Chapter 2
~~~~Perth, Scotland~~~~
It was raining, well, technically sprinkling, but it was enough moisture to dampen Nikola's spirits as he and Helen drove through the ancient town.
She, of course, made him drive.
To say he was grumpy was an understatement, he was an all out sour puss, complete with pout and snide remarks, aggravated further by Helen completely ignoring him.
"I love this old city, so much history in its stones, in its architecture..."
"In its people, I don't think I've seen anyone under the age of fifty for miles," he grumbled. "And they all drive like seniors!"
He honked the horn to coax the car ahead to move faster.
"Can't you just let go of your petty reasoning for being an old grump and just enjoy the culture around you."
"I was enjoying the culture around me in Paris, at least they spoke a language I can understand, not this barbaric tongue you call a Scottish accent."
"You're just grumpy because I ruined your vacation," Helen rolled her eyes.
"Damn right I am, and not only that but your mode of transportation to get me to this blasted land was appalling!"
"I needed to get you here as quick as possible, there was no time to take the first class train route," Helen sighed.
"Not even for a little bit, I could imagine us in a first class coach, sipping wine, my hand beneath your skirts...I can just see the way you would bite your lip trying to contain your sweet cries..."
"Nikola, look out!" Helen grasped the wheel and turned him out of the way of a man on a bike.
Nikola giggled as the car straightened out.
"We both know that's never going to happen," Helen glared at him, he did that on purpose.
"But a guy can dream," he chuckled.
"Well save it for one of your swims, for now please keep your eye to the road," she glowered, he was such a pest.
"Are we there yet?" he sighed.
"It's just a little ways out of town," she sighed.
"Perfect," he grumbled. "Why am I driving?"
"Cause you can," Helen sighed.
"And why aren't you wearing a tantalizingly low neckline to encourage me?" he asked with a cheeky grin.
"Because I don't have to, your fantasies will do plenty," she teased.
He looked at her.
"You know you might be right about that," he began intensely staring at her chest.
"Nikola! The road!" she barked and he turned back to it with a snicker.
"It doesn't matter how many times you do that, you're still driving," Helen said defiantly.
"Well, take the fun out of it!"
~~~~Later~~~~
Their car pulled up to the building and parked. Nikola was the first to step out, straightening his suit as he was prone to do.
He looked over to Helen.
"So this is McKinley Castle, huh?" he gave her a look. "Not much of a castle."
"Less ground to maintain, but it's technically a castle," she sighed.
"And I'm technically a criminal, but words are just words," he sighed.
"Knowing you, that's doubtful," she teased.
"You wound me." He grasped his heart jokingly.
"You'll get over it." She walked around the car towards the house.
"Who in their right mind would call this a castle, it's a stone shack," he grumbled.
"It's larger than a shack," Helen scoffed.
"And tourism must be slow," he added.
"Well it's not for show, Nikola, people live here," she sighed.
"Willingly?" he asked.
"Yes," she grumbled.
"I don't believe you," he said dismissively. "Why am I here again?"
"The woman who owns this castle is an old friend of mine, she and I worked together during the war, about a week ago she contacted me about an incident that happened here. During the night someone had come to the house and left a message on the east wall," Helen explained as they walked around the house to examine the wall.
"You brought me here because of some punk writing graffiti?" he gave her a look.
"With a form of acid. Dumped the rest of it one of the groundskeeper's dogs. Melted him," said Helen.
"Melted him?" Nikola muttered, his curiosity piqued. "Why not bring the detective to find out who this man is?"
"James doesn't travel as well as he used to, besides my friend claims they already know who this man is, he's been terrorizing them for months. This is the first time he's actually killed something, but she's afraid he'll escalate and she wants to protect her staff."
"And the police are conveniently not in service?" asked Nikola.
"He's not a man you can easily bring down," said Helen.
"Ah, he's a politician," Nikola joked.
"More like he's gargantuan, the police won't go near him," she sighed.
"So that's why you brought me." Nikola turned to her. "I'm the only person man enough to face this brute."
"Immortal vampire helps too," Helen teased.
"Don't deny it, Helen, you still have a fire burning for me," he gingerly grabbed her hips.
"Fueled by your ego," she scoffed.
"Is this just an excuse to get me alone with you at a quaint little B&B in the Scottish highlands, oh you dirty girl," Nikola smirked and leant in close to Helen but she brought up a hand and pushed his face away.
"Focus please, Nikola," she sighed.
He chuckled and rounded the corner of the house, stopping in his tracks.
"Oh my," he muttered.
The aged stone bore its message about two inches deep of melted rock.
"That's not just any old graffiti," he mumbled stepping up to it. "Acid you said."
"None that I've ever seen," she stepped up behind him. They both examined the wall together.
He sniffed.
"Smells like cinnamon," he looked at her quizzically.
"Judging by its way of degradation I'd say it's an acid comprised of completely organic material," Helen surmised.
"And potent too. This kind of stone is thick; not just any old acid can burn through weathered stone like this. These stones were made to stand the test of time...kind of like us," he looked up at her with a grin.
He lifted a hand to swipe at the engraved letters.
"Careful, I wouldn't be surprised if there are still remnants of the liquid on the stone," Helen warned.
"What's it going to do to me?" he shrugged, running his finger along the edge. He sniffed his hand. "I don't smell chemicals, and believe me, I know chemicals. At least, it's nothing you would find in your run of the mill chemistry set."
Helen nodded then her eyes widened as suddenly the flesh on Nikola's fingers began to eat away.
"Ow!" Nikola yelped. He hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his hand with it. "Oh that smarts."
"I hate to say I told you so," Helen teased.
"Yah right," he grumbled. He threw away the currently melting kerchief and rubbed his hand which was completely healed over. "Well that is definitely quite the mystery. Sure you don't want to call ole Watson down here?"
"You will do just fine," sighed Helen.
Nikola stepped back and read the message on the wall. It was only two words.
"Fei Yin? What is that Chinese?" Nikola looked over at Helen. "What do you suppose it means?"
"It's more of a who than a what?" a voice interrupted the two of them.
Nikola turned around to see a beautiful blonde woman step up to them. She was tall and slender like Helen, with sparkling grey eyes, and golden hair, not unlike what Helen's used to be, except it was straight and pulled back in a tight ponytail.
"Fei Yin is a member of my staff, one of my young chamber maids we had managed to smuggle out of China during the war," the woman said, smiling at Helen. "Thank you for coming Helen."
"Laren, nice to see you," Helen hugged the woman, Nikola watched with a bemused smile. "Nikola I would like you to meet Laren Hayward."
"Hayward, how English," Nikola extended his hand to Laren.
"Donne let the surname fool yeh, I was born of the clan McKinley," she said accentuating the common Scottish drawl. "The English comes from my late husband."
Her accent was smooth and rich, and sounded more like a Londoner's accent than anything. It was amazing how she could switch the two so easily.
"Interesting, your late husband you say?" Nikola shook her hand and then released it.
"Died in the war," she sighed. "After that I returned to this castle to occupy myself."
"We heard," Helen interjected. "We're here to help."
"I know, and thank you Helen," Laren shook her friends hand.
"What can you tell us of this man?" asked Helen.
"McGinnis. Ralph McGinnis, a local man, a blacksmith by trade, he fell madly in love with my young chambermaid Fei Yin, a girl I had brought to live with me after the war ended. Ever since then he's been barbaric in his attempts to woo her. They started off as minor annoyances but now, with this, I fear for her safety, as well as the rest of my staff."
"What's the problem? Why don't you report this to the police?" Nikola asked.
"They won't do anything, they tried arresting him before but he broke his chains and nearly totaled the police car in his escape. He's massively strong and brutish," explained Laren. "Besides, I don't want to condemn him, I just want him to stop."
Nikola looked at her weirdly.
"That's why I brought Nikola," said Helen. "He may be the only one who can help you."
"Why not just use a couple of horse tranquilizers on him and be done with it?" suggested Nikola.
"Really you don't think we tried that already?" scoffed Laren. "He escaped before the drugs took effect and he came back twice as angry."
"Nikola can help," Helen said confidently.
"Really?" Laren looked over at him skeptically.
"Oh, you don't think I can," Nikola recognized immediately that he was being insulted. He stood up straighter and puffed out his chest in indignation.
"I don't mean to be rude, but you look a tad on the scrawny side, don't you think?" she eyed him up and down.
"I'm lean, doesn't mean I'm not strong," he defended.
"Yes well Ralph has the relative strength of a pack of gorillas, it would take more than wiry muscle and an ego to scare him off, despite how gargantuan yours is," Laren said sharply.
"Well if you don't want my help then I'll happily return to my vacation, come on Helen!" Nikola grumbled and turned to head back to the car.
"I'm sorry, he's a brat," apologized Helen. "Nikola!"
"Let her suffer!" Nikola barked.
"Nikola, please, just stay for a little while," Helen pleaded following him.
"I'm going back to France, where I should've stayed. I knew, I just knew that any favor you'd ask of me would be trouble. You want me to do security for that...that...woman! No, I won't do it. Call your annoying friend with the, with the wings and tell him to take me home!"
Helen rolled her eyes.
"You're going to walk away because some mortal woman bruised your ego?" she teased.
"Well, frankly...yes," he stopped and put his hands on his hips.
"Don't do this for her," said Helen. "Do it for me, and my undying gratitude."
"You keep saying that but at this point your undying gratitude has a short lifespan," he grumbled.
Helen wrapped her arms around him.
"Please, do this one last thing for me. Just meet Fei Yin, and you can decide then whether you will stay or not," she grinned inwardly as Nikola relaxed into her embrace, he could never say no to her like this.
He groaned.
"Fine, I'll meet the girl," he rested his head on her shoulder. "But if I don't like her I'm going back to France."
Helen smirked.
"As is your right to, now come on, throw on that charming smile of yours," Helen released him and began dragging him back to the castle.
"Do I have to?" he whined.
Once they were inside he realized the inside of the castle was much more impressive than the outside, with beautiful stone arches, and long glass windows. Portraits and the family tartan and crest decorated the walls up the stone and wood staircase leading to the top level. The kitchen and staff bedrooms and bathing facility were all down stairs, while the master and guest bedrooms were upstairs. The main level held a beautiful dining hall, and a comfortable parlor, complete with an old stone fire place, and a rather remarkable collection of taxidermy animals.
He looked at all the animal heads lining the wall as he and Helen sat and waited in the parlor.
"Still trying to convince me this is not a quaint B&B, and you didn't just cook this up do you could get me alone in the Scottish countryside with no one around for miles to hear you scream?" teased Nikola.
Helen rolled her eyes.
"Not in a million years," Helen mumbled.
"I can wait," he teased.
Laren entered the room with the young maid. She looked to be about 18, maybe twenty at most. She was shy and kept her head and eyes down and her arms rested in front of her with her hands connected.
She was beautiful, noted Nikola. Very exotic, and delicate, like a lily. Probably just as sweet as she was shy.
"This is Fei Yin," said Laren, guiding the girl protectively in to the room.
"Hello," she said shyly. Her eyes darted up momentarily and met Helen, but went immediately back down when she saw Nikola.
"Can you tell us how you first met, uh, Ralph McGinnis?" asked Helen.
"Lady Hayward asked me to take one of the horses into town to have his shoe fixed," started the girl.
"Lady, that's a bit of an overstatement," scoffed Nikola, and Helen swatted him. "Ow."
"Go on," Helen ignored Nikola.
"When I was there I met Ralph, he seemed very sweet at first, but when he asked me to dinner I said I could not. He could not take no for an answer. He began sending me flowers and following me when I would go out to the markets for Ms. Hayward, then he began following me home, and caused trouble at the castle, and he won't seem to stop unless I go with him, but he frightens me," she stopped and bit her lip, holding back her tears.
Laren put a protective arm around her.
"He's been terrorizing the poor girl for weeks now, he's obsessed and I'm afraid for her safety," Laren said. "If you can help her, as Helen claims, please do."
Nikola looked at the young girl and back at Laren then to Helen.
She knew the noble side of him couldn't let someone as sweet and innocent as Fei Yin continue being terrorized by such a brute as Ralph McGinnis.
"Fine," he sighed. "I'll help."
Helen smile warmly at Laren and Laren gave him a thankful nod before sending the girl away.
"All I need is basic security and a bodyguard for Fei Yin, can you do that?" Laren asked, turning to Nikola.
"Yes," Nikola said defiantly, he still didn't like her.
"Good, I will pay you 75 pounds a week, you can stay in one of the upper guest bedrooms, and you are treated to anything in the kitchen, though the wine cellar is completely off limits."
Nikola looked at Helen.
"You told her, didn't you?" he accused.
Helen shrugged innocently.
"I accept your terms, as long as I'm allowed one day off and at least one glass of wine per meal," negotiated Nikola.
"You'll be allowed one glass at supper, and two on a Sunday. I'll give you your day off as long as you stay on the premises in case anything should happen," Laren stated firmly.
"Three glasses on Sunday," Nikola demanded.
"Two and a half," said Laren.
"Done," they shook hands.
"I'll have you know sir that I think you're a gargantuan waste of time, but I'm trusting Helen's judgment and credibility in this matter," Laren looked him dead on in the eye and squeezed his hand tightly.
"And I'll have you know that I think you're a witch sucking the youth out of young babes in their sleep and that I despise you beyond all reason," Nikola growled back, squeezing her hand just as firmly.
"Perfect, we're agreed on something then," Laren squeezed his hand even tighter.
Helen just sat there amusedly and watched the showdown happen before her.
"I'll have you know that I am quite enjoying the pair of you already," teased Helen.
It diffused the situation and both Laren and Nikola released each other's hands before sniffing at each other in disdain.
"Thank you Helen for all your help, I just hope it is worth it," said Laren, giving Helen an affectionate and friendly kiss to the cheek.
"Me too," Helen smiled at her friend.
"Well I'm off, enjoy your stay Nikola," Helen quickly nodded to him then darted to the door.
"What?" Nikola's face dropped.
"I took the liberty of instructing one of the staff to claim your luggage," Helen walked quickly to her car.
"You're leaving me?" he darted out after her.
"Well, yes and no," she stated.
"What does that mean?" he cried.
"Well yes I'm leaving, but I'll be here with you in spirit," Helen quickly climbed into the car and shut the door, he collapsed to the window.
"No, Helen! You cannot do this to me!" he cried, clawing at the glass.
"I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time," Helen started the car.
"Helen, open this door," Nikola threatened.
"Cheers, darling, miss you, love you," she stated quickly.
"Helen you are not leaving me in the middle of Scottish nowhere on a limited wine supply! Helen! Open the door!"
"I'll be back in a few months, bye," she stepped on the acceleration and began driving off.
"Helen! Helen!" Nikola called. "Come back here you, you, agh!"
He kicked the dirt angrily as she drove off in the distance.
"HELEN!" he screamed. "You can't leave me with that bitch!"
~~~~Author's Notes~~~~
Oop! Helen's leaving...say what? Don't worry...she may or may not...return...sometime...in the future...did i just lead you into a non-teslen fanfic... (prepares to duck thrown shoes)