Goodness gracious, school is a major let down compared to summer. But it's nice to come home to a bunch of reviews and alerts, so thanks a bunch for those! Just to give you some perspective, right now I'm getting a review from about 1 in 48 readers, which I'm not complaining about at all. It's nice to get so many hits and all, but I'd really appreciate if you'd hit that little blue button at the bottom and give me your feedback at the end of a chapter. It makes my day and it also gives me ideas on what I need to change or where I plan on going with the story. So, it's in your best interests to review. I write a whole heck of a lot faster when you do. Anyway! New chapter for you - enjoy! - RJL
I own nothing. Alas, a grand surprise.
Happenstance
Chapter IV
It's only love, it's only pain
It's only fear that runs through my veins
It's all the things you can't explain
That make us human
Human – Civil Twilight
1034 BC
How she hated to wait. It was all she seemed to be doing as of late. Wait for Godric to scout ahead and find a new nest for the nest few nights, wait for Godric to find their next meal, wait for Godric to this or that. Wait, wait, wait. The most current thing she was waiting for was for Godric to return with his new Child. He had left her in the cave once more with promises of returning long before sunrise but already Bren could see the darkness ebbing away to the West. If he planned to return as he had said, he would need to get a move on before he got both himself and the Child burned into oblivion.
While she wouldn't mind if the new one was killed, Godric was another matter completely. Without him, she would most certainly be lost. She depended on him all too entirely that if for some forbidden reason he was ever to be killed, Bren knew that she would soon follow after him.
The night continued to waste away as she waited patiently for Godric to return. He had instructed her to stay at the cave while he went to retrieve the Child but more than once she had considered going against his order to find food. It had been at least three nights since her last feed and already she could feel the oncoming sickness and nausea that came when she waited too long between meals. She had hoped that Godric and the other would return in time for her to leave and catch something before the sun rose, but it was becoming clear that she would have to go to sleep hungry once more.
Finally, just as Bren was considering leaving the cave to go search for them, she caught scent of Godric and another that she could only assume was the Child. Within a few moments they appeared from the trees a few hundred yards away from the cave's mouth and Bren was instantly surprised by the Child. As Godric was little older than seventeen or eighteen summers and she just above twenty, she had been expecting someone much like themselves. Instead Godric had brought back with him a fully grown man.
The Child was absolutely massive. He towered over Godric, who was granted small for his human age, but even before the Child had spoken a word, he terrified her. She may have been a six hundred year old vampire with superhuman speed and reflexives, but this vampire held the menacing air about him that she had yet to acquire. He was dressed in the clothes of a Viking warrior and she could smell the blood on his armor from where she stood. In the first few moments of seeing the Child, Bren instantly understood why Godric had chosen him.
He was born for this.
As the two neared the dwindling fire and came in as the sun slowly began to peak up behind them, Bren took the opportunity to observe the new one. He was only a few hours old but he already looked at least several hundred years older. He even already walked with inhuman grace; it was astounding.
"Bren!" Godric called to her happily as they came closer. "Come, Child. Meet our new brother."
Never once had she disobeyed a request or order from her Maker, and she would not start now simply because of an over sized Viking man. She moved to meet them halfway and found herself overwhelmed by the new Child's scent. Godric smelled of death and of life in harmony while this new scent smelled only of death alone. Once within a few feet of the man, she stopped and held her distance of him. He unsettled her greatly.
Godric did not seem to notice her discomfort around his new Child and spoke to him in a language that Bren did not fully understand. She assumed that it was the language of the land and deftly wondered when Godric had been given the time or resources to learn it. Neither of them were native to the land here. She pushed aside such thoughts when Godric continued to speak and gesture towards her to the Child. In turn, the Child looked at her for a few moments before nodding in understanding.
"How well is your Norse?" Godric asked suddenly, turning to Bren.
She frowned, knowing the language they had just spoke in was nothing like the Norse she had spoken on occasion. "I have not spoken it in years," Bren said doubtfully. "I guarantee nothing."
"Anything is something," Godric assured her.
He turned back to the Child for a few moments before he reached up to the clasp the man on the shoulder in a comrade like manner. He gave Bren a stern yet gentle glance before he turned and walked into the cave. Bren followed him with her eyes for a moment before she turned to follow him but was stopped when the Child stepped forward quickly and grabbed hold of her wrist swiftly. She stopped short and slowly looked down in confusion at the restraining hand on her wrist before she waved her free hand at it in annoyance.
"Please let go," Bren said in what she hoped came across as gracious yet demanding. She did not like the feel of his strong grip on her all too breakable bones.
The Child shook his head and gestured to the woods with a bounce of his head. "Hunt," he said. Bren looked behind him at the growing daylight and could feel her skin prickling already. She frowned while shaking her head at his request. Godric had already taken him hunting once that night, he would be fine for a few hours until the sun set again. She struggled to find the words to express this to him. She settled on the simple answer. "No."
He gave her a pleading look and so very childishly rubbed his stomach with his free hand. "Hungry," he said in a voice that was startling deep. He started to walk to the edge of the trees and pulled Bren along with him by the wrist as she dug her heels into the ground adamantly. She could easily overpower him but knew that Godric would be unappreciative of that.
"No, din dumma jätte , no hunt! It is time for rest!" she said loudly as she struggled weakly to pull back her wrist. Any sudden movements on her part or the use of too much strength would surely injure him, but he was making it quite difficult. "Stop!"
Her skin was prickling more intensely and she could feel the sun pushing its way into the sky. If she did not do something quickly and get them far enough into the cave, they would both be killed. She yelled for the Child to stop once more before she let out an annoyed yell and wretched back her arm from his hold. He looked back at her in surprise as she reversed their places and grabbed onto the Child's entire arm and hauled him back into the cave just as the her right arm started to visibly burn.
Godric stood from his bed skins as Bren pushed the Child in front of her and stared her in concern. "What took you, Child?" he questioned as he walked to her and gently inspected her slowly healing arm.
She pulled away her arm and held it to herself protectively. "Your Child wished to hunt and wasted precocious time arguing with me," she said with both anger and annoyance. "He is pretty to look at but I doubt his smarts, Godric."
A smile took over her Maker's youthful features as he laughed lightly and the Child gave her an annoyed look of his own even though he didn't understand her words at all. "Eric is smart enough for our way of live," Godric said, smiling still. "It will take him time to grow accustomed to our ways, however, just as it took you, Bren. Give him time; he is a quick learner."
"His presence is unsettling," Bren said, her tone becoming serious. "He already acts as though he's been one of us for centuries. I do not like it," she said stubbornly.
A frown slowly replaced Godric's smile. "I am disappointed in you," he said in a sad voice. "I was hoping you would be more accepting of Eric's condition. He is less than a day old, you must remember this. You have known him for even less than that. Do not be so quick to jump to judge him, young one. I can promise you that he will surprise you with his actions and loyalty if you give him the opportunity to do so."
His tone alone was able to humble her. She hung her head slightly and nodded her head. "I am sorry for my words, Godric," Bren said. She glanced to where the Child – she mentally stopped and reprimanded herself; his name was Eric – had sat himself comfortably on the cave's floor. "I will be more open to Eric and his actions from now on," she promised.
Godric nodded his approval and patted her gently on the shoulder before he turned to drop himself on to his bed skins. "I know you will do your best," he said. "I could not ask anything more of you than that."
With that said, he settled himself into his animal skins and closed his eyes. Bren knew from experience that once her maker was asleep, little could awaken him from slumber. With a quiet sigh, she walked to where Eric sat with his back against the cave's wall with his eyes partially shut. Even seated with his legs crossed at the knees, he took up a large amount of space. Knowing that Godric wanted peace between his Children, Bren knelt before Eric and put a cold hand on the man's knee. She jumped slightly as Eric jerked to face her in somewhat surprise.
Taking a deep breath, she sucked in what little pride she had and gave him a small smile. He looked at her slightly wary but had no quarrel with returning her hesitant stare with an open and unprotected one of his own. It unnerved her even more, but she did not look away.
Holding up her unburnt arm, she pointed to herself. "Bren," she said.
Eric stared at her for a moment more before shooting her an amused look and nodded his blond head. He mimicked her movement and pointed at himself. "Eric," he said.
She smiled slightly at their childish introductions. Pulling up both arms, she rested her head on her hands and rocked slightly back and forth. "Sleep," she told him as she pointed to the bed skins a few feet away from where they were 'talking'. Eric frowned for a moment but nodded his head.
"Sleep," he repeated.
Bren nodded and pushed herself up to walk to the bed skins and waved for him to follow. She heard his clothes shift and his footsteps on the cold floor as he did so. When she came to the bed skins situated besides Godric's, she dropped herself gracefully onto them and proceeded to find a comfortable position. It took her a few moments to realize Eric was still standing above her. She looked up to see him glancing around the cold cave and she shook her head at him even though he didn't see the movement. She reached out and grabbed his leg and yanked him down forcibly.
It was almost comical the way he tumbled onto the skins with the grace of a human baby. Bren couldn't help but laugh at his confusion but quickly moved to explain. She pointed at the bed skins again and to him before moving between the two a few times. "Sleep," she said.
He looked at her carefully and she suddenly wondered if he had ever slept in the same bed as a woman before Godric turned him. She looked at his well built form and took in the age he looked to be and hoped that he had. She shook her head and cleared away the thoughts of Eric's intimate human life and turned onto her side while shutting her eyes. It had been a painfully long night and she wanted nothing more to sleep until the next sunset.
She heard Eric settle into the skins beside her and found herself surprised that when their legs touched from lack of space, she did not move away.
Present
Bren awoke with a start at the sound of crashing and was instantly on her feet. She heard a groan from the bed but ignored it. A stream of curses came sounding down the hall and it took her a few moments to realize that it was just a waitress from the club dropping a tray of drinks. She took a deep breath and forced her pulse to slow and return back to normal. She heard Eric grumble behind her as she looked around his bedroom in search of a time source. Finding one on the bedside table, Bren restrained an annoyed growl as she realized it was nearly one in the morning.
She had wasted almost five good hours of darkness while oversleeping. Shaking her head, she grabbed her cell phone off of the table and sat back down on the bed to pull on her shoes. The bed shifted as Eric came up behind her and yawned. Bren let out a deep breath and continued putting on her shoes before quickly standing.
"Thank you for allowing me to stay here last night," she said while straightening her slept in clothes and gave Eric only a single glance before she started for the door. Her hand was in mid reach for the doorknob when suddenly Eric's body appeared in front of her, effectively blocking her escape for the second time in less than a day. She frowned at his shirtless upper body and wondered when he had taken off his shirt.
He smirked down at her as he watched her watching him. "Were you really going to leave without so much as a good-bye?" he asked her in a reprimanding tone that held a mocking tone as well.
Bren looked away from the naked chest she was faced with and sent him an annoyed glare. "If I planned to do just that, it would have been only because I learned to do so from you," she said. "You seem to have the 'departure sans good-bye' habit down rather well, don't you agree?"
Part of the smirk died away and was replaced with the shadow of a frown. "Are we ever going to discuss what happened?" he asked, quieter this time.
Her eyebrows jumped in surprise and she laughed while giving him a disbelieving look. "You would like to discuss what happened? Right now, at this exact moment?" she asked him, shaking her head with another laugh. "I have places to be and things to take care of, Eric. If you do remember, our Maker is missing and we have no clues as to where he may be, why he was taken to begin with, and what his captors plan to do with him. We don't even know if he is still alive!" It was the first time she had yelled at him since her arrival, which going by past encounters, was going for a new record. "So, no, I do not want to talk to you about something that happened over three hundred years ago, Eric. It is in the past and I would greatly appreciate it to stay there."
Eric stepped away from the door he was leaning against and rose to his full height, anger of his own apparent. "Do not assume that you care more deeply about Godric than I do, Bren, because I will sorely prove you wrong. I may have known him for a shorter period of time, but I will do anything and everything within my power to assist you and anyone else in finding him," he said shortly. He took a deep breath and relaxed slightly. "Regardless, there are issues between us that require resolving and I am only trying to do just that. I do not like having this space between us, Bren. And you know as well as I do that Godric do-"
Bren cut him off. "I will not allow you to use Godric as a playing card in our feud. He has nothing to do with it, and you know it," she said, more calmly than she had before. She waved a hand at him in annoyance and gestured for him to move. "Now, it is late and I need to return to Dallas by morning, so if you would please move aside."
He stared at her for a moment before slowly moving out of her way. As she walked past him, he darted out a hand and stopped her by the wrist. "This conversation is not over, Bren," he said without looking at her. "I will make you understand if I have to bind you to a chair with silver."
She looked at the hand restraining her wrist and smirked. "I would like to see you try, Northman." She did not worry about his hand as she pulled away her wrist and walked down the hall and back into the club. She needed to get back to Dallas before she did something irresponsibly stupid. For example: stake a fellow vampire through his heart.
Review, please and thank you.
RJL
