AN: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and follows! I know it's been a while since I updated, but I promise there are a few coming down the pipelines. This is a bit of a filler chapter, but we'll get some E/S time in the next one following. Hoping to have the next one up by the end of the week
Enjoy!
SPOV
I woke slowly to complete darkness. I still felt groggy and disoriented, and wanted nothing more to continue sleeping. I took a deep inhale and gingerly stretch my limbs.
Silk.
My mind registered that I was on a large bed, with silk sheets. I felt my heart rate increase. I started to use all of my senses, the way Claudine had taught me. My sight was useless, touch was a gamble since I couldn't see much, but could assume I was in a bedroom. Lord All Mighty please let it not be Nevil's. The small, broken voice inside me prays. I sit up slowly, reaching my hands all along the edges of what I assess to be a king-sized bed. A very EMPTY king-sized bed. Hallelujah to the Big Guy upstairs.
I then sit cross legged, and start to continue my slow, deep inhales, closing my eyes and focusing. My recent memories start to slowly filter into my mind. The escape, the return home, the … Eric, the doctor. I must have passed out afterwards, because the last thing I could remember was my neck comfortably tucked into the Viking's neck. Sexy neck, he had smelt so good. I take another deep inhale, and realize that, that same scent is all around me. So the Viking took me home? A part of me is shocked. I know he wants me, but if he wanted me in his bed so badly, wouldn't he have trapped me cuddling so that he has a snack to wake up to? Not to mention the virgin he's been chasing …
My heart swells a bit at the thought. He had capitalized on the sale of my house, but not on me, in a very big moment of weakness. After all that has transpired recently, I find myself devoid of well (sorry Gran) any FUCKS to give. I have spent far too long putting everyone else but ME first, and what did I get for it? Assaulted, kidnapped, tortured, and … Nevil.
I stay in that position for a while, sinking into a kind of meditation, and find myself back in the sub-conscious space I had found in the basement with Steve Newlin. The space has transformed from the wide spanning field, to the beach. There are large hills and rocks behind me, and a sharp crisp chill in the air. Definitely not somewhere in the south, but it is what I imagine somewhere in North Europe would be like. I find myself slowly walking the shoreline, my toes in the icy water. I am in another bland wispy gown, this one seeming to be of a century long ago.
With the rolling waves, I find my mind becoming more relaxed, I am embracing the idea of focusing on ME, and nothing else. I plop myself down in the sand, toes still in the water, as the waves tickle them, and ask myself the million dollar question: What now?
I register another mind slowly approaching the shoreline. It appears to be a teenage boy. Boyishly handsome, in linen pants and a matching long-sleeved tunic. He has rolled up his pant legs and is walking into the water. I find myself calling out to him.
"It's mighty cold in there mister!" He is only a few hundred yards away, and only slightly inclines his head to acknowledge that he's heard me.
"I do not feel much these days" he whispers over his shoulder in my direction. My brows furrow together. I feel this need to go to him, so I stand slowly, bunch my flowy gown in my hands and walk over to him. We are now up to our knees in the cold water, and stand there in comfortable silence.
"I come here when I feel lost" he tells me.
"You've been here before?" I ask, shocked. Here I thought this was just a part of my own mind, not a physical space.
"Yes, when I was human" he pauses and stares even farther out into the ocean "I would fish these waters to feed my family … such a simpler time then. Before war, before death". He sighs, and it strikes me that he is not human, but vampire. The moon has come out from the clouds, and has struck his skin softly, enhancing the glow that surround vampires in my mind.
"How long ago was that?" I can't help but ask. He closes his eyes, and then turns to face me. He reaches out a hand and caresses my cheek.
"Over two thousand years, Little One" he says, a small smile forming on his lips. "You remind me very much of my sister. She was strong, stubborn. Like you, many people tried to break her, or mould her to what they believe was right. She fought them with everything in her." His hand stops stroking, and comes to land softly on my shoulder. "I am thankful that you at least, have survived".
I cast my gaze downwards. "You're sister didn't?" I whisper. When I don't hear him answer, I raise my eyes to his stormy grey gaze, and he shakes his head ever so slightly.
"In my time, it was seen as a burden to be rectified. Today, your strength will be embraced."
"I don't have much strength left in me" I confess. His other hand comes to land on my other shoulder, his two hands now holding the base of my neck.
"Oh Little One, you have only just realized the strength you hold. Never again will you cower" the small smirk appears on his lips again, as he leans in to brush a kiss to my forehead.
"You know me?"
He has now moved his hands to embrace me. One hand holding my head, the other wrapped around my shoulders. His skin is cold, but I am comforted by it.
"I'd like to" his strong voice rumbles, as I return the hug. "I want you to remember what you are capable of. You have endured much in a short time, and these experiences will only allow you to propel further, if you let them. When faced with struggles, we may let them engulf us, or let them propel us to what we desire."
I close my eyes, as we remain embraced, and find myself return to Eric's bed.
A soft glow lights up the room, and I realize there is a phone resting on the bedside table I was unable to see. The glow allows me to also see the bedside lamp, which I quickly turn on. I am in a small room that has very little furniture. The king sized bed I am resting on, a small dresser with the lamp and smartphone, and one door. I pick up the smartphone and see it is 3:00 in the afternoon. I also see the year and my jaw drops. After coming back from Fae I knew time had passed, but had no idea how long. It seems two and a half years have passed in my absence. I take a moment as that sinks in, and find myself not truly caring. What did I really leave behind? A few friends, who weren't all that accepting of anything supernatural, and a brother who was more self-serving than I'd like to admit.
Abruptly, I hear movement on the other side of the cement door. It sounds like gears turning, and soon the door seems to sink in towards the room, then slide to the side. It reveals the small teenager I was just speaking to in my subconscious. Feeling more centered and awake, I realize it is Godric.
"Do not be afraid" he assures me, taking a few small steps towards me. He comes to stand at the edge of the bed, palms raised in a surrender gesture.
"How did you get in my head?" I quickly ask, bringing my legs up to my chest, and scooting back to the headboard of the bed.
He remains silent, hands still raised as he seems to contemplate how to respond. "In terms of our interaction just now, I was not in your head per se, but projecting a space. Similar to the way you see memories play out, that space is a part of my memory. I use it to meditate. You were meditating in a similar space, without walls, and I pulled you into mine."
"Are you telepathic too?" I ask in a small whisper. His eyes twinkle, and he shakes his head.
"No, I do not have the gifts that you do. I was always of strong mind before I was turned. Very spiritual, and it seems my mother was not entirely human... A demi-god as it turns out. She taught me forms of meditation that allow me to control aspects of the mind. I may speak to my child telepathically, but can hear no others. I found the control of spaces, and mediation was enhanced upon my transition to vampire. I am able to influence others in the same spaces similar to a stronger glamour."
"You could make people hallucinate" I realize. He nods and quickly adds "It is difficult, and I have never used such a skill. But believe I could, yes". He finally drops his hands, and gives me a genuine smile.
"Come, sit with me?" he asks, turning towards the door and gesturing with his head. "I imagine you could use some sustenance" he says, and begins to walk out of the room. As if on cue, my stomach growls loudly, I hear him chuckle, and I blush. Godric and I had not interacted much before all the chaos of the kidnappings. We had met and interacted but nothing intensely significant. However I find myself drawn to a strange sense of comfort with him, like we could be friends. I slowly unfurl my tight limbs, and walk after him slowly.