Disclaimer: I disclaim.
I felt like I was going through an interrogation with Marcus by the time half an hour had passed from my phone call with Anne. I'd told him everything he asked (eventually), from my favorite color (green) to the fact that I couldn't pick a favorite plant, I like perennials moreso than annuals, I would prefer to do my own gardening, I pick out bulbs and order online, I can't eat crunchy foods at all because my teeth are so fragile, I have a slight aversion to lace, and refuse to buy any bedding other than 100% silk.
Also that I still practice with the slingshot, I refuse to wear white because sometimes I spill shit on my clothes, I enjoy a bubble bath regularly (and I would kill him if he told Rickie that), sometimes I force local artists to put on impromptu concerts in the ball room (I do pay them), I have a ball room, I can't cook to save my life, Rickie cooks very well, I shot a stray dog in the ass with a bee bee gun for pissing on my white oleander bushes. I wish he'd eaten it instead and died from the poison.
I visit the old hag's grave on the anniversary of her death, I once maliciously sabotaged a trampoline of Rickie's because I was jealous, and he ended up breaking his wrist. Sometimes I cry after looking at my face in the mirror, I would shave my head if Rickie didn't like my hair so much, and every time I break a bone I feel so much pain and shame that I wish I were dead.
That was the last bit of personal information he wrangled out of me before I sealed my lips like a casket. He had spent five minutes holding me like glass, switching between playing with my fingers and twirling bits of my hair around his fingers. He may have taken offence to the shaved head thing...
I gasped a bit as he lowered his head to press his lips to the side of my head, and I felt those same stone lips curve into another secret smile at my reaction. My heart was beating in my chest like a stampede at this point, and I wondered if heart attacks happened to women my age. How old was I again?
"Ack! Ma-Marcus, what?" I stammered senselessly. Don't judge me people, he is devastatingly beautiful, and he was focused so single-mindedly on me. ...I've never exactly been the recipient of any positive attention from a man before, and even if this man was a vampire, he was still very, very manly...strapping...masculine. In the best sort of way...
I felt him turning my jaw again with the tips of his fingers, as he seemed to enjoy doing, directing my body to his bidding, and I couldn't even think past the blur of gooish, girlish glee to be angry. Oh, but what was the look on his face, and in his eyes that I saw when I was turned to face him.
I'd never seen him so warm. When was the last time I'd seen his face? How could it have changed so much during our conversation...? His smile was dizzying, and made his features look softer, almost human... But still a hell of a lot prettier than any I'd met.
"Luce, tell me more," he said, still smiling, as though he could play me like a piano. No! That wasn't going to work.
"No," I said, "That isn't going to work." His smile was unaffected. Douche.
"How long has it been since I had painkillers?" I asked to change the subject, which reminded me that I was in pain.
"Lu," I heard Rickie say lowly, as he joined Marcus and I on the ground, "It's only been two hours. I didn't check the prescription, what did the doctor there give you?"
I winced, because I knew exactly where he was going with this, and it didn't matter that he was right.
"It's fine Rickie, I can wait until the next dose," I said, trying to distract him, as I turned to look at him with deceptively innocent eyes.
"Hydrocodone? Vicodin? Tramadol?" I didn't answer. He didn't push me, but continued instead, "We'll call the acupuncturist when we get back. She still doing house calls?"
I nodded, letting Rickie play big boy for now. He could take care of that. I wasn't terribly fond of needles-not scared mind you! But having someone deliberately stick you like a pincushion was something I still wasn't used to. It did help a little though, and I had probably two months before I could use my left arm, less for the fractures in my ribs and leg. You may be wondering why so little time to heal, right? You know what? For all the blame I place on my body and its frailties, I heal very quickly, bone wounds and all.
Especially the little bones. I used to break my fingers regularly, and be okay in three weeks. Of course, had I been to doctors at the time I would likely have straight fingers, and I blame the ever living hell out of that bitch who managed the orphanage. But even now, after it slowed as I aged, I'm sure if I broke a finger again it would heal in four to five weeks. It's a lucky break I suppose, if you'll forgive me that awful pun. You don't have to, you know. I don't deserve it.
I felt Marcus's hand press me flat to him, back to cold, hard, vampire tummy, and the change in temperature that I felt only slightly beforehand felt really good against my ribcage then. My legs hurt too though. As if ripping that out of my brain like that freak we left in Italy, he stretched his right leg out and touched it to my cast, cold even through it, and gently pressed his left arm down over the top of my sling. Heavenly, I thought.
Rickie looked at me for a long, hard moment, then looked behind me and up, presumably at Marcus...or at least the wall beside him.
"Don't let 'er take the meds before she should," he said, sounding unafraid of the monster, and perhaps he was, now that it had been identified. The unknown is truly a terrifying thing.
"Is there a problem?" Marcus asked in response, instead of making the promise.
"They're addictive, and Lucy has been clean for over a year now," and then Rickie looked down at me, but I had to look away. I hadn't planned on sharing that little bit of information with Marcus. It was a problem that I preferred stayed in the family, so to speak. But apparently that was something his royal highness was unfamiliar with, and he questioned Rickie again.
"Clean? I am aware that humans bathe regularly to maintain they're hygiene, does the medication compromise this?"
Oh, joy. I just couldn't help the laughter, again. Marcus must not get out much if that's what he thought that meant. I watched Rickie's face darken with embarrassment before he, too, succumbed to chuckles.
"Just watch that she doesn't take more than is prescribed, or more often," he said, and then jerked up to the sound of a horn honking. Oh! Good! That was Anne's beat up old minivan. My hero had come to whisk me away home.
"Lucy! I'm home!" called a sing-songy voice as the door opened on the other side from where she was parked, several feet away, in the sunshine, "And I brought a parasol with me, an- Holy shit! You didn't tell me you you broke bones again! What drugs are you taking." Immediately her tone was cautious and concerned, and the gentle, chatty woman focused on my casts with a laser sharp tunnel vision, ignoring both vampires and jogging over to squat in front of me.
Anne was a tall, slender woman, half Polynesian, with long, dark hair and chocolate brown eyes. She dressed like a hobo, often in her father's old army jacket, and was holding jobs as a librarian while she wasn't working for her landscaping business. She had a degree in graphic design, which I thought was odd for someone doing the work she was doing now.
I watched the little jade turtle pendant she always wore swing in front of my eyes instead of looking up at her face. She was wearing jeans and a tank today, and looking like she'd been working hard, with dirt smudges on her arms, jeans, and even one across her cute little Asian nose. Yes, I'm a bit racist, if you think you aren't, you're lying to yourself. Go look up Avenue Q.
"God, Lu," she bit out, "You look like you've been through hell." Damn if she wasn't right, "Covered in dirt and casts, hair's a mess, and what happened to your dress? If I didn't know any better, I'd say Rickie wasn't taking good care of you up there in Europe, you know, I ought to string him up by his- Oh! Hello...?"
Looks like she finally noticed Marcus. And then she was noticing him for a long time. She looked rather nervous, maybe even frightened. Good for her. She has better instincts than some people I could name.
"That's not going in my van."
Marcus looked at the strangely dressed, eastern looking woman who had spoken. He blinked once, then twice, then turned his gaze toward the woman he held. His free arm he used to pull the large mass of Luce's hair from behind her neck , grazing her skin with his fingers in a rather deliberate manner.
When she shivered lightly, he grinned, pressing his face into the top of her head to hide it from the woman, (Anna?) In front of them.
"Anna," he started.
"Anne," interrupted Luce, "And you can call her her Anne the Great, because you and I owe her for being wonderful and coming to pick us up when you two dumb-asses didn't think further than the plane ride." Luce growled out. Marcus let out air through his nose in a way that could be likened to a snort.
"We had planned to make the journey on foot," he said, a little embarrassed that his plans seemed to be so silly to her.
It was then her turn to snort, "Were you going to carry me the whole way?" She asked
"Of course," Marcus replied. Was that such an odd concept? He supposed she wouldn't already know his capabilities when it came to physical strength, or speed.
"Well you guys can enjoy your little spat," intoned Anna, "In the meantime, I'm gonna get the van cleared out for Rickie and Lu. No Italians allowed."
Luce squirmed a bit, and Marcus relented, giving her the space to shift around and face him.
"You wanna ride on top?" She smirked at him, obviously smug in the face of Anna's outright refusal to transport the vampires. He found it to be endearing, her malicious character. And he could only smile at her in a way that had made her breathless before, intentionally scrambling her thoughts. He could be malicious too. In the several seconds it took for both women to collect themselves, he made the decision that Anna would be humored.
"We will follow behind on foot," he said, looking up at Demetri, who seemed quite incensed at the whole spectacle, eyes dark and hungry. Marcus let out a warning sound deep in his throat, too soft for the humans to catch. The younger male would need to behave himself. If they were going to be in one place for a whole year, they would have to restrain themselves, hunting outside the area they were staying, and not feeding too often, not with the sort of gluttonous binging that was a general diet of the Volturi and it's guard.
Marcus looked down at the precious woman in his arms, moving his body with the most subtle of movements along with hers, taking such great care to be gentle. She was so fragile, more than any other human he'd met (most of which he'd also devoured.) This was going to be so difficult...
He watched the Anna walk towards the bulky, blocky, dirty vehicle she'd arrived in, throwing open a sliding door on the side and promptly throwing books, clothing, and plastic bags full of who knew what further back behind the middle section of seats. The boy went to join her, and they spoke in soft tones about his Luce. He felt no guilt for eavesdropping.
"What is she on?" Anna asked.
"I think she's takin' hydrocodone, but I ain't positive," replied Rickie, "An' she hasn't eaten anything in a long time... I ate on the plane while she was sleepin', but she should be starving about now."
"We could stop by Wendy's...?"
Marcus wondered who Wendy was, and why they would need to make such a stop, but could ask no questions of Luce, as he didn't want her to realize he was listening without permission.
"Eh, nah," Rickie answered, "I got food poisoning at a Wendy's th'other day. So no thanks."
"Ick! Don't talk about it!" Anna cried out in a panic, "You know I have that irrational fear of-"
"Vomit," he finished, "An' how could I not know, with how often you complain 'bout it?"
"Not that often!"
"All the time!"
"So not true!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is-"
"Shut your pie-holes!" The last bit had come from beneath Marcus's chin. Their argument had gotten rather loud, and Luce leaned back against him in a defiant manner. The two other humans had finished clearing out the seats as they bickered, and looked at Luce contritely.
"She started it," mumbled Rickie, and Anna's response was a swift kick to the shin. Rickie grunted quietly.
"Let's just get out of here," whined Luce. Marcus obliged her, gently shifting his arms around her legs and back and lifting them both off of the ground. He felt all eyes on them as he walked towards the van. He stopped several feet short of the encroaching line of the sun, and looked at Rickie. Rickie didn't take the hint. Marcus stood there holding Luce for several long moments, waiting without a word.
He wasn't going to reveal himself to Anna for what he was, and he wasn't sure how he could get that point across without being overtly obvious. Rickie stared back at him wordlessly. Then Demetri moved to stand beside and behind him, and Rickie's glance followed the movement, distracting him from what Marcus wanted. Several more seconds passed, and Marcus began to feel irritated. It was a feeling he assumed he was going to become extremely familiar with.
"Oh, for the love of-Rick!" Luce called, "Come over here and get me." Smart woman.
It was ten minutes in the car before I realized it. And suddenly it was all I could think about as the hazy sensations Marcus left me with, well... left me.
"Holy shit I'm hungry," I stated to all in the car. And they laughed. The buggers.
"What would you like Lu," giggled Anne, "I'm game for anything if you're buying." I frowned at her. Taking advantage of my wealth, the little heathen. But I couldn't stay mad for very long, seeing as I take advantage of her on a regular basis. No, not sexually, you piglets.
"How about Subway?" offered Rickie.
"I want drive through," I replied. I moved around a bit in the seat in the back. Rickie sat up front beside Anne, so that I could spread my broken leg across the car as I pleased. But I couldn't get comfy no matter what. I really wanted more medication, but knew I shouldn't ask. Do recovered alcoholics ask for alcohol? No.
Granted, they don't get prescribed alcohol for pain either. Psh. Whatever I suppose.
"Lu?" Rickie called back.
"How about Bojangles?" I said after a moment. Mmmmmm... Biscuits and mashed potatoes... And Bo rounds... And fried chicken. I thought in that moment that I loved southern fried food more than my own life. Thus I said, "If we don't find one soon I may die."
Of course they laughed at me.
"Oh no!" said Anna between giggles, "We wouldn't want that!" And she put her foot down a little on the gas. Good. She drives like an old lady. "I think there's a Bojangles within the next two exits up here."
Rickie sighed loudly, "Thank God! I'm getting really hungry!"
Marcus and Demetri followed the large, unattractive vehicle swiftly, silently, and in the shade of trees that lined the highway. He was not offended that the rather perceptive woman would not offer he or Demetri transport. Rather, he was thankful that the younger male would not be trapped in such a small space with the scent of three humans
How he wished that he could have gone on this excursion alone, and how he feared that the other had not been sent for his protection, but for a much more sinister purpose.
Did Aro plan on allowing the boy to live for the agreed length of one year..?
Was there any place he could take Luce without being found in quick order by Demetri?
Marcus was jolted from his thoughts by the blinker of Anna's van before it took the ramp off the highway and towards several fast food joints close by. He noticed the one called Wendy's and suddenly understood better the conversation he'd been eavesdropping on earlier. But true to the boy's protestations, they did not pull into that parking lot, but the Bojangles across the way. Marcus did not know what a Bojangles served, but the smell as he approached was absolutely appalling. Grease prevalently.
He stopped underneath the overhanging branches of a few pine trees beside the dumpster, and as Demetri landed beside him, Marcus caught the gaze of his beloved from the backseat of the van.
She squealed. How endearing.
Sitting in the drive through, waiting for my meal, suddenly I wondered what Marcus was doing, or if he'd been left behind. I hadn't really taken into consideration what it meant for the vampires to follow us.
How fast were they, really?
I looked out the window, as if I hoped to see some sort of expensive, tinted windowed car in a dark shade parked nearby to wait while we got food. I wasn't sure where I'd thought they might have gotten the car, but the thought of following by foot? Sobering.
I squeaked like a rodent when I did see them.
Just under the shade of the trees outside the parking lot they stood, looking like dark gods of a forgotten age, still and vigilant. I met Marcus's burning eyes. They seemed to glow at me from the shadows, and I felt a flutter of fear or it's ilk run up my spine. It was odd. I'd only just recently been locked in his arms, quite literally, and I hadn't felt the anxiety. Like being close to him for extended periods of time had put me under some sort of spell. Scratch that. I was never one to believe in magic.
A drug. A mind numbing drug. And part of me wondered if that's why he was so attractive to me. I'd always liked drugs. He was my personal painkiller, I suppose, though not terribly strong. I still wanted the prescriptions the Italian doc had given me. Just thinking about them made my bones hurt and my throat feel dry, but instead of turning to my purse and trying to sneak one, I held his gaze. It seemed like every time I looked in his eyes they were brighter, redder, and more intense.
Or maybe I was just getting caught deeper into whatever web he was spinning.
His gaze never left mine as I reached for the paper bag someone was passing back subconsciously, nor when the car started moving. The connection broke only when we turned around the corner of the building and began driving back towards the highway.
Hey people who may or may not still be reading! If you gave up on me, I understand. :] Once again, I can't promise to update regularly, or quickly, but I swear I will not leave this story unfinished.
This chapter may be a little disappointing for some; short, mostly filler, getting to know you, and I even made it kind of conversational by switching perspectives so often. But filler has a purpose too, and I'm not just going to sweep them up in a storybook romance any more than I already have by putting them in a storybook romance, if that makes any sense.
Anyway, If thou art still reading, let me know. It's really encouraging to get reviews, and I do check on that periodically, and it does help me get going on the next bit.
Merci beacoup mes amis. Au revoir!
