Heartlessly Humane
By wired2damoon
Chapter 7: Life Stories And Lycanthropy Lessons
- Mitchell's POV -
"Hey Mitchell, you never did tell us how you got on at the interview…" George said out of the blue, in his matter-of-fact voice, as we sat at the kitchen table, two mornings after Violet had arrived.
She hardly made an appearance around George or I…especially me (I think she may still be offended by my behaviour upon hearin' of her …strange relationship with a vampire) and usually just stayed up in Annie's room, meanin' we saw less and less of Annie downstairs, much to my dismay. I enjoy George's company of course, but there's only so much I can take of talkin' about Nina before I eventually want to throw something…preferably George, out of the fuckin' window.
Unfortunately for me, however, this happened to be one of the rare occurrences in the last forty-eight hours where Annie actually was in the same room as me, sitting right opposite me as it were, with George to her left and Violet to her right.
Why unfortunately? Well, because it meant more lies…
I sighed as I heard the question, sneakin' a look at my ghostly friend. I hate lying…especially to her…
"Oh yeah, Mitchell, how did it go? I can't believe I forgot to ask you…" she scolded herself light-heartedly, rollin' her eyes as Violet looked on silently with interest.
"Uh…" I searched frantically for somethin' to say, "it-it didn't go so well…don't think I got it…" oh yeah, I deserve an Oscar for all my wonderful actin'…I'm just the next Robert Di fuckin' Nero.
Annie's brow furrowed, as I suspected it would, "what do you mean you didn't get it? Since when can you not charm people?"
I almost snorted at her completely stubborn and straight-forward point of view in regards to me.
"Yeah, since when does that Irish charm not win over everyone within a hundred mile radius of you?" George chimed in, smug grin on his face.
I rolled my eyes, "okay, one, bein' Irish has got nothin' to do wit' bein' charmin' and two, all the charm in the world wouldn't get me a bartendin' job in that pub as the owner of that place hates me…" I rambled, suddenly rememberin' a handy excuse that could more than likely get me out of lyin' even more.
Annie beamed at me then, reachin' over and pinchin' my cheek, "aww, who on earth could possibly hate you? Just look at that face," she cooed, her voice growin' higher, imitatin' that of a woman admiring a small child.
I lightly slapped her hand away and she laughed loudly at me as I gave her a half-hearted glare.
"Marion does. That woman hates the sight of me…" I grumbled.
I just hope to God they don't ask me why it is exactly the dear, middle-aged Marion does not think the sun shines out of me arse…
"Why does she hate you?" George asked and I swear, right then and there I could have decked him, straight in between the eyes, friend or no friend.
I gritted my teeth, stood up from the table, walked over to the sink and made sure to keep my back to everyone, "well…uh…'cause she may have…expressed an…interest in me, which I may not have returned…" I trailed off, bitin' my lip, knowin' what was goin' to happen next.
"So, she didn't want to employ you because you wouldn't have sex with her?" Annie asked, soundin' a little bit peeved upon hearin' that particular bit of information.
I nodded, knowin' there was no point in tryin' to get out of lyin'…'cause if I ever die, those men wit' sticks and rope are more than likely comin' for me anyway, so might as well suck it up.
"Well that's just horrendous! The cheek of that woman! I have a right mind to barge down there and-"
"No!" I interrupted Annie loudly, whirlin' around to face the table again.
I saw Annie, George and even Violet look at me with equal expressions of shock and suspicion on their faces.
"And why not?" Annie asked, standin' up, walkin' over to me and puttin' her hands on her hips. I angled my head and stared down at her, tryin' to put on my best 'because I said so' face.
"Don't look at me like that Mitchell! I know you're a man and men don't like women fighting their battles and all that alpha crap but that is seriously not on! That woman cannot reject you when you're seeking employment just because you rejected her when she was seeking enjoyment…"
I tried to keep a straight face, I swear I really did, but that has got to be one of the funniest things I've ever heard in my entire life…and I'm pretty old.
I burst out laughin' and George and Violet soon followed me. Annie cracked a smile, shakin' her head, chucklin' to herself, although I could tell she wasn't lettin' this go and was fightin' to regain her composure.
I recovered first and jumped in before she could continue, "look, Annie, I appreciate the gesture and all but it's really unnecessary. I-I've already began lookin' for other jobs and like the sound of a paintin' gig, this fella is supposedly lookin' for an assistant to help wit' paintin' houses and stuff…" I rambled, not lyin' this time (I had seen said notice in the newspaper yesterday), but kept to myself the fact that I seriously doubted I would actually go for the job.
She folded her arms, still frowin' but apparently droppin' the subject for now. I wondered how long it would take her to start gettin' on George's case, as he had not decided whether he was goin' back to work, he called in sick yesterday, I did too and planned to hand in my one week's notice as soon as things smoothed down.
"So…when are we goin' back in to the hospital?" I decided to ask George, seein' as we never did discuss it properly. George looked up at me, he had tilted, obviously thinkin' it over.
"I don't know, I mean, they're probably more than a little suspicious that both of us are out on sick leave…it's a good thing we had those days saved up. Still, I think that maybe, I should go in tomorrow, and then you the next day to hand in your notice…"
I nodded. It made sense. If George and I both went back on the same day and were out on the same days it would look more than a tad suspicious, not forgettin' the fact that Nina happened to be out as well. Three people that were connected. A man, his girlfriend and housemate. Not somethin' you could easily pon off as a coincidence.
"Alright, good plan. Well, I better be goin', things to do…" I smiled, turnin' to make my way out of the kitchen, not at all surprised when merely one second after my announcement (and one two steps on my journey out of the room) a herd of noises of protest reached my ears.
"Wait Mitchell-"
"-Where are you off to?"
Annie and George spoke simultaneously. I turned around slowly, again avoidin' the urge to roll my eyes.
"I'm only goin' to the library, ye can relax…I really don't think I'm gonna get attacked in the middle of the fiction section…" I smirked as I saw their obviously not impressed faces.
"Mitchell-"
"Hang on-"
"-Look, Annie, George, I am not a child. So I will not be treated as such. I appreciate that you're both worried about my safety but Jesus Christ, I'm not gonna go walkin' outside the funeral parlour in the middle of the night or anythin'…I'm just goin' to the library, you know, where the only thing that's scary is that mad librarian who seems to think somethin' as little as breathin' in the place is punishable by law…"
I looked back and forth between the two, waitin' for some sort of response.
"It's just lucky for me that I don't need to breathe then eh?" I finished lightly, hopin' to distract them with humour. They both just stared at me, obviously not impressed.
After a few quiet moments, it was George who finally spoke up. "You're right Mitchell…it's the middle of the day and you-you can look after yourself. It was stupid for us to overreact…"
I just stared at him before trailin' my gaze to Annie, who was no longer lookin' at me, focusing her eyes on the floor.
"Alright then, if there are no further complaints, I'll be on my way…"
I could feel Annie's eyes on my back as I walked out through the beads of the kitchen archway and went to put on my coat. Once I was ready, I wrenched open the door and called out a loud "see ye later" before steppin' out and slammin' the door behind me.
Once I was en route, I took out a smoke and lit it.
I was thankful that no one wondered why it was exactly that I was goin' to the library in the first place.
That would have required a hell of a lot more lies…
And it's like I said, I hate lying.
- Annie's POV -
"So…Annie, if you don't mind me asking, how did you…die?" Violet asked quietly as we sat on the couch, watching the Coronation Street Omnibus on the telly.
I turned my head to look at her, not really shocked that she had asked me. It was just a matter of time really.
"My fiancée, Owen, pushed me down the stairs," I said, trying to keep the bitterness out of my tone, but failing badly.
Violet's mouth opened with a small "O" and nodded softly, "I'm sorry…" she whispered.
I aimed the remote at the TV and turned it off, before angling my body to face her.
"Don't be, it's not your fault…so, you were…killed by vampires?" I asked, slowly, not wanting to offend her.
She nodded, "yeah, the last thing I remember seeing before a quick, sharp pain in my neck, was two large figures standing at the end of the alley, one heading for me and one heading for James…" she said lowly, her eyes clouding over slightly, as she replayed the event in her head.
"James is…was…your boyfriend?"
Her eyes caught mine as I asked that. She gave a tiny jerk of her head and I left it to her to continue if she wished.
"Yeah he was, he was brilliant, we met in school. I had just transferred from Sydney, I was only fourteen so going to a new school was terrifying...but on the first day, I sat beside him in English and we just…hit it off. We were friends first, but after a year or so…you know how it is…he was different to my other male friends. He was so…vibrant. So…sweet and funny and gorgeous!" she smiled, her green eyes twinkling with delight, a dreamy look on her face as she thought about him.
I tried to smile too but it ended up more like a grimace as I couldn't help but shudder as I thought of back when I used to talk about Owen like that…I can't believe Mitchell and George put up with me looking and talking like that every time his name was mentioned. I now have new found respect for them.
"But now he's…" she trailed off, waving her arms, obviously not comfortable with the term, "…different…" she finished, biting her lip.
I reached over and squeezed her shoulder, "hey, not-not all vampires are bad, okay? Just…look at Mitchell for example, he's…he's one of the good guys, you never know, James could-"
"-No. He's not like Mitchell." she interrupted, sounding adamant. "He's nothing like Mitchell at all…" this time, she sounded a little defensive, which caught my attention.
"What do you mean, he's not like Mitchell?" I asked softly, sitting forward slightly.
She sighed, keeping her eyes adverted from mine as she spoke so lowly that I actually had to shift even closer to hear her, "Mitchell is - he's so full of life. He's what like…five hundred years old or something and yet, he still acts young, like he gives a damn, so much so that I picked up on that in less than two days, even after everything you guys have been through. But, I spent a week with James and all I saw was this…lifeless shell of what he used to be. He's eyes don't glimmer with humour as they once did, he doesn't smile mischievously as he used to…he's - he's dead…gone…"
I could tell she was going to tear up and I reached forward and squeezed her shoulder again, this time a little harder.
"I just…I want the old James back…the way he treated me that week…the old James would never do that to me. He-he didn't want anything to do with me, kept telling me to move on, that he didn't want me anymore, that things were different now. That-that because of what we were now, we couldn't be together…that it's a taboo concept and he didn't want to draw attention to himself.
"When he…when he left me I-I didn't know what to do…I felt a part of myself disappear from me and go with him…I felt unwhole, hollow, numb. I know it's stupid, but he meant everything to me. My mother was an alcoholic and died when I turned eighteen, I never knew my father and my Mum was all I had, but as much as a train wreck as she was I still loved her... It really shook me up when she died, but he …he looked after me, let me move into his apartment in London and made sure I was going to university and got back alright.
"And believe me, I'm the type of girl that's totally independent, so I wasn't the easiest girlfriend to have. Ha, he used to say I was one of those 'crazy feminists' which I of course, took offence to and we'd have these mental arguments but…yeah, I am definitely a feminist. I didn't make his life easy, I never liked to be taken care of…but he did it anyway. He was always there for me…no-no matter what. He wasn't just my boyfriend, he was-he was…" she trailed off and wiped her eyes as fresh, large tears rolled down her pale cheeks.
"Is-is that how you felt about Owen?" she asked, turning to me, the rims of her eyes reddened.
I looked down at my lap, where my hands were tightly folded. They were loosely intertwined at the beginning of this conversation, but now, now they were clasped together so tightly, that if I were alive, I'm sure the blood would have stopped circulating.
I took a deep, unnecessary breath, "yeah, yeah at one point I did feel that way about Owen. But now, now I realise that he didn't love me, he just loved controlling me. I-I couldn't visit any of my family, all we had was email. Me and him were just hauled up in this house, together…ha…I once thought it was 'romantic.' Now? Well, now I realise that it wasn't like that at all. I felt…trapped. Imprisoned in my home.
"I…every time I wanted so much as just to venture outside and talk to the neighbours…he would have something to say about it, so I never did. I-I was only living here a short while before he…before I died. We were still living out of boxes, I'd barely any of my stuff unpacked. I came here to start a new life, one I thought would be a great, and long, but all I got was the end of my life. But…I guess it all worked out in the end, in a sad, depressing way…all I've to do to not get glum is to think to myself, 'if I had never died, I would have never met Mitchell and George.' They make death easier for me…"
She nodded in understanding, "yeah, I noticed that. You and George fight like brother and sister!" she exclaimed, a smile coming onto her pretty face.
I was glad to see her smile again and grinned too, "yeah, yeah we do…he's ridiculous sometimes, but I love him."
"And Mitchell?" the younger girl questioned, a slight smirk on her face.
I narrowed my eyes, "…yeah, him too…" I replied, suspiciously.
She grinned, her cheeky expression well and truly back after our little heart-to-heart.
"So…moving away from the depressing stuff…there was something I wanted to ask you," she informed me, standing up off the couch and pacing back and forth in front of me.
"…What?" I asked slowly, not really knowing what to expect.
"Can you do any cool poltergeist stuff?"
I smiled. This could be fun…
- George's POV -
I lay on my back, staring up at my ceiling, hands resting behind my head. The soft hum of the radio met my over-sensitive ears, as I wiggled my foot along in time with the music.
I had decided to give Annie and Violet their space, to talk about women stuff or ghost stuff or whatever they planned to converse about. That was about an hour ago, but I had not yet gotten bored. It seemed, I had a lot of things on my mind, things that I didn't really want to think about, but knew it was inevitable.
The beautiful face of Nina, swarmed around my mind, endlessly. I never thought I would miss her as much as I do…she's only been gone a few days and I already feel at a loss. I wanted badly to ring her again, but was only talking to her last night and I estimated it was only just past midday now, I didn't want to come across too eager and needy. The last thing, independent, strong-willed Nina needs is a clingy, whining boyfriend…
I brought my arm down and glanced at my watch. It was actually nearing one pm now, Mitchell had been gone nearly four hours…
I found it a little odd that he was going to the library of all places, at nine in the morning (I didn't even know he owned a library card) but decided that I wouldn't interfere. I knew he was getting a little antsy at the fact that Annie and I were constantly asking him where he was going and how long he'd be etc. so I backed down and let him go.
Only now, I wish I didn't…I was beginning to get bored…
BUZZZZZ! My phone vibrated violently in my pocket.
I jumped a mile off the bed, startled as hell, shoving my hand in my jeans' pocket and put the phone up to my ear.
"Hello?" I practically yelled, my voice an octave higher than usual. I cleared my throat loudly, "uh…I mean…hello?" I mumbled, deepening my voice considerably.
"…George?" came the voice of Nina, sounding a little amused.
"Oh, hi Nina, how are you?" I asked, relaxing instantly and sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at my gnome wallpaper.
"Oh I'm fine, listen George-"
"-Oh how's your mum?" I interrupted, silently scolded myself for not remembering the reason she was in Yorkshire in the first place.
"What? O-Oh…uh she's alright…getting better…listen, I'll be coming home a little earlier than I planned okay?" I frowned at her tone, she sounded a little odd.
"Uh…yeah, that's good. W-When will you be back?"
"Tomorrow."
I grinned, "good, that's really good. So do you want to-"
"-Can you meet me around my place at around…seven? I'm gonna make you a nice dinner, with a couple glasses of wine and some candles, what do you think?" she asked, sounding a little hurried.
"Um…yeah, that-that sounds lovely Nina, I-"
"Alright then, I'll see you then. Bye."
"Um, okay, by-"
The dial tone cut me off.
I frowned, that was…weird.
- Nina's POV -
I hung up the phone and threw it back down on the table, turning to look at my guest.
"That was so obvious, wasn't it? I was too nervous wasn't I? He's going to know something's up, isn't he?" I asked, standing up and beginning to pace.
"Nina, calm down. He won't know anything's up, he'll just think you're stress out 'cause of your Mam, that's all…relax…" Mitchell murmured, from where he sat at my kitchen table, which was strewn with many books, papers, as well as my laptop and printer.
"Now, come on, we've still have to print out these pages before I have to get home…"
I nodded, knowing he was right. I sighed, walked back over to the table and sat down, picking up a book entitled, "A Lesson In Lycanthropy."
- Annie's POV -
"So…you can travel all the way from London to Bristol? That's impressive. The furthest I've ever travelled was from the hospital to here…" I mumbled as the two of us sat on the couch, moving the mugs around and turning the lamp on and off.
"Well, like anything, it's something I have to control, practice. I can guess by how your handling your powers now that you've been practising a little? Well, with transportation it's the same…I just-I wish I could do something about changing my clothes…" she replied, pointing at her black T-shirt and blue jeans, sounding as pissed off as I felt about being stuck in the same damn clothes I died in.
"Well, that's death isn't it? Wanting to preserve us exactly how we were at our last moment of life. Guess, that's one of the downfalls of being a ghost…" I murmured, as I flicked my finger around in circles, causing Mitchell's blue cup to spin around.
She sighed, "yeah, I guess. Hey, have you figured out how to eat and drink yet? I can sort of handle hold water in my mouth before-"
I whipped around violently, interrupting her.
"What?" she asked innocently, obviously not understanding my frantic expression.
"You…you can drink?" I asked, my voice filled with wonderment.
"Uh…sort of. I think it's another thing about control and practice. You know, like making yourself visible to humans? Also, it might have something to do with confidence, I know after James left me I stopped being visible to people…" she trailed off, obviously uncomfortable about drifting back to thinking about him.
"But, you-you think it is possible? I mean, you actually have held water in your mouth, without it all…you know, going straight through you?" I was aware I was rambling now, but I was just too damn excited about the possibly of somehow figuring out how to eat and drink again.
She started laughing at me then, "ha ha, you're like a child that's been told they can have ice-cream before dinner," she remarked, rolling her eyes.
I pouted, folding my arms.
That caused her to laugh more.
"But I know what you mean…I'd give anything to be able to drink any type of alcohol again, vodka, gin, wine, whiskey, cider, stout… I'm not picky…" she trailed off, looking dreamy.
I frowned, "are you old enough to drink? Uh…I mean…when you died?"
Her smile vanished as she heard that, pursing her lips, "how old to think I am…well, was, when I died?" she asked, sounding a little offended.
"Um…" I trailed off, shifting slightly.
Suddenly, she burst out laughing.
"Annie! Relax! I'm just joking! I get it all the time. You probably think I'm about seventeen, right?"
I nodded, clasping my hands together.
She giggled shrilly, waving her hand as if dismissing my thought.
"So…what age are you then?" I asked attentively.
She smiled at me, "well, I was twenty when I died. So, I guess, that makes me nearly twenty-two now…"
My mouth dropped open. She really didn't look anything like twenty. Before I could respond however, I heard the a knock at the door.
"Oh…I'll be right back," I smiled, jumping to my feet to answer the door.
She just nodded as I walked over to the door. I frowned a little, wondering who it could be. Mitchell had his key and George was upstairs…I couldn't help but remember the last time one of us opened the door without checking who it was first.
Shaking my head, trying desperately to rid myself of such dark thoughts, I plastered a strained smile on my face, wrenched open the door and looked out.
I gasped. Well, not audibly, but to myself. There, standing right in front of me, was one of the most gorgeous men I think I have ever seen in my entire life.
"Uh…hi…I'm Jack, I'm here to replace a door…" he said politely, throwing me a small smile.
"Oh! Oh, right! Yeah, sorry…c'mon in, I'll show you…" I rambled, ushering him in, and turning around. Violet caught my eye, and sat forward, a grin on her face, obviously at my embarrassment. I rolled my eyes and turned back around.
"Um…it's the bathroom door upstairs, I'll-I'll just let my housemate know you're here…" I mumbled, letting him go ahead of me, and trying desperately to keep my mind only on walking.
I knocked on George's bedroom door and let him know that the guy he called to come fix the door was here. He immediately came out into the hall and started talking "man crap" to him.
I stood there, looking back and forth between the two. Honestly, how exciting is putting in a new door? Men are so easily amused…
- Mitchell's POV-
I hunched up my shoulders and rubbed my hands together as I walked home. It was already passed lunch time and gettin' bloody cold outside. Stupid England weather!
I'd spent the last three hours in Nina's house, frantically researching anything we could on her condition, anything we could possibly find in books (that I got from the library - I never saw a librarian look at me so strangely as I dumped them on the sign out desk) and on the internet.
Mostly, we came up short, and half-way through, Nina had decided to put it on hold, bite the bullet and ring George, askin' him to come over to hers tomorrow night so she could confess everythin'.
I smiled thankfully as I saw our bright, peachy-pink house come into view. Home. Finally. I saw a white van parked out front as I fished out my keys out my pocket but found that the door was already ajar. I pushed it open and stepped in, closing it behind me.
"Hello?" I called, lookin' around me and finding no George, no Violet and no Annie.
George suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs and ushered frantically to me, not saying a word.
Frowning, I bounded up the stairs and saw that George and Violet were standin' the hallway, talkin' quietly.
"What are ye doin' out-"
"Shh!" Violet and George shushed simultaneously, fingers to their lips.
"What?" I hissed, "why are we whisperin'? Where's Annie?"
Violet pointed passed me, down the hallway towards the bathroom where I saw we now had a new door.
I looked from Violet to George in silence, before making my way down the hall quietly.
I could see from my the corner of my eye that they were both tryin' to pull me back, but I just walked faster and stood at the door, determinedly. I could hear talkin' and the sound of Annie laughin' from inside. Squaring my shoulders, I reached out and turned the handle.
The door swung open and two figures jumped. Annie immediately stopped laughin' and stared right at me. The other figure, a man, turned to face me also, lookin' a little pissed off, as if I was interruptin' somethin' important.
"Oh hey Mitchell," Annie said softly, throwin' me a small, awkward smile.
I stepped further into the room and the man walked toward me, extendin' his hand.
"Hey mate, name's Jack, I just came to fix the door," he said, lookin' me straight in the eye.
I nodded, shakin' his hand quickly, grittin' my teeth.
"I'm Mitchell, Annie's…housemate…" I muttered, advertin' my eyes.
That seemed to bring a smile to Jack's face, a smile that looked more like a smirk. I definitely didn't like the look of that, and I am most certainly not his mate…
Annie looked between the two of us as the silence engulfed the room.
"Um…right…well…who wants some tea?" she asked, clappin' her hands together, a happy grin on her face.
I glanced at her, no I most certainly don't want any feckin' tea! I want this tosser out of my house…I couldn't help but think. I don't know why, but by just standin' there lookin' all…friendly…it just made my blood boil.
"Tea sounds great, thanks Annie," Jack smiled at her, turnin' to collect his tools. I want to punch that smile right off his face.
Jesus, what is wrong wit' me?
"Cool, right so, after you Mitchell," she motioned for me to walk out.
"Yeah, after you mate," Jack chimed in and I couldn't help but glare at him. He didn't bat an eyelash however, he just stood there, grinnin' at me.
Fists clenched at my sides, I slowly turned around and made my way out of the bathroom, walked down the corridor and stairs, before any of them could say a word.
This was goin' to be a pain in the arse…if he calls me mate one more time…
A/N: Haha jealous Mitchell! I love it!
TO COME:
1. MORE JEALOUSY
2. ANNIE GETS A SURPRISE
3. NINA AND GEORGE HAVE DINNER
4. AND MORE!
Please let me know what you thought! ~wired2damoon~ x
