So, it occurs to me I need a beta for my summaries. XD Thank you Zimsmostloyalservant for calling that error to my attention, hope the change I made fixed it.
A huge thank you for the reviews, to those who submitted them; yes, I will try to update about once every two weeks, if possible. I will finish this: I hate reading a story only to find it abandoned halfway through.
This is a fucking long ass chapter, holy crap. And I hate about half of it. This will get so much better after this, I swear.
Disclaimer: Invader Zim still doesn't belong to me. A borderline unhealthy obsession with Dib…Yeah, I'll admit to owning that. Proudly.
I glanced around, trying to figure out where the hell we were. A small auditorium of some kind, it reminded me a bit of a chapel, with the weirdly high ceiling and depressed forward focus point, a ten-foot area where a podium and decorative flowers were positioned. Three eerily white coffins were set up in front of that lengthwise; I shuddered again at the thought that I'd spent three days in one of them…
Yeah, that's logical, I thought. Vampirism you're more or less fine with, coffins, eh, not so much.
But holy crap, it was cold. It made sense for a funeral home or burial agency, which chances were what this place was- it meant slower deterioration of a corpse, especially since most funerals not involving cremation happened as much as two weeks after expiration.
Expiration…Feh, just say it, you idiot: Death. A couple of days ago I had died, yet I was somehow still here. It wasn't that I wasn't appreciative, and I knew I believed in some pretty far-fetched stuff, but it was… well, against my nature to accept something as simple as Kira's explanation.
No matter how much I wanted to believe it.
"Dib." I shook myself, turning my attention immediately back to her. Gotta stop spacing out, I silently admonished with an irritated growl.
"Sorry," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck.
"Never apologize, kiddo," Kira said absently, herself focused again on digging through her bag and cursing under her breath. "Life's too short for even us to be sorry about any of it." She flashed me a smile, producing another Ziploc bag, this time containing a blue long-sleeve shirt. "Here, put this on," she suggested, pressing it into my hands. "I was just saying, I know you must have questions, and I will answer them, but if you'll follow me, I want to show you something beforehand."
Feeling apprehensive, I nodded, pulling the shirt over my head gingerly. It was a couple sizes too large, but that was fine, it didn't disturb the bandages around my chest so badly that way…
Stuffing the empty plastic back into her bag, she held out a hand. Taking it almost without a second thought, she helped me to my feet. Muttering 'thanks', I followed her as she wordlessly headed for the doors.
As we got closer, I slowly became aware of a kind of static ringing in my ears, almost irritating in its intensity.
"Hang on..." I cocked my head, suddenly recognizing what that static pressure was. "Is that seriously 'Nine Inch Nails'?" A ridiculous, but mostly disturbing, image popped into my mind: That would just be great, walk in on a vampire rave party…
Kira paused for a second. "I was wondering what that..." Her voice trailed off, her expression shifting almost imperceptably into something approaching dangerous. "I'll kill her." She abruptly took off again for the door, this time yelling, "Mara!"
X X X X
Wincing at the startling increase in sound volume, I followed her through the heavy wrought iron doors, limping slightly. It was warmer out here, at least, for which I was thankful.
The hallway outside was packed with people, all muttering dully; they all looked like shadows, dancing in the firelight, black and without a definable form. Like a wave, both Kira and I were almost immediately buried in the throng, which seemed to take no notice of us.
"Haven, the funeral home I and Mara run, has been in my family for generations," she explained in an offhand way, weaving through the crowd like a hand parts a curtain. "We cater to both humans and our kind- a funeral service for humans, kind of a halfway point for vampires. Though that's not going to help Mara's sorry carcass when I find her," Kira added under her breath.
Following her doggedly, I reflected it was probably fortunate that Kira seemed to like to talk as much as I did. Made her a lot easier to follow, for one thing.
"Crucifixes have no effect on us; kind of fortunate, come to think of it, as I've got the things all over the place," she said thoughtfully, pausing in her tracks to look over her shoulder. As soon as she had verified that I had caught up, she continued on again, "Let's see, the only way you'll have a reaction to garlic is because your perceptions have changed a bit... Here." Pushing through another set of doors, I followed her down a shorter, empty hallway.
"What's down here?," I asked in an undertone, mostly to myself.
"Mara, hopefully."
We stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a white, metal maintenance door. Not so much as pausing, Kira knocked sharply, barking out, "Mara!"
Almost instantly the room fell utterly silent; I think to both our relief, the overhead speakers did as well. "Look, before you say anything, remember that you did say 'test the speaker system'," a distracted female voice called crossly.
Kira snorted.
"-In fact, come to think of it, the exact quote was something along the lines of, 'Mara, I have no idea what's wrong with it, go pull the answer out your ass-"
"Mara."
"-but I digress." There was a scraping of wheels on the floor, and then the door slid open just far enough to permit what was presumably Mara's head.
"Yes?," she asked, giving the both of us a vague, surprised look.
Exhaling slowly, Kira managed a smile. "Dib, you've met her before, but this is Mara, my second."
I had to disagree with part of that statement. Fully aware my short term memory was pretty much shot, I was nonetheless pretty sure I would have made a point of remembering her.
Everything about her was over the top, from the crazy shock of electric blue, eighties-style hair to her tie-dyed tank top and jeans. A pair of huge, DJ-style headphones hung around her neck, making her seem even smaller than she actually was. And infinately more spastic, I thought, alarmed.
"So, this is the kid?," she asked Kira, giving me a brief visual once-over. "Looks a lot like his dad. " Turning to Kira, she said, "I'll have a room set up for him in a few, just gotta finish this really quick. Oh, and there's this." Pulling a folded sheet of paper out of her pocket, she held it out to Kira. "Gray called, or rather that snippy little secretary of his did. Left a very rude message, apparently he wasn't too impressed that you failed to make your little meeting a couple days ago, and took it personally."
"Really," Kira murmured, taking it and placing it in her trouser pocket. "That's interesting. Gray care to mention whether he would be coming by?"
"Nope."
"Figures. Alright, thanks." Mara gave us two thumbs up and kicked the door shut after us.
"Just seem to be running you all over the place, huh?," Kira asked me as we walked back. "One more place, I promise. You alright?"
I nodded. "Look, I wasn't trying to be rude back there-"
There was a moment where she just stared at me, and then seeing that I was serious, she laughed. "Dib, relax. Trust me, I'll let you know if I think you're being rude. Just for you, I'll make it distinctively obvious."
X X X X
"...You'll have to excuse the mess." Kira opened the door to her study, ushering me in.
Excuse the mess... The place was immaculate, a single desk of simplistic but functional design, couch, and a trio of leather hardback chairs the only furniture.
She motioned for me to sit in the chair across from her desk; nervous without really knowing why, I remained standing until after she had seated.
"Dib, first thing's first, I need to apologize. Keeping in mind how often I do out of principle…" She paused, looking momentarily distracted. "Please understand I'm still rather new at this, myself. Add that to how I found you, and… Damn..." She spoke with the tone of someone trying to talk herself into something, failing, and knowing it; I waited patiently for her to collect her thoughts.
"I'm usually more articulate than this... Okay, I think you mentioned you were a paranormal researcher when you were younger, right?" I nodded slowly. "I'm sure you came across lots of stories about our kind-"
There came a sharp knock at the door. Kira's eyes flickered over to it, betraying only a marginal sense of irritation before calling, "Enter."
"Hang on!," came a female voice, apparently directed down the stairs; the both of us winced at the crash of what sounded like one of the statues in the hallway shattering. "Gray's here to see you, Kira," Mara reported in a low voice a few awkward seconds later, cracking the door open just far enough to facilitate her voice and then snapping it closed.
Kira rolled her eyes, resting her forehead on the desk surface. "Fantastic..."
A second later, there was a cursory knock, but it wasn't Mara who entered.
"As it appears we have no choice… Dib, this is Evander Gray," Kira said. Eyes flashing at his intrusion, she stood, motioning for me to remain seated.
Gray literally towered over Kira, with intense, dark eyes that seemed to bore into you. On some people, I figured, a white lab coat would be a reassuring symbol, but with Gray, that was most definitely not the case: Possessing the air of a scientist regarding everything as his personal experiment, everything about the guy screamed 'I have absolutely no problem with cutting you open and having you watch'.
Which is why it kinda freaked me out when he said, "We've met," regarding me with a creepy look of honest familiarity that showed way to many teeth. "Haven't we, Membrane?"
Joke's on at least one of you, I thought, really not liking where this was going; I had no idea who tall, dark and insane was.
Noticing his attention had shifted to me, Kira spat, "Gray was just leaving."
"Come now, I'm sure you know I wouldn't be here unless it were for something of legitimate purpose," Gray sneered, taking a step further into the office. Asshole.
Scared asshole, actually, I realized, watching him with wary interest now. Yep, he'd managed to get just close enough that Kira couldn't politely ignore him, but was still out of reach so she couldn't throttle him without inconvenience.
From where she stood next to the door, Mara appeared to share the sentiment.
"You continue to labor under the false impression you are welcome here at all," Kira bit out, every word like a shard of ice (the effect of which was only slightly marred by the squeek of a plastic stress ball that enunciated every word). "Your permission expired the last time I had to physically remove your sorry carcass."
"You wouldn't kill me here in your own house," Gray pressed confidently, refusing, in my opinion, rather stupidly to back down. "All I'm asking for is a moment-"
"You're probably right," Kira shot back over his plea, drumming her fingertips on the surface of the desk, "it would cost a fortune to get the blood out of my carpet." Gesturing dismissively, she caught Mara's eye. "Mara, please escort our visitor out before I introduce him to the third floor window."
Mara made no secret of a grin, answering with a simple nod. Gray, perhaps finally realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere, though obviously not happy about it, allowed himself to be followed out.
"What do you think?," Kira asked me abruptly, not looking up from her stress ball.
I didn't speak until I was sure the door had closed after them. "What on earth did he want? He knew me. Or at least, of me."
Kira gave a soft snort, giving one final squeeze on the ball before tossing it aside onto her desk. "He should. He used to work for your father."
X X X X
I still wasn't sure how I could be that tired after that, but after catching me dozing off standing up, Kira decided she had an explanation:
"Jeez, its six in the morning, sweetie, no wonder. Mara should have your room ready, come to think of it."
Leading me back down to the darkened hallway, I was relieved to find it completely deserted. "I have one request while you are here," Kira intoned, "do not leave your room except with Mara and I, do you understand?" She looked over her shoulder, and I nodded solemnly; not a difficult request to uphold.
"Of course," I promised. "A-and, thank you." She didn't say anything, but regarded me sadly for a moment.
The room Mara had set me up in was small, furnished simply with a side table and a cot. A door I mistook for a closet at first led to a tiny bathroom; a tiny part of me wondered if water would burn my skin, like in the stories I had read what felt like so long ago...
An awkward pang shot through me. There was something else, something about water I was forgetting...
I shook my head, but whatever it was refused to come. Damn it.
"Sleep well, kiddo," she yawned, patting me on the shoulder. "I'll send Mara for you in a few hours, maybe then I can actually show you around the place..."
I nodded, watching her turn and leave, closing the door behind her with a click.
Making a point of checking the room, it was only after I had painstakingly verified it was completely empty that I was able to relax. Relax... Feh, all I wanted to do was curl up somewhere and not wake up for ages and ages... Sliding back against the edge of the bed, I let the back of my head rest against the mattress, closing my eyes... Maybe this would turn out to be another of my weird dreams, but a part of me doubted it.
Every bit of this was all kinds of crazy, I thought. Kira, the insane, obsessive-compulsive vampire; Mara, who was if anything more so... What was with that Gray guy, anyway? Obviously Kira and him had a history, and somehow I doubted we had seen the last of him...
My eyes flicked open so that I was staring at the ceiling. Gah, even DEAD I couldn't stop my stupid brain from taking off down disturbing tangents. Trying to laugh this off only made me feel sick, but I was utterly incapable of ignoring it...
More for the distraction of movement, I shoved myself up again. The silence of the room was almost maddening; glancing to the locked door to my left, I looked down at myself a bit self-consciously. You know what, a shower sounds awesome, I decided.
X X X X
Twenty minutes later, I ran a hand through my damp hair, glancing at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Water had no adverse effects on me, I had been relieved to find.
What I had been not so relieved to discover was the five-inch-long, half-healed cut across my left side. It didn't hurt, though it most definitely looked like it should...
What the hell happened to me?, I wondered hardly for the first or last time. I did remember Kira had mentioned something about a stabbing, but try as I might, I literally couldn't recall anything from more than about six or seven hours ago, and therefore only had her word to go on... Yay. I shuddered, simultaneously trying not to think about it and hating my stupid overactive imagination...
After quickly slipping the shirt back on and readjusting my glasses, I took another, longer look: I was still skinny, a bit short for fifteen. My hazel eyes were a bit bloodshot, which I'll admit bothered me; I liked my eyes, they were one of the few physical attributes I had not shared with my father. My long jet-black hair I usually kept tied up, if to do nothing more than keep it out of the way; pale more from just not being out in the sun than anything particularly supernatural, I just looked hollow, tired.
My reflection gave a small smile. Some bloodthirsty demon I made.
Vampire... I held a hand over my heart, feeling it beat slowly, surely much slower than it should have if I were really alive, I reasoned… Kind of pathetic that that was really the only proof I had of Kira's claim, I thought with a dark snort, pointedly choosing to ignore the fact I had also voluntarily consumed human blood not but a few hours previously...
A flash of movement out of the corner of my eye jerked me out of my progressively more disturbing thoughts. A tiny voice in the back of my head screamed a warning-
Mara-
Wait, what? Whirling around on my heel to face her, I managed to slip on the polished floor in my socks, catching myself on the side of the sink, but didn't care- Damn, how long had she been there?
And for that matter, how had I missed her?
Sitting on the edge of the bed and looking entirely bored, she lazily regarded me with a deadpan stare. "Tense, Membrane?," she snickered, eyes flickering to meet mine and then away. Like a snake, I thought with a shiver.
What was with this girl? "What do you want?," I shot, defensive. Was she going to attack me? She was Kira's second, but I still wasn't entirely sure what kind of relationship the two had.
Her eyes narrowed slightly at my reaction, but otherwise she gave no indication she'd heard me- at least at first. Shoving herself up, she came at me; instinctively bracing for an attack, I stepped back in an awkward defensive stance-
Somehow despite being a good couple of inches taller than her, she managed to get directly in my face, stopping just short of actually touching, but close enough that I could feel her breath. For the first time, I noticed she had a scent, subtle but distinctly-
Holy shit, she's human.
"I wanted… to see for myself…," she muttered finally in a distracted, faraway voice, her expression confused, and maybe a little disappointed. Stepping back, she gave a curt bow, muttering under her breath and not looking back until she reached the door. "Good night," she called absently, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
"That was…weird," I muttered, not exactly sure what to make of what had just happened. As sick as it sounded, it would have made more sense if she had punched me... Shaking my head, I sat on the edge of the mattress, hearing it creak even under my slight weight. In the dead silence that filled the dimly lit room, and not for the first time, I seriously considered the possibility I was losing what was left of my mind…
A visual scan I utterly refused to believe had anything to do with paranoia verified the door was closed. Just like how I had done before taking my shower, I was sure of it… I paused, letting another, strangely reassuring, train of thought take over: Jeez, I was tired enough, maybe I had imagined the whole thing…
Shrugging and leaning sideways, I drew a pillow against the side of my face, sliding back until I lay completely on my uninjured side. A moot point, really, I finally decided, closing my eyes, glasses clenched in my free hand.
Nope, I decided a few seconds later, opening my eyes and groaning softly as I got up.
Vampire or not, hell, paranoid or not, I was locking the goddamn door.
And so we introduce Mara, who's supposed to be creepier than Dib imagined, and Evander, who definitely turns into a bigger jerk than even this showed.
Yay for painfully written plot. Yes, everything in this chapter has a point, I promise. ALL WILL BECOME CLEAR IN TIME (which considering how it took me two weeks to update, uh, might be a while…).
Additionally, I swear, the first person who even suggests Mara is in love with Dib gets shot. With a cow slingshot. Yes, we have those in Oklahoma.
Gaz and Zim both appear in the next chapter! Keeping that in mind, read, review and tell me how much this sucks. Much appreciated. ;)
Sick