The day slipped by. Altessa alternated between sleeping, reading and pacing. She ate little, for she was contemplating. Should she leave? Or should she not? What about Alec?
Altessa stopped pacing in front of a full length mirror hanging on her door. Gothic. Everyone considered her gothic. But she didn't. She didn't because there were so many pathetic excuses running around as goths these days. All wanna be's.
Tess glanced at the clock and made her way to the door. She had another meeting with Alec. A smile spread on her lips but a frown chased it away. She would make it rain if she wanted to! She would show them she could make it on her own. Why couldn't she? She turned away from the door and reached for her phone, dialing Alec's cell.
"Hey, what's goin' on?" He greeted her.
"Alec. Meet me in my apartment at our time, ok?"
"No problem."
Dial tone indicated he had hung up. What should she bring? Only necessities. She would re-accessorize when she got to where she was going. Where would that be? Or then again, maybe she didn't want to leave. She argued with herself for a bit then decided to wait until Alec got there to decide. She would tell him only as much as necessary, just that someone was after her or something...Maybe. She'd think of something.
A thought pierced her mind. Why not go the spot she always got inspiration? She pushed redial on her phone.
"I'm on my way," Alec answered.
"No, Alec, meet me at the trinity church downtown."
"Tess, are you ok? You don't go to church."
"Yes. I've just never told you about it. Meet me there, ok?"
"Ok." He sounded confused.
Altessa hung up her phone and locked her apartment door, sliding into her black camero and making her way through the hilly streets of seattle. When she reached her destination, she just sat in her car for a moment just admiring it, until it started to rain.
Slowly, she made her way inside. It was a gothic church, tall pillars and high arches accenting the grayish brown stone it was built with. By the time she had gotten up the steps she was sopping wet, but she didn't care. What she did involved being wet. Swinging open the heavy door, she stepped inside and immediately her attention was drawn up, to the ceiling. She smiled. That was the way it was meant to be.
Tess lay down on the cold floor, just staring at the beautiful pictures portrayed above her. Colors of all varieties and pictures of all sorts tickled her eyes, as she lay on her back in middle of the floor of that great church. (A/N This is a real church in seattle)
The big door swung open and the cautious face of Alec peered in.
"Come inside, Alec." She called, her voice echoing softly. He walked to her side.
"Why the hell are you laying spread eagle on the floor of a church?"
"Not just any church."
"Right. Same question."
"Don't you feel inspired by all this?"
"Inspired to do what?"
"Keep on living. You know, this gets you thinking that maybe there is someone upstairs, maybe someone who cares when no one else does."
He knelt down, leaning over her and smoothing her hair. A wave in the otherwise still air in the church brushed her senses.
"Don't move." She whispered to Alec. "We're not alone."
His eyes left hers, sweeping the church. She brought his attention back to her. "I said don't, not do."
"It's probably just a priest or something."
"There's no priests here, Alec. There never is."
Another wave grated her nerves. "Look straight in front of you Alec, to my left. Make it look inconspicuous." He did, making it look like he was stretching. Tess noticed him stiffen. He saw something. He looked her in the eye.
"I just caught a glance before they slipped behind a pillar but they were carrying some kind of shield and a huge gun! What the fuck aren't you telling me about, Altessa?"
"No time, Alec. Too much. Stand up slowly, ok?" He did and she sat up, opening her mouth wide. "Show yourselves, you fucking idiots!"
Alec covered his face with his hands, hiding a grimace. About ten special ops stepped out into the open from behind various pillars surrounding them, holding their shields in front of them as if to hide from the devil himself. Ten different red laser beams aimed at various kill spots on their bodies.
"Holy shit!" Alec muttered, his hands in the air.
One of the ops flashed a badge over his shield and spoke. "Altessa Blake and Alec Jensen?"
"Who the fuck are they?" Tess yelled.
"What are you doing, Tess? Are you out of your mind?" Alec hissed.
"Believe it or not, we stand a good chance." She stated blatantly.
"It was not supposed to rain today, Miss Blake." The speaker op said.
"Is that what this is about? I didn't do it this time, honest!"
"Will you come away with us peacefully?"
"Hell no!"
Something hissed through the air and embedded iteslf in Tess's lower thigh. "Ow!" She shrieked, her voice bouncing from wall to wall. There was a dart sticking in her leg.
"What the fuck?" Alec yelled, flipping off the ops and reaching to pull the dart out of her leg.
"You move it, and she gets another one and you do too."
"What is this shit?" Tess asked through clenched teeth, clutching her leg and rocking back an forth.
"Just a knockout. It will take a couple minutes."
Alec pulled Tessa's frightened gaze to his. "I don't care what you did, Tess. I'm with you." He brushed his lips across hers, earning a snicker from the ops. The speaker cleared his throat.
"Mr. Jensen, please return to your home. We will summon you if you are needed."
Tess was breathing heavily. "Lay down, Alec."
"Feeling ok, Tess?"
"Just do it!"
"Ok."
Tess closed her eyes. In her minds eye she saw the ops as they were, not able to move. The air molecules were growing more dense, so dense it was as if gravity had gotten ten times stronger. She opened her eyes. It was starting to happen.
"What the fuck?" Different exclamations came from different ops. Some tried to raise their guns to shoot, only to find that they could hardly lift their arms, let alone their guns. Their eyes threatened to close.
Tess smiled, unable to speak. Black dots began to dance in front of her eyes. It was as if fairies were coming to bid her goodnight, farewell and happy times. They got bigger and bigger until she could see nothing. "Alec?" she called, her voice trembling. He squeezed her hand in reply.
Alec felt Tess's grip go limp, and the heaviness in the air lifted. Audible sighs of relief were everywhere. Alec rose and picked up Tess's limp form. "What did you put in that dart?" he yelled.
"It's none of your business, Mr. Jensen. Go home."
"None of my business? What's her business is mine!"
"Put the girl down, Alec. We will shoot."
"No!"
Another dart hissed through the air, catching him in the same spot it had Tess.
"Ah! Fuck you all!" He put Tess down so he wouldn't drop her when he passed out.
Next thing he knew he was lying in his bed. Jeez, that was a scary dream. So real, too. He rubbed his eyes and looked around his room. Nothing was different. He picked up his phone and dialed Tessa's number. It rang and rang until finally her anwering machine picked up.
You've reached the number you have dialed, so say what you wanna say or try again later. I'll see what I can do about getting back with you.
He hung up. He reached back and rubbed his tense neck, noticing all his muscles were wound up.
Must be coming down with the flu, he thought. Why the fuck did I go to bed in all my clothes? He shook his head. This was some hangover. Jeez, he didn't even remember what day it was. Just that stupid dream. Fuck it. He smiled, thinking back to the time that Tess had asked him about his language.
Is fuck your favorite word? You say it in almost every sentence.
She hardly said anything worse than shit back then. He brushed away the memory and sat on the end of his bed and switched on the TV, resting his chin on his hand and his elbow on his leg. A quick pain made him roll up his shorts to investigate. What the fuck? There was a black and blue spot with a little red dot in the middle. His eyes widened. Shit!
Altessa and he lived in the same building, only she lived about eight floors above him, where the master suites were. Alec grabbed a jacket, which had been deposited on he floor beside his bed. He ran out the door but backtracked when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror on his way out. The liner around his eyes was smudged all over his face and there were huge circles under his eyes. His hair was flat on one side and stuck straight out on the other. He was a site for sore eyes. He remembered when Tess had first seen him. She had thought he was Billie Joe Armstrong from Greenday.
The mall was crowded that day, and everyone was turning their heads his way. He heard hushed whispers about him being Billie Joe Armstrong and such, but he paid no heed and walked on out. A few people had tried to approach him but he had been quick to let them know he was not Billie Joe Armstrong, telling them in no uncertain terms. The had quickly backed off, thier faces red.
As he walked out of the mall, he stopped to breathe in the cool air and to savor the feeling of being alone, no one staring at him and gawking. Suddenly there was a gothic girl standing in front of him, holding her hand out. She was different, he knew that from the beginning, as she stood there in her morbid beauty. He took her hand.
"I'm Tess," she had said.
"I'm Alec." She grinned and pulled her hand out of his grip. "People think you're someone your not, huh?"
He let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah."
"It's your fault, you know." His eyebrows furrowed. "You lead them to think you are him by dressing like him! If you don't like it, why do you do it?"
"Well...I used to like it, I guess."
They had smiled and she had linked her arm with his, leading him to her car and handing him a little peice of paper with her number on it. "Only if you want to." She grinned lopsidedly and climbed into her car, revving the engine and speeding down the road. He had fallen head over heels for her.
Jerking his mind out of the past, he made himself look presentable and he rushed out the door, thinking all the way up the stairs. He took the stairs because he could climb them faster than the elevator took to go up eight floors. Why do they want Tess? So what she can do wierd things. It shouldn't harm anybody. I don't care what she does.