4. Poppy's Prediction
When Ash and Mary-Lynette finally arrived in Los Angeles, it was after midnight. It had taken them several days longer than normal to get there, as Ash had wanted to take some lengthy detours to try and lose any pursuers.
Time alone with Ash had allowed Mary-Lynette to finally realise that they really were meant to be together. All through the year, she had worried that it wouldn't work out, the way normal relationships often didn't, despite the best of intentions. Now, getting to know what it was like to have him around, Mary-Lynette had realised how having a soulmate was supposed to be. Apart from wanting to discover a star, Mary-Lynette had never felt more complete. Ash was her other half, and she knew that she would never be able to be without him.
Living with Ash however, was going to be another story.
The perks of going to sleep and waking up in Ash's arms were starting to be out weighed by some of his bachelor habits. Namely, forgetting to clean the sink out after shaving in the mornings. It would be left, filled with little bits of gristle. Yuck. Mary-Lynette could remember Mark doing the same thing when he first began to shave until she pointed it out him.
Yes, a few things were going to have to change in Ash's life.
A few things were going to change in Mary-Lynette's life as well. Such as the prospect of having an actual physical relationship with someone. Mary-Lynette didn't have much experience in such matters, but Ash, of course, had plenty. And the worst thing was Mary-Lynette didn't know what she wanted! Ash was being very much the gentleman, playing it slow, letting her make all the moves, but sometimes Mary-Lynette would see a flash in his eyes, and she knew he wanted more.
Ash pulled into an underground car park with a bump, distracting Mary- Lynette from her thoughts. I'll worry about it later, she thought to herself. Plenty of time.
"So, this is it?"
"Yup."
"How far away is the campus?"
"Not far. You'll be able to go in with James some days. He's getting himself and education apparently."
They got out of the car and Mary-Lynette peered into the damp darkness of the parking lot. "Do they know we're here?"
"No, I didn't want anyone else to find out, so we'll be a surprise."
"What if they're not home?"
"I have a key."
"What if-"
"Enough! You can stop worrying Mare, I've got everything under control."
"This from the guy who thought that he was going to spend his summer in Oregon," she said shooting him a slightly annoyed look, at which she received a grimace in return. "Sorry Ash. The whole thing frightens me a little, and trying to figure out you and me at the same time... sometimes it feels like my head is going to implode."
Another grimace. "It's not every day you find out your father's trying to hunt you and your soulmate down and kill you either."
Mary-Lynette reached out to take his hand and give it a squeeze, tingeing her vision with translucent pink. Ash squeezed back in return. "Let's go meet your cousin."
The walls of the corridor were a non-descript cream, with the paint peeling at the edges, and there was a strong smell of industrial disinfect in the air. Ash walked to the end of the passageway where he opened a door to a stairwell.
"It's a long way up I'm afraid, Poppy and James are at the top and there's no elevator."
"That's alright, stairs are good for you," she replied. Stairs weren't a big deal really. "Which one's your cousin? Poppy or James? You never mentioned."
"James. His mother is my father's sister."
"And they're both vampires, but soulmates, and part of Circle Daybreak?"
"Yup. But Poppy didn't used to be a vampire. She was human, but got cancer. A very terminal kind. She only had about three months to live when James changed her to save her from dying. But she had to pretend she had died to the rest of her family and friends because otherwise the doctors would have wanted to know how she got better. Only her twin brother knows what really happened. So then she and James had to go on the run to avoid being caught by both humans and the Nightworld. James' family thinks that he's living it up here at the moment and don't really know what's going on."
"Which is what you thought about your family too, isn't it? That they didn't really know what was happening and you just had to be circumspect."
"That's what I thought." He sighed.
Just as Mary-Lynette started to puff, the stairs ended and they were in another narrow passage. Ash walked to the end of the hallway and knocked on a door.
There was a pause and a scuffle behind the door as someone looked through the peep-hole. Ash preened and shot a winning smile towards it. A muffled squeal was emitted and the door was flung open.
"Ash!" cried a small, copper-haired elfin girl, who wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big kiss.
Mary-Lynette frowned. This was a bit familiar...
"We were so afraid when Thierry told us," the girl said. "We didn't know what was going to happen or if you'd even got to Briar Creek..." she trailed off, noticing Mary-Lynette in the shadows. Her eyes widened and she gave her a big smile. "You're Mary-Lynette!" She looked back at Ash. "I take it you guys need somewhere to lay low for awhile. Does anyone else know you two are here?"
"My sisters, Mary-Lynette's family, though only her brother really knows what's going on, Rashel and Quinn."
"Good. Rashel and Quinn will tell Thierry, and all will be well." She opened the door. "Come on in, you guys look pooped."
They went through the door, dragging their luggage behind them. The inside of the apartment was nothing like the rest of the building. It was beautifully furnished in earthy colours and had a homey feeling to it.
"If you guys want something to eat... er, I think there are some M&M's in the cupboard, Mary-Lynette, there might be some Frosted Flakes as well, though whether we have milk is another story..." she reached up and grabbed a key from a rack on the wall and tossed it to Ash. She turned to him and said "You know the drill."
Ash nodded shortly and went back out the door, leaving Mary-Lynette slightly confused, until she remembered. This wasn't Briar Creek, where there were plenty or large animals. Here the only large animals were humans. And that's why they only had M&M's and Frosted Flakes.
Ash disappeared out the door, and Poppy went to the fridge. "We have milk, but I don't think you should drink it somehow. Green is usually the wrong colour for milk." She went over to a cupboard. "A-ha!" she exclaimed. "I was right! M&M's!" Mary-Lynette smiled gratefully.
"Could I have a glass of water?"
"Sure, I'll just find you a cup," said Poppy, throwing an M&M into her mouth. "Man, I love these things." She then gave Mary-Lynette a very straight look. "So how are you holding up? It's not particularly nice being wrenched away from your family indefinitely is it?" She grabbed a handful of M&M's and offered the bag to Mary-Lynette.
Chocoholic vampires? There's a new concept, thought Mary-Lynette. "Okay I guess," she said. "It's all moving a bit fast though. A couple of days ago I was looking forward to just seeing Ash, but now I'm going to be living with him!"
"Don't worry, you guys are meant for each other. It'll work out fine. Mind you, he's got a few bad habits you might need to beat out of him first..."
"Yeah like not cleaning the sink out after shaving..."
"Jamie did that too! But he's house-trained now. Took awhile though." Poppy gave Mary-Lynette a wink, then turned her head towards the door suddenly.
Mary-Lynette turned as well, but there was no one there. Then a jingle of keys was heard and the door opened.
A guy with light brown hair and grey eyes, about the same age as Ash walked in. He looked a bit like James Dean. "House-trained am I?" He said with one eyebrow raised.
The two of them shared a long sweet long, until James turned to look at Mary-Lynette. "Hi Mary-Lynette, I'm Ash's cousin James. I saw him on he stairs, he explained everything." He moved to stand next to Poppy. "No wonder Ash has changed so much."
"I know," replied Poppy.
Mary-Lynette was starting to feel confused again. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. "Sorry?"
"Ash has calmed down a lot since he met you, and you're just so right for him. You'll keep him guessing. He's too sure of himself," said James.
"And he was such a player!" interjected Poppy.
"I don't know if you needed to mention that..." said James, giving Mary- Lynette a slightly worried look.
"Don't worry, I've been well-informed of his reputation from his sisters. Jade, in particular told me heaps... a bit too much even, once we got to know each other a bit better. I don't think she can understand how the two of us can be soulmates. We seem too different."
"You are and yet you're not..." said Poppy, reaching over to take Mary- Lynette's hand, and her eyes seemed to look right through Mary-Lynette. "You won't feel truly together until one of you makes a choice that will change both your lives, and if you chose to follow on path," Poppy's eyes widened, "there will be a death..."
Mary-Lynette stared at Poppy in astonishment, and fear.
Poppy took her hand away and shook her head. James put a comforting arm around her waist. "Sorry Mary-Lynette," Poppy apologised. "That doesn't happen to me very often. I'm part witch you see, as well as a vampire."
The door opened and they all turned towards it as Ash strode in. "What is it about prophecies from the North twins and my soulmate?" He looked at Mary-Lynette. I heard it all as I was coming up the stairs. Are you alright?
NO!
Dumb question. Sorry. He gazed intently at her for a moment.
"What did you mean about prophecies from the North twins?"
"Do you remember that I told you that someone told me that one day I would really care about somebody - and it would hurt?"
"Yeah."
"That was Poppy's twin brother Phil who told me that, and he was right. Now we've got another prediction. Wonderful. Just when life was interesting enough, we get a prophecy. It's not like there's enough of them floating around at the moment."
They stood in silence. Mary-Lynette at least understood that last comment. Ash had told her about the Wild Powers and how Circle Daybreak was trying to find them. Ash's most recent assignment had been trying to find a lost witch, but he hadn't managed to get very far with it.
"You guys are in luck," said James, breaking the moment. "We have one fully furnished apartment available. You don't need to pay rent of course, just your bills." He went across to the key rack and selected a set. He gave a key to Ash and one to Mary-Lynette. "Here you go, you can move in today, it's clean. You're two floors below us, so you won't have to climb as many stairs."
Mary-Lynette looked at the keys and then at Ash. He raised an eyebrow in response. Well my lady? Might I escort thee to our most humble abode?
Idiot. She smiled at him. "Let's go."
Hooray! I've put up another chapter! And it hasn't taken the better part of a year to write it! Hope you've enjoyed it, please review. The Nightworld and its characters do not belong to me etc.
Sorry about some of the short cuts that I took in writing this. I'm lazy.
"Poppy" is a really annoying name to type. Do you know how many times I wrote Poopy instead? And I really wanted to write "lift" instead of "elevator" but never mind. I refuse to spell "colour" without the "u" though. It's just wrong!
Chapter five has been written, I just need to type it! And now I should go do some statistics before I fail my next test. sigh
