I'M BACK! My deepest, sincerest apologies for the epically long wait. I always have trouble writing during the summer. Also apologies for the epically bad chapter I'm giving you. It sucks, I know. It's horrible, and should never see the light of day. But I swear the next one will be better. I also swear the wait will not be nearly as long. I'm hoping to get the next chapter out within a week or two. Anyway, read, hate it, tell me you hate it (because I know you do. Because it sucks.)
Over the next couple of weeks, Nikola and Kiri spent most of their time in the lab together. Nikola was enjoying showing off everything he had discovered in the past ten years to Kiri, who reacted to everything with the same sense of wonder and awe. One day, about three weeks after Kiri had arrived, she and Nikola were in Nikola's lab when John burst in, followed closely by Helen, James, and Nigel. Kiri jumped and let out a yelp, slipping off the counter she'd been sitting on. Nikola looked up from the notebook he'd been writing in.
"Can I help you?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"You killed another one," John stated. Nikola furrowed his brow in confusion, and Helen stepped forward.
"We know you haven't taken your medicine since you got here," she told him. John pulled Helen close protectively.
"I told you he's a monster," he snarled. "He needs to be locked up!" James moved forward just as Nikola was about to say something.
"John, this is a serious accusation. Do you have any proof?" he asked. John pulled a small knife out of his pocket and cut his hand. Nikola instantly vamped out, and Kiri was at his side in an instant, whispering something in Serbian. After a while, Nikola was human again, panting as he glared at John, who was smirking.
"See? He can't control himself," he said. Kiri let out an angry sound, stepping in front of Nikola.
"Nikola's been in here with me!" she exclaimed. "There hasn't even been any blood to make him lose control." John made a disbelieving sound. He walked forward, grabbing Kiri's arm and holding it up to reveal a recent bite mark.
"It seems he has recently," he announced. Kiri yanked her arm back, then shoved John.
"That's not even from Nika!" she yelled. John's eyes flashed in anger at being pushed, but Kiri wasn't done. She shoved him again, glaring. "You've already ruined Nika's life enough! Why can't you just leave him alone?!" There was a collective gasp. That was a serious allegation. Helen stepped forward, brow furrowed.
"Kiri, what do you mean?" she questioned. Kiri turned away.
"Nothing." She took Nikola's hand and dragged him out, Nikola going with her with a bewildered look. As he passed the others, the sleeve on his suit slid up to reveal a silver bracelet with a dark ruby set in the center.
A week later, Nikola and Kiri were once again in Nikola's lab. Nikola had his suit coat off, folded carefully over the back of a chair, and his sleeves were rolled up. Kiri was standing nearby, next to a switch. Helen and James walked in, and James held up a bracelet with a ruby, covered in blood.
"John appears to be right," James remarked. Nikola frowned.
"What? Where'd you find that?" he asked, walking towards James. Helen met Nikola halfway, and put a hand on his chest.
"Just admit it's you, and we'll get you help, Niko," she whispered. Nikola looked like he had been slapped, and Kiri approached him, taking his hand. Nikola clenched his jaw, looking as though he was trying hard not to get angry.
"It's not me, Helen. If I had been killing these women, don't you think I'd tell you?" He sounded hurt, rejected, and looked more upset than he had when Gregory had denied his request to court Helen. The knowledge that Helen didn't even trust him anymore was like a knife through the heart. Kiri glanced up at him, then over at Helen and James.
"We should leave, Nika. They're never gonna listen to us, even if it's so obvious who's doing this." She ground her teeth, grabbing Nikola's bracelet out of James's hand as she passed, tugging Nikola with her. She didn't even look at Helen and James, afraid that if she did she would just get angrier. She couldn't believe that they would continue to accuse Nikola. The vampire followed Kiri out of the house and down some streets to the apartment they had shared after Nikola had been kicked out of school. Nikola furrowed his brow at Kiri.
"Is this place empty?" he asked. Kiri shook her head.
"I own it. I have a lot more money than you might think, I simply choose not to use it to buy myself a giant mansion." She glanced around as she walked inside before plopping down on the couch. "I know how to make them see you're not the killer." Nikola sat down next to her, sighing.
"I just want to rest for a while, sestrice. We can discuss that tomorrow," he whispered. Kiri nodded, smiling. She leaned against Nikola's shoulder, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, until there was a knock on the door. Kiri stood to answer it, somewhat surprised to see Nigel there.
"I believe you're innocent," he announced, walking in. "And I'm going to stay with you until we prove that it's not you." He sat down in the armchair while Kiri reclaimed her seat on the couch. Nikola looked at him curiously.
"What makes you so sure?" he asked. Nigel shrugged.
"Only an Englishman would be good enough to pull of these murders without having been caught yet," he replied teasingly. "And because I never did like Johnny. He's a little…you know…intense." Nikola chuckled at that, smiling.
"We only have two bedrooms," he pointed out.
"I can sleep out here," Kiri said, grinning. "Or, we could all sleep out here and pretend we're on a camping trip." Nikola ruffled her hair, laughing.
"You can have the bedroom, sestrice. I don't sleep much anyway, remember?" He glanced at a clock in the corner. "Anyway, it's past your bedtime. Off to bed with you." Kiri made a face, but stood, kissing his cheek before bouncing down the hallway to her bedroom. Nigel said goodnight to Nikola and went to his own room, leaving Nikola alone in silence. He sighed, feeling cold and broken inside. It wasn't long before he started a fire in the fireplace, sitting next to it with a blanket wrapped around him in an attempt to warm up.