Hello dears!
I'm glad you're back to read my story. This is the longest chapter so far and I hope you will enjoy it. 😊
Your Salaka-chan
Differences
Her golden hair curled along her body and, in combination with the blue cotton dress, flattered her petite stature. The green eyes with occasional yellow speckles critically examined the reflection, while the young alchemist tied a braid. Restlessly she teetered in front of the standing mirror, chewing lightly on the already reddened lower lip.
She did not feel well.
The scene of the previous evening was taking place again in her mind's eye and she could really feel the blood circulation in her cheeks suddenly increasing. With a tortured scream she slammed her hands in front of her face and crouched down resignedly. She must clearly have been in a state of complete mental derangement in order to build herself up in front of a man and aggressively rebuke him. As if all this was not enough, she had to pull him towards her, so that the tips of their noses touched. The vampire's gaze, as he put a blanket around her trembling body, formed the brilliant finishing touch. Slender fingers ran through her hair and a suffering sound of frustration emanated from her. If her physical abilities would allow this, she would dig a deep hole for herself and would never return to daylight.
Dettlaff stayed at her bed the previous evening until Livia slipped slowly into a restful sleep after the tea. He blew out the candle and in the distance she thought to hear a "I will be back tomorrow evening" from the deep voice she now was familiar with.
She didn't want to spend another day unsuccessfully, so she put together the most important commissions and made her way to the atelier in Francollarts. Meanwhile, a considerable amount of work had accumulated and this was to be worked off carefully, after all, her parents entrusted her with the management of the shop for a certain period of time. Due to her involuntary longer absence, there was a lively hustle and bustle and besides brewing the required potions, there was a lot of gossip to catch up on. For people in the countryside, entertainment was just as important as buying the desired product. They wanted to feel comfortable and act in a familiar atmosphere.
Due to the heavy workload and the rush of people, the day passed in a flash for the young alchemist and before she realized, the sun had disappeared from the horizon and was replaced by the moon. She could already see from a distance that light was burning in her house and could not help but give a restrained sigh. Undecided how she should face Dettlaff, she hesitantly stopped in front of the entrance.
When she opened the door, Livia encountered a black-haired man in front of her with his arms crossed in front of his chest, trembling, who obviously had difficulty holding back. His eyes seemed to pierce her, and before she had the chance to say anything, the vampire stepped behind the blonde-haired woman and with a smooth movement carelessly threw the door into the lock. He again turned his full attention to Livia and approached her with a raised voice.
"I thought you were wiser sterfelijk wezen! Yesterday you were hardly able to stand for a short time and today you are already leaving your house again! What were you thinking? Hoe kun je zo onvoorzichtig zijn?"
Livia stood stunned in the middle of the room and only noticed after a short break that she stared at her conversation partner with her mouth slightly open.
It did not take too long, however, before she regained her composure and tiredly ran her hand over her forehead. To a certain extent she was relieved by this greeting, which saved her the embarrassment of going back to the previous evening.
"Good evening Dettlaff. Make yourself at home", whereby she attached particular importance to the emphasis of the second sentence. Her counterpart did not seem to find this statement the least bit amusing, and in her mind the alchemist admonished herself to reason. At least she was now certain that the vampire was not receptive to irony, and at the same time she made a side note in the back of her mind to explain this topic to him in more detail on occasion.
"My parents entrusted me with the workshop during their absence. I MUST make sure that business continues to run well and that the customers remain satisfied! I am also dependent to a certain extent on regular income. I only have a limited amount of savings, which I would rather not use".
The vampire did not seem satisfied with this explanation, as he pressed his lips firmly together and continued to assess her with a threatening look. Livia breathed out briefly, stroking the scattered strands of hair from her face before her gaze softened and a small smile appeared at the corners of her mouth. "I thank you for your concern for my well-being and I didn't want to appear rude, in which I was on the road again today. On the contrary, I really appreciate your help! But I am no longer a small child and I can assess my physical condition very well. Look at me. I'm doing much better than I did last night."
"Thanks to your potions. Do they have side effects?" The vampire nodded and pointed to the empty potion bottles at the table. Livia sank into herself and closed her eyes exhausted. "Dettlaff please." She looked at him pleadingly and after a short pause continued: "I am fine. Instead of discussing my condition, we could sit at the table together and continue our conversation from last night."
When Dettlaff was about to respond, someone knocked tentatively on the door. Livia glanced back and forth in shock between the front door and Dettlaff, until she bit her lower lip slightly and stepped towards the door. There was another knock and a soft child's voice was muffled. "Livia are you there? You told me at the store today that I could come see you tonight." Livia owed her stamina during the day to the potions mentioned by Dettlaff, but physical stimulation did not compensate for her weakened mental state. She had long forgotten her promise to Maurice and she could hardly remember inviting the lively boy to her home. She had already taken in enough of the hustle and bustle in the shop. Livia gave Dettlaff an apologetic look and tentatively opened the door.
"Maurice. Please forgive me. I had a lot of work to do in the shop and unfortunately underestimated the amount of work involved. I'm afraid I have no time for you tonight, maybe", she was interrupted by the young little boy.
"Please, Livia! The others! They ... They ...," he sobbed up loud and thick tears ran down his cheeks. Only now Livia noticed the swollen eyes and the isolated small bruises on the boy's face. Mourning entered her green eyes and the young woman went down on her knees in front of the child. Gently she took him in her arms and stroked his trembling back tenderly. Her voice was little more than a gentle whisper. "What have they done?"
The small body twitched uncoordinated and a bloodcurdling scream left Maurice throat. Tears now ran down his reddened cheeks uninhibitedly as he found himself in Livia's embrace. As words seemed unable to reach the child, she squeezed Maurice even tighter and began to hum. She swayed regularly to the beat of the song.
Dettlaff stood petrified next to the two of them and tried to understand the scene that took place in front of him. Uncertain whether he should leave the two of them without another word, he noticed a dirty object on the floor outside the entrance door. Silently he picked it up and inspected it.
The sobbing decreased after some time until the boy finally fell asleep exhausted and powerless in Livia's arms. She gently lifted him up and put Maurice in her bed. She carelessly threw the surplus blankets on the floor before extinguishing the candle next to her bed. When she returned to the living room, she found Dettlaff sitting at her desk next to a warm fire and freshly brewed tea. He seemed to be absorbed in something and did not react to the young woman's approach. Her heart stopped for three beats when she realized what the vampire was about to do and a warm smile came over her lips. A brief moment passed while she watched in admiration the vampire's routine actions before she could tear herself away from the picture to go to the steaming teapot. She filled two cups with the hot drink, putting one of them next to Dettlaff and making herself comfortable with the other on her reading chair. She combed through various folios dealing with the topic of regeneration and tried to optimize her set up formula.
She was aware that Regis could easily brew a far more effective potion for his friend than she could with her current knowledge of alchemy, so in retrospect she was all the more surprised by this request. While studying the more or less well described topics, her mind drifted at regular intervals in this regard, causing her forehead to frown in thoughtful folds. Another distraction was the term blood brother, which she remembered from yesterday's conversation and stubbornly refused to leave her thought processes again.
Despite Dettlaff's attempts to make her understand this, she was just as clever as before.
As the core essence she had learned that the two of them linked an invisible bond through which they could sense each other's feelings, along with other things. In her opinion, this was an extremely unfortunate circumstance. The true feelings are intimate and should not be seen by anyone else without any restrictions, but this didn't seem to bother the vampire in the least.
Despite yesterday's conversation, she could not work the man out. On one hand he seemed to be an extremely gentle being which selflessly helped others without consideration of losses, but the brutal aggressiveness in conflict situations formed a strong contrast to this. In her mind's eye the scene took place in the forest, when the vampire struck down her persistent pursuer with playful ease.
In the dialogue with Regis she already expressed her point of view regarding Dettlaff's physical strength in connection with the incident in Beauclair. But what could one say to a being which, comparable to the pure naivety of a child, timidly tried to integrate itself into human society? The basis for this was the approach that there can be either exclusively good or evil intentions, which in the end turned out to be wrong. This individual was indeed far from socialization.
Thoughtfully she watched the vampire in his activity. The large hands with the pronounced long nails routinely performed the movements, while his eyes concentrated on the object. She also noticed that the usually stiff face of the black-haired man now appeared much more relaxed and the blue eyes took on an almost joyful expression for his circumstances. On the edges, his thick black hair had a few isolated silver strands and formed small curls in the neck area. He seemed to be having fun and Livia could not help smiling.
The surrealism of the moment made her forget everything for a moment. Unfortunately, this also affected the book on her lap, which slipped slowly but steadily down her thigh unnoticed and finally hit the floorboard with a loud thump. Fine particles of dust flew almost weightlessly through the room while their eyes met.
The wheel of time appeared to remain still while the flickering flames of the fire flooded the room with a warm light and brought the shadows to life for a dance along the walls. When the vampire rose and tried to step towards her with a piercing gaze, both were taken out of the moment by the creaking sound of the bed.
Maurice had woken up and after a short time slowly came down the stairs. His face was still reddened and the longer hair stuck tangled in his face thanks to the sweat and dried tears. His gaze wandered from the young alchemist to Dettlaff, where it hung fearfully. He stopped at the last step and mistrustfully watched the black-haired man.
Livia cleared her throat embarrassingly and quickly picked up the book. She laid it on the table and approached the boy with leisurely steps and a light smile. "I haven't introduced you to my new friend, have I?" When she had reached Maurice, she squatted down, pressed her elbows to her thighs and supported her head on both hands to be at eye level with him and continued in a soothing voice. The position gave her a girlish quality, which was further enhanced by her hair pinned up. "This is Dettlaff. Please don't be put off by his grim look, he is actually quite nice. Especially to madly adoring boys like you." She blinked at him, which caused Maurice to sniff again.
"Have the others been mean to you again?" Maurice lowered his eyes and examined his dirty shoes as if they were completely new to him. Livia flinched imperceptibly as she felt the presence of the vampire beside her.
"You lost your doll at the entrance. I cleaned it and restored it for you." Maurice's eyes widened as Dettlaff held the repaired doll out to him. "Noir!" In a flash he took the toy and pressed it firmly to his chest: "Unfortunately I am missing some tools and materials for a better repair, but for now this should be suffice".
Still pressing the doll firmly against himself, the boy jumped off the stairs and hopped through the entire living area. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Noir had never worn such a beautiful shirt!" From her squatting position Livia could see that the vampire had cut a piece out of the lower part of his red tunic to sew a new shirt to the doll. His light skin tone contrasted strongly with the dark colours of his clothes. A loud melodious laughter was coming out of her, which the vampire didn't miss. He looked down at her with an indefinable look before an outcry from the boy drew his attention back to him.
Maurice became more and more euphoric during his dance of joy until he finally stumbled over a pile of books and fell down lengthwise. Livia held her belly in laughter and had to resist the urge to cry for joy. "I think your problem is solved. Would you like some tea before I take you home?" The boy pulled himself up and nodded vehemently. He found a seat next to Dettlaff and told him the most adventurous stories. The vampire listened to him attentively and asked some questions every now and then when the conversation faltered for a moment. The young woman sat a little further away from the scene and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere until the boy's gaze became extremely serious.
Dettlaff could not explain the sudden change and looked at Maurice wondering. "Did I say something inappropriate?" The brown-haired boy shook his head and examined the man extensively from head to toe. "No, you did not. But I want to make one thing perfectly clear." He took a meaningful pause, during which Livia reached for her cup again and sipped the tea.
"Livia is mine!" Livia choked and spat out half of the tea again. Embarrassed, she lifted one hand in front of her mouth and stared at them both with blushing cheeks, before she took out her handkerchief to quickly wipe away the worst. "I can understand your interest in her, but when I grow up, I will marry her." The little boy crossed his arms and looked at the taller one with a impish grin.
Dettlaff raised an eyebrow in surprise at the sudden change in the course of the conversation, before the hint of a smile was felt on his lips. He bowed his head slightly as he continued. "Well, Livia is lucky to have an admirer like you" Maurice rubbed his index finger under the nose and grinned. "I'm glad you feel the same way. Then nothing stands in the way of our friendship." With this he offered his hand to the vampire, who hesitantly took it.
"Friends?"
Dettlaff's eyes became warm and his deep voice filled the room. "Friends."
After a while Dettlaff started to speak. "Why is this doll so important to you?" Maurice look became sad. "My papa gave it to me. He... he went hunting in the woods two years ago, and he's been gone ever since. My mother is convinced he's dead, but I don't believe it! He's probably still out there looking for a way back." Dettlaff looked at Livia with a questioning look. "A young mother with a small child and a husband who earns a poorly income. What will the people of the village think if the man suddenly disappears for no reason?" Livia did not manage to express the obvious suspicion. But the vampire didn't seem to understand "And what do people think?" Livia groaned inwardly before she signaled to Dettlaff with a glance that the subject was over for the time being.
Maurice, who had also not understood Livia's allusion, broke the silence. "The others from the village have been very mean to me since then. Today the boys stole my doll and ... you saw the result. But the adults are much worse towards my mother. They use words that I don't know. During the day, mum is strong and cheers me up, but at night, when I am in bed, she sits alone at the fireplace and cries. There are also some nights when she brings men to our house, but they leave us after a few hours. I don't know what they have to talk about in all secrecy, but usually there is a really big meal the next day. It is the most beautiful feeling in the world to fall asleep with a full stomach and cuddled up to mummy in bed. Until dad comes back I will try to be strong. I'll protect my mama from everything."
Before Maurice noticed, Livia wiped the tears from her face and spoke in a slightly broken voice. "Maurice, I'll take you home now. Your mother is probably worried." The boy nodded and looked at Dettlaff. "Will you join us? I could show you more of my toys at home! I don't have many, but I love each one even more." Before the vampire could respond, Livia stepped in. "No. "I'll take you home alone. Dettlaff is here to help me out a little at work. I'm swamped with work, so I need a sub."
Dettlaff frowned and looked at her baffled, but did not object. Before they left the workshop, she picked out one of her smaller jackets and threw it around Maurice's shoulders. On him it looked more like a coat that almost touched the ground. At farewell, the boy surprised the vampire with a lightning-fast hug and thanked him again for repairing the doll.
The path to Maurice's house was quick and before he knocked on the door he turned to the alchemist again. "Thank you for letting me come to you tonight. It is always nice to be with you. Perhaps your friend will be back next time I visit? He is very nice and when he has more time, I will show him all my toys! I'm sure he'll be very interested and jealous of some of them." A sad smile played around Livia's lips as she waved goodbye to him.
When she had left the village and was on the field path to her house, she stopped suddenly. The full moon illuminated the path and made her hair shine in a silver shade. A light breeze played around her dress and lifted it slightly so that the lower half of her slender thighs could be seen. The sunflowers bounced at regular intervals and the large leaves rushed in pleasant harmony. To her displeasure, the young woman noticed that the effect of the potions was gradually fading and severe headaches replaced the dull feeling. With an elegant movement she opened the bow, which held her hair together, and breathed out in relief.
Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed a movement and turned around, "I know you are there. You can show yourself now." Almost simultaneously, the vampire materialized just in front of her and looked her in the eyes without a word. Livia returned his gaze before she continued speaking. "I'm sorry I couldn't take you with me. The turmoil of the last few days made me completely forget to inform you that some of the village people know the human appearance of the Beast of Beauclair." Dettlaff flinched at the mention of the malicious title and pressed his lips firmly together.
"Under no circumstances should you stay in the village. If they recognize you, they will not rest and search the immediate area until they find you."
"Hm." After a short pause he added. "Do you know the men who hurt Maurice and his mother?" Livia blinked puzzled and stroked some strands of hair behind her ear. "I don't know them all. Only the most pushy, who even by day are not afraid to do mean things." He took another step towards her so that their bodies almost touched. His eyes were always on hers and a wild determination burned within them. "Who?"
When Livia understood what Dettlaff was up to, her eyes widened and she took a few steps back. "You can't do that, even if those men commit unspeakable acts!" His breath accelerated and he again shortened the distance between them. "Why not? Why do you want to protect these people? They will never stop! At least not if nobody does anything about it. Until his father returns, someone else must help them!"
Now Livia had the certainty that Dettlaff had not understood the context of Maurice's situation and wanted to go further to explain the facts to the vampire. But that was not to come. Dettlaff grabbed Livia by the upper arms and pulled her towards him, so that their bodies actually touched. "I just don't understand you! You help me and others from the village and you do not hesitate to take any risks! But you do not want to help the boy? Why not?!"
Livia clenched her jaw in rage. "Of course I' II help him! But I always take care not to hurt anyone else! What's so difficult to understand?!"
"If you give me the names of the men, I'll kill them and Maurice will suffer no more."
The young woman's breathing increased and the following sentences came out of her before she had thought about their consequence. "Have you learned nothing from Beauclair?! You want to do the same thing here again? I seem to have been temporarily blinded by your behavior towards me. The title on the wanted posters suits you perfectly!" The vampire's grip loosened and his gaze became more suffering with every further sentence of Livia. In her rage, Livia didn't notice that she had hit Dettlaff deeply and ended hissing with: "You are a monster."
Just before Dettlaff transformed into a cloud and silently disappeared, Livia realized the true extent of the damage she had done. Her heart was racing and she took a few steps in the direction Dettlaff had disappeared.