan asked reluctantly as she took her place in the middle of the practice room.
"With this," Rueben's low voice replied from beside Susan's ear. She let out a soft gasp as the fastened a blindfold over her eyes.
"Why am I not allowed to see?"
"You need to learn to rely on your ability."
"But the visions I have are only occasional; I can't call on them at will," Susan argued, confused.
"Yes you can, you just have to focus. When you're put in a position to defend yourself, all your senses go into overdrive from the adrenaline, but I want you to focus only on your visions; anticipate my moves."
Susan knew exactly how your senses intensified when in battle. You were more aware of every noise and your body reacts faster as you rely purely on instinct instead of emotion. In that instant, everything was clear; there was only survival.
She focused on the darkness around her, tensed for an attack. And then it came; Rueben's round kick landed squarely on her shoulder, knocking her to the ground instantly.
"Ow… It didn't work," she exclaimed. "This is ridiculous."
"Just focus," Rueben instructed as Susan pulled herself back to her feet. She waited for anything, listening to the soft sound of his feet on the mat.
And then it hit her. A vision; Rueben's hand about to strike her face. Her armed flashed out like lightning, just in time stop his blow. Then another vision, Rueben kicking her in the stomach and pulling his hand free. Susan brought her leg up to block the kick and then twisted, landing her own kick in his gut.
It was incredible; she saw the whole fight in her head as if the blindfold wasn't there, only she saw every move before it happened. Her body responded of its own accord and she managed to block most of his blows and even land a few of her own.
She was so exhilarated by the sense of pride in what she was capable of that she missed the blow to her face. Landing on her back she had the intense feeling that half of her face had exploded and her mouth quickly filled with the salty taste of blood.
Rueben was quickly at her side, removing the blindfold.
"Sorry about that; you were amazing," he exclaimed, wiping the blood from her lip with the blindfold. Susan rubbed her cheek, making sure it was still there.
"I can't believe I did it; I can actually forced myself to have a vision." But Susan's excited words had begun to sound hollow and far away in Rueben's ears as he stared at the bloody cloth in his hands.
"Are you okay," Susan asked, noticing his wide eyes as he stared at his hand, looking almost wild, and placing her hand on his arm. The gentle touch brought his eyes to hers and she was shocked at what she saw there.
His eyes became dark, turning a deep red and the black veins ran down his face just as his fangs descended from his gums.
All the fight training she'd had did not prepare her for once again being face to face to a vampire, especially one that was becoming her friend. She couldn't form the words racing through her mind as she backed away from him and then broke into a full on run. The scream was stuck in her throat and she tried to force it out as she ran through the back door to Dr. Allen's house.
"Help," she managed, not having the volume she hoped for. She continued through the house until she found Dr. Allen at his desk.
"We have to get out of here! Rueben…" She didn't know if she could finish that sentence, and admit that a man she had begun to trust was a vampire.
"Calm down, calm down. What happened," he asked her placing comforting hands on her shoulders.
"Rueben, he's a… a…"
"A vampire," Dr. Allen finished for her, understanding the terrified look in her eyes.
"How did you…" Susan's head was spinning; if he knew Rueben was a vampire, then why hadn't he done anything already.
"Rueben won't hurt you. He's on our side, I promise." Susan remembered the red eyes she'd just gazed into and couldn't bring herself to believe him.
"It's true," Rueben whispered from the doorway.
Susan whirled at the sound and backed away from him.
"Please, I swear, I would never hurt you," Rueben explained. She could see the honesty in his eyes as he begged her to trust him, and something else… hurt?
"How can I believe that," she asked, her voice quivering slightly.
"Time, I guess is the only way," he responded sadly, but he didn't break eye contact. If anything, his gaze intensified as it locked with hers. Susan felt something in her break at his desperate need for her trust and unconsciously took a step towards him. Her mouth began to turn upwards in a tiny smile and she reached out to run a hand over his face, feeling the veins return to the surface under her touch, but the look he gave her pushed any residual fear back down.
"I'll try," she reassured him. The veins receded for good and his answering smile held all the relief he didn't say.
"So, he can walk in the sun because he doesn't feed off of humans," Susan asked, seeming skeptical of the conversation she was having.
"Yes, he can still drink human blood from blood bags and stuff, but he just can't feed directly from a human. It's this whole thing with his soul. I'm sorry, but I really think Rueben should be the one telling you this," Ellie stated nervously. She was clearly uncomfortable with the topic of Rueben. It wasn't that she felt Susan didn't deserve the answers; just that she didn't want to be the one to give them.
To Susan it still seemed sort of surreal; talking about vampires while they walked down the halls at school between classes.
"I know, and I'm sorry to put you on the spot like this, it's just… I'm a little uncomfortable around him. And he should have told me from the beginning," Susan explained, putting a tone of frustration into the last statement.
"He just didn't want to scare you, you know. All this vampire stuff is a lot to take in, and besides, I think he kind of likes you." Ellie giggled a little at this last statement and it seemed oddly bizarre to discuss boys and vampires in the same sentence. Susan had to smile a little at that.
"Well, I not ready… for you know… a relationship, or anything," Susan spoke softly, her eyes giving away the sorrow she barely kept bottled up inside.
"Bad break-up," Ellie questioned.
"Something like that," Susan responded. If only that was all; if only she and Caspian had parted on bad terms, then she could hate him and letting go would be that much easier. If only he'd treated her badly, then she would be better off without him. But that wasn't the truth. Caspian was the most amazing man she'd ever met and when she'd left Narnia she'd given him her whole heart, and then left it with him. How was she supposed to find happiness again when a crucial part of her was gone?
Susan was relieved when they came to the hall she had to split off on.
"Well, I'm this way, so I guess I'll meet you outside after school," Susan offered as cheerily as she could.
"Yeah, uh, James is picking us up; he'll be parked out front," Ellie responded before continuing in the direction of her class. Susan waved at her as she left.
The rest of the school day passed sluggishly and Susan was relieved to find herself finally on her way to the parking lot. The teacher of her last class had asked her to stay late to discuss her grades and now the school was mostly deserted. She hoped James and Ellie hadn't been waiting too long.
And then a vision stopped her dead on her tracks. She saw the man from her vision last night; the one who had killed that woman. He would be in the next building, the one standing between her and the parking lot. After a moment of assessing the situation, she finally decided to take the long way to the car and come back with James and Ellie.
As she turned to take the different direction, she vaguely registered the sound of the door opening. And then he was standing in front of her. She gave a small whimper of surprise, but otherwise stood completely still.
"Well, well, you seemed to know I was in there; must make you the new seer. You're much prettier than the last one," he spoke in a flirtatious voice. He reached out tenderly and stroked her cheek and Susan had to swallow back the bile that rose at his touch. If she didn't know what he was, she would have thought him very attractive with his jet-black hair and ice blue eyes. But as tempting as he looked, there was an air of menace in his eyes. This was not Rueben, the gentle vampire who had looked at her with nothing but concern; who would never hurt her.
This was a true monster.
"What do you want with me," Susan whispered, despite her attempts to make her voice more intimidating.
"I'm just looking to have a good time, but your merry little band of friends seems to want to stop me. Since you're new at this game, I'm not going to kill you today, but I think you know how easy it would be if you get in my way."
As he spoke, Susan had slowly slipped her hand into her bag to retrieve the stake James had given her for protection, and she'd quickly ran through the different ways to kill a vampire; stake to the heart, fire, removal of the heart or head, or sunlight. She knew at this moment she was only capable of one and she hoped she could be fast enough.
Susan held her breath as she drew her hand back and aimed for his heart, striking as quickly as possible. But he was faster. In a blur, he'd blocked her attack, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around, so that her back was pressed up against him and his arm was across her body still restraining her wrist. His other arm wrapped itself around her waist, pinning her left arm to her side.
"Like that," he whispered angrily with his lips grazing her ear. "Now listen here, little girl, you're new, and because of that you don't have your full strength, and are definitely not ready to go up against a vampire, especially not one as old as me. If I were you, I wouldn't be stupid enough to try that again." He twisted her wrist violently, causing her to drop the stake, but not hard enough to break the bones.
"Do I make myself clear," he asked, moving his lips down her face to the base of her throat. Susan felt the hot tears in her eyes but desperately tried to hold them in. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of showing him just how scared she was; although she knew her trembling must give her away.
"Let her go," came James voice from behind them. The vampire only laughed at the request, but dropped Susan to the ground, turning to attack James instead. Ellie was at Susan's side in an instant with her hand stretched out in front of her. It took Susan a minute to see the transparent shield Ellie gave off to protect them.
Meanwhile, the vampire had rushed James, knocking the crossbow from his hands and throwing a punch to his face, but James tactfully dodged his fist and slammed the vampire into the wall. In a blur, James' body flew into the opposite wall and landed on the ground with a thud. When Susan turned scared eyes back to the vampire, he was gone.
"Time to talk, Rueben," James spoke menacingly, while casually leaning against the bookcase in Dr. Allen's living room. Susan watched from the couch, slightly wary of her new friend the vampire. Watching James and Rueben stare each other down, she silently wondered why the fact Rueben was a vampire scared her more than the knowledge that James was a werewolf. She assumed it had something to do with the fact that she'd actually had experience with werewolves in Narnia, but vampires were new territory. She was broken from her reverie when Rueben finally began to speak.
"I'm sorry; I'd hoped I was wrong; that it wasn't him."
"Who is he," Dr. Allen inquired.
"His name is Ethan; when we were still human we were best friends. He was like a brother to me. But we've since became enemies," Rueben further explained.
"What happened," Susan asked before she could stop herself. She could see the pain in his eyes as he spoke of his former friend and felt true sympathy for him.
"It's a long story, more than I feel like explaining now," Rueben exclaimed bitterly, and his tone cut Susan to the core. After his confession, she'd felt like a connection had formed between them, but looks like she was wrong. As Rueben's troubled eyes met hers, they filled with remorse.
"I'm sorry, it's just… not a story I like to re-hash."
"We need to do some re-con, find where he's staying," James instructed. But his voice faded to her ears as Susan was once again struck with a vision. At her quick intake of breathe, all eyes turned to her and Rueben knelt down and gently placed both hands on the side of her face.
"What is it, what do you see," he asked, gazing into her sightless eyes.
Another moment, and Susan's gaze returned to Rueben's and she took a deep breath to steady herself.
"I really wish I could have a little warning," she began. "It was your friend, Ethan. He's at a bar, I'm not sure where. And he's at a table with four women, one is already dead; he just let her lay forward on the table," Susan felt her stomach roll as she described the scene of Ethan seducing the women to their death.
"I think I know which bar he's at; he usually hits the finest in town," Rueben threw in.
"Well, what are we waiting for," James exclaimed as he headed for a chest in the corner. "Here, Susan, take this."
He handed her a crossbow with a wooden arrow.
"I hear you're good shot."
Susan felt the bow in her hand and smiled at how nice it felt to get back this part of her life. She put on an expression that was more confident than she felt and met the excitement in James' eyes.
"Lets go."
Rueben, James, Ellie, and Susan walked up to the doors of the bar and took a deep breath before moving to action. Susan and Ellie went around back and waited in the storage room behind the bar. Rueben and James strode in as if they owned the place and easily spotted Ethan in a booth at the back.
"Well that didn't take too long," he drawled as they came up to the table. Luckily they'd made it before he'd killed the first girl, but she was already sporting a nasty bite at the base of her neck.
"Would you like to join us," Ethan asked.
"We're not here for your games, Ethan," Rueben uttered menacingly.
"So, where's Susan? I was kind of hoping for her," Ethan continued, devious smile stretched across his face. "Let me guess, her and the red-head are waiting in the back?"
Rueben tensed at the mention of Susan, but James just continued to smirk, not easily intimidated.
"Alright then, I'll bite," Ethan offered, standing from the table. "Lead on."
Rueben led them through the back doors to the kitchen and then to the storage room with James bringing up the rear. Susan and Ellie were ready for them and Susan quickly had her crossbow pointed directly at Ethan's heart. He only smiled flirtatiously at her.
"There's just something about a girl with a weapon that turns me on," he flirted, voice soft and husky.
Susan's finger itched to pull the trigger and let her arrow fly, but she remained patient. Nothing good ever came from rushing things.
But before they could begin the questioning, James let out a cry and fell to the ground. Everyone turned to see James ripping a knife from his back while a blond girl… no, a vampire stared him down. Rueben recognized her as one of the girls at the table.
She rushed James and the two went tumbling out the door.
"James," Ellie shrieked, and ran after him.
"Never go into an ambush situation alone, right Rueben," Ethan chuckled. Rueben moved to slam him against the wall and Susan came up behind him, her arrow still trained on Ethan.
"Now, you can tell me why you're here, or I can just kill you," Rueben threatened.
"Oh, come on, Rueben; I'm just looking for a little fun. And I think I found it," he smirked, looking to Susan. Rueben slammed Ethan's head into the wall and brought the wooden stake out of his jacket pocket.
"Now, are you going to kill me when you know I have something you want," Ethan taunted.
"And what would that be," Rueben asked.
"I know someone's planning to lead the vampires back into Narnia, and I know who it is."
Upon hearing this, Susan lowered her crossbow and felt her heart constrict over the idea of vampires in Narnia.
"Who is it," she asked.
"That's not how it works, sweetheart," Ethan replied. Rueben still held the stake at his side, but appeared complacent to hear what Ethan had to say, as he stepped back, giving him some room.
But Ethan had other plans.
Before Susan could register how it happened, Ethan had landed a kick into Rueben's stomach and sent him flying across the room. Susan quickly lifted the crossbow back up and pulled the trigger. The arrow was true, but Ethan was faster. His hand blurred out and snatched the arrow in the air, just before it pierced his heart.
Ethan reached out to grab her arm, but Susan used her new-found skill and evaded his movements. Unfortunately, Ethan was faster than she expected; he finally caught her and threw her up against the wall, while simultaneously grabbing a broomstick and driving the wooden end deep into Rueben's abdomen, who had made a move to charge him.
Rueben collapsed into a heap on the floor and Ethan made his way to Susan. The impact with the wall had clouded her vision and her head was pounding. Suddenly he was right in front of her and Susan focused on not passing out as he spoke, his hands hard on her waist, holding her up.
"Now, that was just rude," he began.
"If you're going to kill me, why don't you get it over with? I'm not really into gloating," she jabbed, hoping he couldn't hear the fear behind her words.
"Relax; I'm not going to kill you… yet. I haven't had my fun yet." His hands moved slowly up her sides and Susan gripped his hands with all her strength, trying to push him away. But he had been right before; she didn't have the strength to fight a vampire yet.
"Don't worry; your end will come soon. I'll be in touch." He whispered the last words silkily; his lips once again grazing her ear.
And then he was gone.
Susan sat on the railing of Dr. Allen's porch, staring into the dark forest. They had been discussing Ethan all night and she needed a break. Although she didn't want to admit it inside, the dark-haired vampire had gotten under her skin. Whenever she closed her eyes, she could see his ice blue ones, staring back in triumph. But she knew that wasn't the scariest part; Ethan had mentioned that someone was planning to lead the vampire's into Narnia, and all she could think about was Caspian meeting those deadly ice blue eyes.
"Are you okay," Rueben asked. She hadn't even heard the door open.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she responded, but it sounded false even to her own ears.
Rueben joined her on the railing, and although she had wanted to be alone, she found she was glad for his company.
"When I was still human, I was in love with someone. She was my entire world and when Ethan and I became vampires, he killed her," Rueben explained.
"That's why you hate him so much," Susan stated. She was filled with nothing but compassion for him and she began rubbing soothing circles into his back while she looked directly into his eyes.
"I'm sorry," she offered, and he gave her a small smile.
"I know what it's like to lose someone you love," she continued. "The man I love is in Narnia, and I had to leave him to come back here."
"That night I saved you from the vampire in your dorm room, you didn't really agree to be one of us until you heard they had threatened Narnia. You were worried about him, weren't you," he asked.
"Yes; I can't imagine what would happen to him if the vampires actually made it into Narnia."
"What was his name?"
"Caspian." Susan's heart gave a painful squeeze at the mention of his name.
"The King?"
"Yeah; he would be their first target. When I first came back into this world and knew I would have to live a life without him, I didn't know how to keep breathing," Susan's voice broke and she struggled to hold back the sobs so she could continue.
"But now, fighting vampires… if I can keep them away from Narnia… away from him, then he'll get to be happy and get married and live a normal life. That thought… it makes living possible; like I can breathe again." The tears finally escaped and made tracks down her cheeks, and this time Rueben was the one comforting her. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to his chest.
"I was alone for a long time, but I want you to remember that you are not alone. We're in this together, and I will always be here to help you," he reassured her.
"And Aslan, but he's been here all along," she murmured.
The two of them sat there, staring out into the darkness, reveling in each other's company, and knowing that whatever came next, they wouldn't be alone.
A/N: Don't worry; Susan's not going to just jump in a relationship with Rueben, but with everything in her life, I think she needs a friend, right? Caspian will always be her first choice. And speaking of Caspian, I do plan on incorporating him into the story, but I want to stay on course with the movies and books as far as he's concerned, so it might be a while (what with him busy sailing the utter east and wooing stars and all, lol). Anyways, let me know what you think!
