Pandora
Chapter XIV:
Sorrow, I am sorry. Please forgive me.
I've decided to put original version of Pandora (chapter 1-18) on Dropbox (as PDF). Dropbox has two options you can choose from: with reviews replies or without.
Dropbox links are in my TUMBLR ACCOUNT: sunset-wishes-upon-hill
On my Tumblr, simply search 'PDF' OR Click Story Link on the sidebar.
Thank you to those who have read, reviewed and favourited my story:
Dark Angels and Light Angels- Right now, Demetri is not in the 'love-love' (I imagine it takes vampires to fall in love quite slowly but when they do, the feelings develop quite quickly). You could say, at the moment, he's simply enjoying the amusement she brings in his life although there's a bit of jealousy involved (with Alec).
Alis-volat-propriis97- I'll try to write it in his POV in future chapter! I haven't thought of that in the previous chapter because this story is mostly from Jessica's POV (I actually regret now) but yes, I'll try to involve other vampires' POV.
ShizukaRen-Hime- Thank you for being so patient! I hope you enjoy this as well!
Yessi-love1619- Thank you! Jessica is portrayed as that sarcastic, funny girl so hopefully I deliver that well!
akagami hime chan- #thingsdrunkpeopledo I've seen my friend trying to follow another girl's home for ice cream when drunk..yah, people do weird things when drunk!
Guest#1- Thank you so much! I've been editing the chapter before uploading them to avoid any of the messy, weird grammar errors I've been seeing in my past chapters.
Lya- Yes, I think many people think living for eternity might be great but there's only so much in the world we could have and do until the novelty of forever youth runs out and it's so tiring and exhausting to even just exist, never mind live. With Demetri and death, yes you're completely right! It's the reason why she did what she did to Aro and Demetri, despite the outward demeanour of a gentleman, he has a severe lack for humanity.
AurorQuill17- Jess is 17 (New Moon age, same as Bella). I believe by the Eclipse, she'd be 18 but I'm planning to have her celebrate her birthday in Volterra.
Ms. luise- I don't drink much but from what every drunk people told me, the day after and as day deepens, you get flashbacks of things you've done – mostly embrassing, shameful ones. So yes, Jessica isn't an exception. The only unfortune is that the person that witnessed it happens to be a vampire.
HadeCharon93- Hi hi! I can't believe you're still here too! You have been with the story from the beginning..wow the nostalgia! How have you been?
Evaivory- Thank you! Here's the next chapter!
A/N: The chapter 15 is finished, I just need to go back and edit them. I'd like to thank angelinaburns for editing this chapter for me!
The delights—and pitfalls—of drinking was that it allowed people to cast off the shackles of inhibition.
Jessica Stanley awoke in the familiar Roman style bathroom, lying in the large, marbled concrete bathtub. Gianna mentioned this was one of two rooms in the castle that still had a working plumbing system and to Jessica's relief situated close to the secretary room and entrance to the castle. The vampires resided in the center and far corners of the castle, offering a small privacy Jessica wanted.
It seemed basic hygiene like bathing and grooming was no longer essential after one became a vampire; they didn't sweat, bleed or accumulated dirt or emitted unpleasant body odors. There had been only once in her lifetime she went hiking for two nights and three days with her aunt for her twelfth birthday and vowed she would never go back. Despite using dry shampoo every hour and wiping herself down with wet wipes, the grease on her hair, the stale odor on the surface of her skin and the specks of dirt and sweat was something she could still remember to this day.
Must be nice to not have to shower every day. Wait why am I in a tub?
Every bone and muscle ached, head pounding, morning after dry, sour mouth like she had walked the desert for weeks without a drop of water and all-consuming hunger for any and all carbs and the lethargy that stopped her from leaving the tub. This was when the fear struck her – a cold clench in the middle of her chest, a dread so heavy she could feel it – that nagging feeling that she's done something embarrassing, and the harrowing flashbacks that reminded of her misadventures. Random flashbacks and memories of words and deeds that will cause a person to bark, yelp and growl with horror as their limbs twitch from involuntary spasms of shame.
She couldn't remember much from last night or how she managed to crawl back into the castle to the safety of her bathroom's tub. Jessica prayed this wasn't a repeat of Lauren's sixteenth birthday party where they were served alcohol buffet-style and the morning after, as single tear winded its way down her face, her mind replayed her trying to air kiss someone and headbutting them instead and vomiting into her hands inside a taxi and then just sitting there, holding it before putting it inside her handbag.
Jessica managed to haul herself out of the bathroom four hours later after vomiting, brushing and washing herself to look as presentable as she could – which wasn't much but that was what sunglasses were for. Few knocks on her door, Jessica answered and to her delight, sweltering Gianna stood there with puffed, red cheeks from exertion.
"Gianna! Did you go for a morning jog or something?"
"Morning, Jess, uh...have you been drinking?"
"Yeah, last night. I only drank like one or two."
"You're still holding a bottle of vodka." Gianna mentioned, motioning to the empty 1L glass in her hand. She hadn't noticed.
"Sorry, I'm really hungry, do you have any carbs?"
"We can get lunch later but there are some packages for you and I need you to help me carry them."
"What packages?"
When she arrived to Gianna's work table, twenty beige boxes with Christian Louboutin Paris logo written in white lettering were neatly stacked in four rows of five on her desk and chairs.
"That's not mine." Jessica shook her head with a frown. She checked the item description sticker, stating the name of the shoe, sku bar and European size as 35.5 – both hers' and Gianna's. "Are you sure it isn't yours'?"
"Not mine. Demetri said you asked for them; twenty of them and he wanted it to be delivered by today."
Jessica scrawled in shock, vehemently shaking her head, "Nononono, I never ask him for shoes? Who the hell ask a vampire for Louboutins?!"
"You apparently. He said you asked him to get you twenty pairs."
"Are you sure he didn't mistake Louboutin for freedom?"
Gianna shook her head, "Look, I only did what he told me; it's yours' now, you should have it."
Apprehensively, Jessica opened one of the nearer boxes, revealing a pair of four inch gold pumps with expensive looking decorations.
"Oh, that's my favourite! It's the latest season's limited edition. Do you know only five were sold worldwide?! They sold it to me because of who I work for; it's funny to think working for vampires might come with some shopping perks but designers love prestigious family who comes from old money; that's how I was able to buy my first Birkin. Anyway, I wasn't sure of your taste so I got various styles for you to wear."
Jessica regarded the thin heel with horror then looked at Gianna, "This must be a message. Like he wants me dead from broken ankles? Or he wants to stab me with the heel? This is a weapon you know."
"Or he wants you to wear them?"
"I slip even when I wear sneakers, what do you think this would do to me?"
"Why would you ask him for them then?"
"I didn't freakin ask him!"
Jessica ran back to her room, ignoring Gianna's shout to take them back in the room with her, closed the door and typed in 'punishment shoe' on the phone's search portal. Scrolling down various results about how bad luck it was to give shoes as a gift, her attention shifted to a certain phrase highlighted in the preview.
The writing of Juvenal (55-140) emphasised that to give a spanking with a shoe was a serious punishment commonly administered to children and slaves.
Most gruesome and painful medieval torture devices: boots
Punishing Shoes: The shoes were often used in conjunction with the standing pillory (a device that holds your head and wrists in place while you stand). How long do you think you could stand on your tippy-toes before you had to rest your heels on those iron spikes?
The Boots: The victim's legs were placed between two planks of wood and bound together with cords. Between the cords the torturers placed wedges with which they would violently hammer. Each time a wedge was hammered, an acute portion of the shin bone was shattered. The tormentors could hammer at least a dozen wedges up and down the legs. When the Boots were removed, the bone fragments fell to pieces and the skin of the lower legs merely served as loose sacks for them.
Yep, I definitely did something wrong.
It was at that crucial point in her hangover her evening splayed itself in front of her like a chaotic rave video as she slipped into stasis, rendered broken by the journey through a world inhabited by her worst drunken behaviours and most terrible spat sentences seguing before her as she watched herself drunk-dialling Mike, playing idiotic drinking game with Esther, insulting a vampire and even challenging him to a fight.
50 missed calls and 60 messages from Mike, 6 messages from Angela, 8 missed calls and 12 messages from Bella, her phone notifications board read. Block Mike. Her mind reminded.
She slid down to the floor against the closed door, rendered catatonic by everything that had happened within twenty four hours.
"Are you awake?" Asked the voice behind the door.
"No I'm dead."
"You did not like my gifts?"
"I thought it's very expensive and unnecessary way to kill someone."
"Kill you?" Demetri muttered, confused, "You asked for them, remember?"
"Why would I ask twenty pairs of Louboutins from a vampire?"
"So that you will be mine."
Her phone clattered against the floor, jaw dropped as she stared at the wood – the person behind it.
"Are you joking?" He was snarky and flirtatious and that made her hard to read him than Alec or Caius. She could never take his words at its face value and was left nuisance by the amount of analysis her brain had to endeavour each of his words and actions. In fact, he was a little like Mike, Jessica grumbled, on the surface they seemed most carefree and simple but underneath were convoluted skein of multiplex psychology. Maybe she should study psychology instead, that might help lessen the amount of shocks she'd experience in life than philosophy.
"I am not. I'm interested in you – more than as a food."
"Why would a vampire as old as you be interested in me?"
"The same way Edward is interested in his human. Could one put such proclivity into words?"
"And you thought it was good idea to confess when I'm drunk?"
"You were too endearing."
"Look, if you're interested in having some weird human-vampire sex, you should ask Esther; she'd be more than happy to jump into the experiment."
"It has to be you." Demetri confessed, "I chose you. No one else can be you."
She heard those lines before, so many times in the movies and books and from Mike and other boys before him. Jessica thought it was the most cheesiest, cringe-worthy declaration yet Demetri managed to make them sound like the greatest love confession that could demean Romeo and Juliet's love as fleeting crush. It's that siren voice of his; velvety, enchanting, baritone song she was sure seduced many women in his lifetime.
Oh I must be the new 'it' toy. Jessica thought emotionlessly.
"I was drunk when I said that. And I'm pretty sure I didn't ask you for Louboutins, I tend to ask for food. Are you sure it wasn't pizza?"
"You were not exactly clear about what you wanted." She could almost feel his smile.
"Yeah, I tend to forget the name of the food I want to eat when I'm drunk." Jessica revealed, "It's not fair to take advantage of me like that."
"You are more honest when intoxicated." Demetri replied, "And more entertaining."
"Oh is that why you tucked me into the bathtub instead of my bed?!"
"You wanted me nowhere near you. You tried to challenge me to a fight, attempted to force me to play hide and seek then threatened to stab me with a stake if I enter your room. It left me quite frightened."
"Good to know someone like you could still be frightened."
"Not much faze me these days hence more kudos to you."
"I have a boyfriend."
"The same one that makes you cry?"
Jessica's eyes widened, forcing a neutral tone she entreated, "What did I do?"
"Nothing much other than crying over your broken heart and getting into fights with lampposts because it kept blocking your way."
"Sorry you had to play Dr Phil." She wasn't.
"I do not know who that doctor is."
He's not an actual doctor. "He's just someone that gets paid to listen to your problem and try to solve them."
"Ah."
Jessica wished she could just dracarys herself into oblivion, disintegrated ash of nothing just like her dignity last night.
"Open the door. Let me see you."
"Sorry, I'm not decent." I look like Miss Trunchbull right now.
"Good. I prefer that."
Her cheeks lighted with red hues at his suggestive intonation but refused to let it affect her, "Sorry for confusing you but please return those shoes. I didn't mean what I said last night."
There was a pause.
"What is your answer now?"
"I don't know you...not exactly romantic to dive in to a relationship with a stranger."
"Then we can start now. Ask your questions and I shall answer to the best of my abilities."
"Would Aro be fine with…all of this?"
"He tolerates them as long as you do not expose our existence."
Quite an obvious answer. She thought.
"Fine. But you need to return those shoes." Jessica ordered, "I thought it was some kind of sinister message about the way you'd kill me or something!"
"They do not suit your taste?"
"It's a bit wasteful to spend so much on those shoes when you could probably buy out the whole restaurant with that money."
He chuckled, "Understood. But let me see your face."
"Why?"
"As much as I enjoy hearing your voice, nothing would make me happier than seeing its owner."
Jessica sat on the cold, marble floor for ten minutes before slowly standing up and turning to face the door. With great reluctance, her hand pushing down the lever and pulled it inward until a thin sliver of space allowed them to merge; making him known the door would not open further. Demetri silently respected the boundary with a modest smile. The gap was sufficient enough for him to reach out his arm inside, his fingers stroking the exposed side of her cheek, running down until it met her fingertips and bringing the same hand toward him. His lips brushed her fingers before turning out her hand to press those full lips against her palm, feather light; almost as though the gesture was a sort of secret they knew.
Gently returning her arm back to her, he backed away while maintaining their eye contact before he turned to disappear into the dark tunnel.
She wished that vodka bottle wasn't empty.
Ever since her encounter with Demetri, she needed to feel the wind and the sun on her skin, air in her lung because she couldn't breathe. Jessica wondered from places to places, spent hours in the L'Incontro as she briefly spoke with her parents then replied to Angela's texts and called Bella to say she was still thinking on her grand scheme of plans.
When the sun went down, the end of day nearing as it called for everyone to return back to their home, she didn't want to go back to the castle. That late evening, Jessica returned to the museum, sitting beneath the Deposition from the Cross, Volterra.
The paint conveyed grief and violent suffering; Jessica wondered what could have been like to have actually been presence at His final moment. Would people's expression been just like this image or quite different.
From the corner of her gaze, Jessica espied someone sitting down beside her on the marble bench, separated by the chess board integrated into the furniture. She thought it was such a unique and beautiful design; a transparent black and white glass board with frosted, clear chess pieces for one to play under the magnificent art pieces. There were no one but her and the person beside her in this chamber.
"Do you want to play chess?" She asked, turning to face the cruel vampire.
"You would not win." He sounded calm, nonchalant.
It was at rare moment like this that made her think the man wasn't always perpetually and chronically angry although he rarely displayed other emotions other than expressing satisfaction in administering and participating in punishment. He certainly felt genuine disdain for humans, that she felt, but it was nice for him to act somewhat amicably.
"It would be my life's greatest achievement if I did." Jessica commented with excitement, "How could one ever expect to win against an ancient vampire in any strategic games?"
He scoffed, "You sounded certain in your sudden outburst yesterday."
"I didn't mean to disrespect your authorities as leaders." Jessica explained, "But I didn't like how he was upsetting everyone for his amusement or some intricate plans of his. Including you. I know – at least I think I know – you want the law to be respected and followed by everyone; no exceptions. Me and Bella's status as still being human and not dead or vampire undermine that. I mean what's use is the law if someone follows it and others don't…"
"Thus you know how problematic your presence is." Caius retorted, "I hope you shall not forget that thinking. One step out of the line and I shall see to your death, regardless of what Aro have in his plans for you. You will not be spared."
"I won't be spared." Jessica nodded with affirmation. It used to scare her – death despite what she had fronted but she wasn't anymore. Maybe that's what made everyone fear death. The hold they had for the world of living; whether it was money, legacy, fame, family, friends or love, it was all too good to leave it all behind after the effort and time they invested in their lives. What good is that investment if you won't reap what you sow?
For her, there was still time to at least right the wrongs that needed to be righted, tie any loose ends that needed to be tied, prepare for the ending of her life and hope by the time they hear the news of her death, there would still be someone in the world to carry on the memory of Jessica Stanley in a way she wanted to be remembered. That was her immortality.
That was one of final fears most people faced, wasn't it? Who will remember them and how will they be remembered? The idea that they were men of means but not of men of substance would be recurring terror.
Jessica regarded the painting with pondering wonder. Life is full of choices. How many of those choices would I come to regret? I'm not sure about anything else but one thing is for sure. We choose the path we walk on. Even though we haven't found the answers to all the questions in our choices, but still, we aren't alone.
"So chess?" Jessica asked again, "I'm not sure if you ever played chess with a human before. My grandmother was a genius at chess, better than most men apparently, and she wanted to be a grandmaster but because of the gender she was assigned to at birth, she couldn't so she taught everything she knows to me hoping I'd follow her footsteps. I didn't want to become a grandmaster because it didn't' sound girly enough at the time. Anyway, I got my grandmother's seventy years of experience under my belt."
For a moment, he seemed irritated at the prospect of engaging in chess duelling with a human until to her delight, shifted his body to the marble table and taking back his scattered black pieces.
"I will not be amused if you make this game dull for me." The command although seemed like a veiled threat carried an air of light bon mot.
"Sure. I hope you don't go easy on me either because I'm human." As white piece start first, Jessica opened it with a pawn to E4.
"Hmph." Caius countered with a pawn to C5.
Jessica took a moment to ponder on her next move, after all she was taking on a vampire who had thousands and thousands years observe countless openings and practises to ploy and hone any mistakes or weakness he may have had. She moved her white knight to F3.
Caius, on the other hand, slid his black knight to C6 without reserve.
She moved anther pawn to D4. Caius' C pawn attacked her D pawn which gave her knight the chance to attack the same pawn of his.
The game was spent in silence other than occasional sounds of pieces moving across the board; one could feel what sort of person they were by their defense and offense, and just as she had predicted, he was aggressive in his advance but rightfully cautious in each moves he make.
She captured his Queen while he captured two of her pawns and a rook allowing him to promote the pawn to Queen. Her Queen quickly recaptured his. Most tended to resign after their Queen was captured due to the loss of points and material gap but Caius didn't.
"In chess, the Queen is the hero and the King is the damsel in distress. I always wondered why Queen was the most powerful and the King is not because you'd expect the opposite."
"Once the King is dead, the game is over. The Queen, even with its powers, is replaceable. The game continues whether the Queen is alive or dead."
"You'd think the King would at least be too sad to fight." Jessica grumbled.
"A King cannot be easily swayed by its emotions. Otherwise he would not be one. Contrary to your belief, the chess board once lacked a queen altogether," Caius admitted, "In India, Persia and the Arab crescent; early chess included only male figures, the closest thing to the queen being the 'vizier."
"Oh, so she wasn't always powerful? How did queen come to be?"
"No. In tenth century rule, the queen was second only to pawns in her abject powerlessness on the board – able to move only one step diagonally in any direction, but today's queen was born of the gender politics associated with the clash between Christianity and Eastern cultures; and gained power in concert with traditions of queenly rule in Europe."
Well I learned something new today.
On the 47th move, her King was cornered and game was over.
"شاه مات ." He declared in an unfamiliar tongue she suspected meant 'checkmate'.
Accepting her defeat, she clapped, "It's been a long time since the game lasted so long!" Jessica said in awe, the only time the game became long lasting was when she went up against her grandmother. And not many people in Forks tend to even know how to play chess, except for Angela who entertained her often, and so she was accustomed to playing alone by herself. It was boring but analysing positions and entire game on her own, freely exploring moves and idea while trying to determine best play made for fantastic improvements of her skills.
"I thought you would last longer than forty seventh moves." Caius intoned, discontented.
"I'm the first human you went against; you can't exactly compare me to another vampire." Jessica moaned, "You know what, give me a chance, I will beat you." Pause, "One day." Another pause, "Before my death."
"I do not give second changes." Caius disregarded, "You will not win against me whilst you are human."
Jessica sighed, "Well I studied your move today and I swear I will beat you. You better prepare yourself."
"No need."
"Ouch! That's cruel."
"Ah, you realise that now?"
"That remark was just as painful as Jane's power."
"Oh, would you like another taste for comparison?"
"No thank you!" Jessica shook her head, "I need to apologise to Jane for trespassing her garden but I don't know how to. Do you know what's sorry in flower language is?"
He raised a brow at her question, "Are you so inane to not know where to look for those information?"
"Well, we modern humans don't exactly know flower language from top of our head despite what past humans did. I just know red rose means love and I learnt it the hard way when I turned up to my cousin's Asian friend's birthday part with white flowers which apparently means death and you should only give it to in a funeral."
"Thus you proved my point." Caius sharply remarked with a tilt of his head.
"You seemed to know everything; I thought you'd know about flower language too. Sorry." Jessica countered.
"Purple hyacinth." He said after a long silent.
"Wha–oh purple hyacit?" Jessica took out her phone, fingers clumsily tapping on the screen to write them down before she forgot.
"Hyacinth."
"How do you spell-never mind, auto correct." Jessica quickly returned her attention to the phone, avoiding the glare he was giving her.
"Thank you for today!" She grinned, "For the game and the knowledge. Can we play another soon? I'll try to hit sixty moves."
He didn't respond, standing up and leaving the museum.
She gasped as the phone clock displayed 01:00AM. They've been playing for two hours!
The next day came without much trouble, although having stayed up late until 3AM meant sleeping into the afternoon, exhaustingly climbing out of the bed, feeling unrested. She came across Gianna, who with dejected mien, was organising the shoe boxes into a corner for them to be sent back. Thoughtfully, Jessica told her it was up to hers' to do whatever she wanted to do with those shoes, send it all back or keep it for herself, Jessica didn't mind. At the gleeful brightening of Gianna's expression, she was glad to have asked the question. Gianna promised to buy her a drink next time. Jessica asked her to change it to pizza instead of alcohol as from now on, she had decided to distance herself from the devil's drink.
Jessica stopped by a small flower shop in the town, Artemisia Fioristi, admiring the various mix of fresh cut flowers, stems and greens displayed outside the shop. On the window, there was a typography poster in colourful, cursive font with a message: 'Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers – they'll remind you how beautiful life is!'
Last time I did, it turned out to be poison ivy.
The young woman, presumably the florist, opened the shop's door to greet her with a large grin, "Ciao, my name's Giulia! Are you and your boyfriend looking for something?"
Boyfriend? Confused, she let out a tiny gasp when she felt an arm wrapping itself around her wrist and was assaulted with different sharp, sweet scent altogether.
"If all you wanted was flowers, you could have asked." Demetri turned with a soft look in his eyes.
"Actually," She started, addressing both Giulia and 'her boyfriend', "I'm looking for something to give it to a friend."
The pretty florist nodded, blushing and gaze lingering predominantly on Demetri, "Sure, you want to come in?"
Jessica nodded before whispering to the vampire next to her, "Every time you sneak up on me, I lose five years off my life expectancy."
"All the more reason to hurry your transformation." He replied with a smirk.
Removing his hand from her waist with rolling of her eyes as she entered the shop, "You're funny, Demetri(!)" No, he wasn't.
"I hear that every time."
Jessica wasn't interested in flowers as much as she probably could; finding little use in something that would last in its beauty for few days before she had to dispose the wilted flowers which was an another type of labour she wanted to avoid. Mike had learned very early in the relationship, flowers meant inconsequential to her and preferred food over stunning bouquets of roses.
So it wasn't a surprise to have never entered a flower shop before today as she marvelled at the sight that unravelled before her. The first thing she noticed was its cold, intoxicating fragrance; an aroma mash-up of freesias, roses, lilac, peonies and whatever else was dewy-fresh. The blossoms placed next to each other took her on a botanical scent journey that rarely missed a beat, even if it was peppered with the bitter trail of ivy or an earthy pine branch on the way.
"So does your friend have any favourite flowers?" Giulia asked.
Taking out her phone, Jessica checked her note for the flower's name. "Um, purple hya..c.."
"Purple hyacinth." Demetri intervened for her. "Flower of sorrow, forgiveness and regret."
Giulia stared at him, impressed and more charmed than ever, "Oh wow, you really know your flowers! It's really rare to meet a man who knows floriography other than the obvious red roses."
"My mother taught it to me." He replied tersely.
"Your mum's awesome." Giulia cooed with delight then looked at Jessica enviously, "You're so lucky."
Please, no.
Giulia headed to the shop's corner where Jessica saw waxy, densely-packed florets, ranging from white, peach, orange, salmon, yellow, pink, red, purple, blue and lavender.
"I presume it is for Jane?"
"Yep, do you think she'll accept them?"
"Jane can be unforgiving most of the time, especially if it involves her brother. I am sorry but I cannot give you an exact answer."
"Well," Jessica sighed, "She won't kill me at least right?"
"She won't." Demetri said then vowed, "I will make sure of that."
Jessica blinked, lowering her head to hide the obvious blush creeping up her face.
"What varieties do you want: single, double or multiflora?! You're lucky, often you do not have much choice in them!" Giulia shouted from the back.
Jessica with no shred of information on flowers, referred back to Demetri for guidance with trouble expression. "Uh…"
"Multiflora is less formal than single or double. Singles are common; doubles are rare and makes for an excellent display. I suggest you get the double since you have an option."
Jessica nodded, "Double please!"
Giulia brought several similar florets to the table, laying in front of her to choose, one was densely flowered and aesthetically pleasing while other, Jessica suspected was single, were not as full and clumped. The third flower looked very similar to both singles and doubles with noticeable differences in size and bulbs.
"I think Jane might prefer Roman than the Dutch." Demetri advised much to Giulia's delight.
"Wow, you really know your flowers, huh!" Giulia praised with a gasp.
Demetri accepted the compliment gracefully with a humble smile.
"So how many do you want? Twenty five or fifty stems?"
"Fifty please, as much as you can pack." Jessica replied straight away.
Jessica and Demetri left the shop, in her hand lush, big hand-tied bouquets of royal purple Roman hyacinth and eighty euros out of her pocket. Who knew flowers could be so expensive?!
"I assume flowers are not your taste either." Demetri noted. Jessica almost dropped her wallet when she read the register's screen and discerning her shock, Demetri had offered to pay although she refused to allow him, seeing this was her own matter, not his.
"Nope." Jessica confirmed.
"You are not interested in flowers or shoes, what do you want?"
"..Food."
Demetri let out a feeble huff, face contorted into surprise at her unexpected answer.
Jessica wasn't sure how she should start – at first, she should try to locate Jane. She recalled how well kept and flourished the garden was, suggesting the young vampire spent better part of her time tending to its need but she sure as hell didn't want to burst into the garden for another replay of the certain day in the garden and ruining the one chance for reconciliation.
She was standing in the dark tunnel, with bunch of flowers in hand and a nervous grin on her face as though she arrived on her date's doorstep for their first date.
"Alec?" Jessica called to nothing particular, hoping he would answer. Ever since their quarrel in her room, she had not seen him nor did he sought her out like he had when they were on a more friendly term before Demetri discovered them. She missed that.
Typically, he would respond to his name and come to her like some twisted version of knight in shining armour of hers'. Sometimes she felt that no matter where she was, his name was that magic word that would summon him to her side.
Her head hung low, dejected, her call remaining unanswered and unheard in the air.
How am I supposed to give this to Jane now? Jessica sighed. I'll have to ask Demetri.
Turning toward the tunnel's exit, she was about to walk away when a voice spoke up in the abyss.
"You called."
The familiar cold, monotone voice halted her in track and happiness hit her in a huge burst as her spell worked.
"Alec!" Jessica exclaimed, stunned. But he was hidden in the darkness, too dark for mortal eyes to discern anything clear of the vampire behind her. "I can't see you."
"I can."
A sense of insecurity waved over her, palms sweating and her stomach tying itself into knots as the diligently prepared speech irretrievable from the black hole of her mind. Soon, they fell into an impasse, neither willing to speak.
Then few moments later, Alec lifted the silence. "Why did you call me?"
"Is Jane still angry?"
Jessica felt his intense gaze upon her, disliking how he could see her but she couldn't. She needed to see his face.
"She has calmed down. There is no need to concern yourself with her." He intoned.
"C-can I? Can I see her?"
There was a pause and in that moment, she wanted to take out her phone and shine a light on him to discern what sort of expression his face was wearing.
"Why?"
"I want to give her this.." She mentioned to the florets she was holding in her arms, "I want to apologise to her."
"That would only irritate her. She does not want to see you."
"I know she's mad at me and I know it was wrong of me to sneak into the garden but I want to apologise to her face to face." Jessica pleaded, "If she still won't see me then can you pass this onto her then? For me?"
Alec let out a deep, frustrated breath and snatched the florets from her arms.
"Why are you angry?" She asked, "Is it because of Jane?"
"Don't." He strained, "Stop presuming things."
"If it's not Jane then what–" The air left her, sentence left hanging in the precipice of her tongue as she felt herself pushed against the wall in blinding speed that left her dizzy. It didn't help she was still very hung-over.
"Stop tormenting me!" It was the first time she heard him raise his voice but her moment of fear was left too distracted by the closeness of their bodies, drowning her in that sickly sweet aroma of his. Just like that time.
"What did I do?" Jessica asked, sincerely wanting to know just what she had done to him to warrant his anger.
شاه مات - Persian phrase "shāh māt" which means, literally, "the King is helpless."