Title: Owner of a Lonely Heart
Author: Yugure
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Supernatural/Drama/Angst/Romance
Disclaimer: If you think Slayers et al belongs to me... please run, not walk, to your nearest mental health facility.
Author Notes: Hmm, okay, I think I know what I want to do with this story... WARNING!! This chapter is gory. Yes. Blood and whatnot. It is not in excruciatingly minute detail, but it is still there, so I thought there should be some sort of warning. (And as a treat for everyone who has reviewed this story to say they like it, this chapter is especially long..."
Chapter Five
Lina woke up in her own bed, in her own apartment. She lay there for a long time, staring at the ceiling, as she marveled at the dream she had awakened from.
A man... tall, dark hair... gorgeous eyes and face... an apartment... a story... vampires? Why were there vampires...?
She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock. 11:24 am. Well then. Time to get up and make breakfast... er, lunch... She was just about to swing her legs over the edge of the bed when she realized she was wearing a shirt that didn't belong to her. She stared at the sleeve cuffs covering her wrists. She never owned a shirt like this.
She looked over to the other side of the bed, and onto the floor. Nope, no naked man in either place, familiar or otherwise. Not that Lina ever engaged in one-night stands, but for some reason last night was unusually foggy in her mind, and she was very concerned about this.
The dream was fading fast, and the only thing that stayed with her was the blurry countenance of man she thought seemed familiar.
But why the hell was she wearing this shirt?
Lina tried hard to think about last night. She remembered leaving work, she remembered walking home... and she must have gotten home safely, because here she was, without a mark on her, and she didn't remember anything after the dark streets of the city.
Strange dreams, shirts that weren't hers, not remembering the night before... it sounded like a cheesy romance fantasy story.
Lina changed into clean clothes and threw the button-up shirt into her hamper. She decided, to ease her troubled mind, that it had to be a shirt borrowed from Amelia or another one of her friends. Yes, that was it, that made sense...
Lina walked out to the kitchen and brewed fresh coffee.
"Mmm, coffee," she murmured.
Across town, Zelgadis slumbered in his artificially midnight-dark bedroom...
The basement was dark except for the candles in the sconces on the walls, flames flickering, tiny pinpricks in the gloom. The two bodies lay entwined on the bed.
"Zelgadis... you love me, right?" Olivia ran her fingers across Zelgadis's face, tracing the contours. Zelgadis shivered in delight.
"Yes, of course..."
"You would do anything for me, right?" Olivia trailed her hand down his throat, past his collarbone, slipped her fingers beneath his shirt.
"Yes, of course..."
"Tonight we feast, Zelgadis. It will be difficult, but I promise it will be worth it..." Deft fingers played along the waistband of Zelgadis's pants. Nails gently ran across the pale, smooth skin.
"Anything for you, Olivia..."
"Good..." Olivia's fingers pulled back. Zelgadis was left staring at the canopy of the bed. His feelings of warmth and tenderness slowly leaked away as he felt another presence enter the room. Zelgadis turned away, curled up in the corner, as he tried to ignore the movements of Olivia and Nathaniel on the other end of the bed.
I'd do anything for her... why won't she be mine?
Lina stared at the sunglasses on her countertop. They triggered something in her mind, something she wasn't fully clear on. They were hers, certainly, but... They reminded her of something.
She picked them up and put them on.
Hmm...
Shrugging it off as an overactive imagination working overtime, she grabbed her bag and left the apartment.
"This is... this is my home..." Zelgadis whispered, his words nearly lost in the wind blowing through the trees. Olivia pressed her hand into the small of his back.
"Yes, and I think it's time to show your family what you're really all about," she purred into his ear.
"What... what do you mean?"
"All those times they refused to let you see me... all those times you got so upset, we hardly ever had any fun together because you couldn't bear to hurt your family...you are their puppet, Zelgadis, and now that you have been reborn, it's time to cut your strings."
"I'm... hungry, Olivia. I haven't fed today." Zelgadis did not see the cruel smile on Olivia's lips.
"We will get to that shortly, my dear. Just take care of this business first."
"My father..."
"Your father, who hated me, who hated you, and who forbade us to be together... Zelgadis..."
"...right." Determination set Zelgadis's face in a scowl. He stalked towards his house, ignoring the rising storm that swirled leaves across his feet and rumbled thunder.
"Amelia, is this yours?" Lina held out the shirt she had woken up with this morning. The two girls were at the mall, sitting at one of the outside tables at their favorite café, enjoying a little free time before they were consigned once more to the restaurant for the evening.
"No, it doesn't look familiar," Amelia said, examining it. I think Filia has something like this, though."
"Well, I woke up wearing it, and I think I might have borrowed it from someone last night, or maybe I borrowed it earlier this week and it was just lying around so I put it on before bed, or..." Lina scrunched the shirt in her hands.
"You don't remember?" Amelia asked, sipping her lemon water.
"No, that's the funny thing. I don't."
"Weird."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"Ready for work tonight?" Amelia stood up and set down her money for the bill. Lina grabbed her shopping bags.
"Ugh. As ready as I'll ever be."
"I wonder if that man in sunglasses will be back... He sure was cute, even if kind of strange. We don't normally get guys like that in..." Amelia picked up her own bags and began walking away. Lina froze.
Of course...
"Zelgadis Graywords, where the hell have you been?!" roared Monsignor Graywords. Zelgadis stood still. The faces of hired help peeked at the spectacle from the doorway, their heads popping up from behind the massive doors. The master of the house slammed the doors in their faces, wanting privacy with his son.
"Nowhere," Zelgadis replied. He had wanted to come in here and lay down the facts to his father, to tell him that he wasn't going to be bossed around anymore, that he was his own man, and that he was leaving for good. He didn't get far into the conversation before his father, as always, barraged in with his own tirade. Zelgadis stared at the bulging veins on his father's neck and face and felt hunger seize him. He knew it had been a bad idea to forgo eating first...
"Your mother and I have been worried sick about you! After you ran away from the opera... why, I ought to tan your hide, you miserable wretch..." Zelgadis's father had been pacing the length of the room. Now he stopped and advanced on his son. He gripped Zelgadis's shoulders. "All I wanted was for you to grow into a fine, respectable young man, and here you are, shirking your duties, probably spending time with that WHORE-"
"Stop it."
"What? You don't talk to me like that, son..."
"No, I'm not going to listen to this. I'm sick and tired of your hate. I'm leaving, and I'm not coming back."
"This is that whore's doing, isn't it? I ought to-"
"Stop calling her a whore!" Zelgadis reached up and pushed on his father's neck. Unaware of his new strength, he shoved his father away from him, and the body flew into the couch. Absolute silence fell.
Monsignor Graywords stared up at his son, a new emotion rising in his eyes. Zelgadis looked down and, for the first time, saw real fear.
"How dare you treat your father like this," Monsignor Graywords began, climbing to his feet. His face was flushed. He wound up his arm and let his fist fly, but Zelgadis ducked.
Zelgadis grabbed hold of his father's shoulders. Redness washed over his vision, and he winced, trying to calm the wave rising inside of him. Outside, the storm lashed against the windows. Zelgadis's face felt hot, his insides burning, a fierce pounding began behind his temples. He could barely see or think straight.
He began to understand why Olivia had done what she did.
He understood why she had refused to let him feed beforehand.
"You need to go," Zelgadis whispered, closing his eyes tight, but in spite of his words, his fingers dug in firmly into his father's shoulders.
"You let me go right this instant, Zelgadis, and don't you dare try to tell me what to do-"
"GO!" the word was a roar. Monsignor Graywords paused only a heartbeat, and by then, it was too late.
Lina tied her apron on over her work clothes, her nervous fingers fumbling with the strings. She knew she would probably see him again tonight. The conversation from the night before was returning to her piece by piece, with startling clarity. Would he approach her at work? Sit in her section? Order from her? Or would he forgo that, now that he had already introduced himself? Would he be waiting for her after work?
And why, exactly, was she feeling vaguely excited about it?
The average full-grown human body contains about 6 quarts of blood, more than enough to satiate Zelgadis's hunger, but most of it ended up on the carpet, on the couch, on the tables, on the walls. Zelgadis was inept at controlling himself when he fed; he was still new to the process, and he had never been able to leave his victim with enough blood to still live. Olivia had never taught him that.
The hunger was still there, even as Zelgadis stared down at the lifeless body of his father. Blood covered just about every surface near him. He was about three seconds away from sucking it out of the carpet when there was a knock on the door.
"Honey, are you okay?" The door creaked open, and the face of his mother appeared. A few more heads poked in around hers; the soft, innocent faces of his sisters and the curious countenance of his brother. "The servants came running into my room, telling me they heard screaming from in here..." Her words trailed off as she witnessed her son on his hands and knees, crouched over the still warm body of her husband, blood coating them both. She stumbled into the room, not understanding what had happened, perhaps thinking there was some kind of accident. Zelgadis's sisters screamed and clutched at their mother, burying their faces into her dress. Zelgadis's younger brother stared at the carnage with unabashed fascination and horror. "Heaven help us, what happened?! Zelgadis?!"
"Mother..." Zelgadis lifted his face, his pupils dilated. The hunger flowed into him, shoving him to his feet, pushing him forward. He staggered over the dead body. "No... get away from me..."
"Nome del dio," his mother uttered. Her eyes widened, taking in the blood dripping down Zelgadis's chin, at the ivory fangs pressed hard into his lips.
"Stop it, stop it," Zelgadis chanted to himself. He covered his head with his arms, willing the hunger away. It forced clarity from his mind, lighting a fire inside his brain, driving all sensible thought away. His veins burned with the hunger. It couldn't hold...
"Zelgadis..." his mother took a tentative step forward. She reached out and touched his arm.
And Zelgadis snapped.
Lina set down the fresh cup of coffee in front of the man with sunglasses and smiled. She tried to ease the butterflies in her stomach by saying that she was in a crowded restaurant and nothing was going to happen to her without someone witnessing it.
"So. Back again, huh?" she quipped, and immediately hated herself for sounding dumb. Zelgadis kept he head lowered.
"... yes."
"You know, I remember everything you said, but I hope you understand that it's difficult for me to accept something like that without a little skepticism, and... hey, you don't look so good."
"I'm naturally pale, in case you hadn't noticed..."
"Oh. Um. Yeah..." Lina resisted the urge to smack her forehead.
"I had... troubling dreams today."
"You dream?" When Zelgadis lifted his head, and even went so far as to lower his glasses slightly to look at her, she mentally kicked herself. "I mean, of course you do, why wouldn't you..."
"Will you allow me to walk you home after work tonight?" Zelgadis asked, keeping his eyes trained on Lina. Startled, Lina hemmed and hawed, trying to find a way out of it, until she realized that if anything like last night happened again, she would have someone to protect.
"Um. Yeah. Sure."
"Okay."
"Okay." Lina and Zelgadis stared at each other until Amelia came walking quickly by, poked Lina hard in the ribs, and inclined her head towards where the manager stood, glaring in their direction. Lina realized she had two new tables to service that she had completely ignored. Blushing, she went back to work.
Elsewhere, a finger ran down the open pages of the city's phonebook.
"Invertas... Invertra... Inverse..." a voice mumbled, muffled by the cloak wrapped around the face. The figure picked up a phone, dialed the number, and listened.
"Hi, Lina Inverse here! I'm not in right now, so leave your name and number after the tone and I'll get back to you! BEEEEEP!!"
The figure hung up the phone.
"I've found you again, Lina... and Zelgadis..."