Chapter 6
The large man descended the dark staircase, his footsteps leaving loud echoing thumps with each step.
He flicked on the light and it created no more than a bleak halo around the old workbench.
There was a large paint can and several toolboxes on the bench's surface.
Ralph McGinnis lumbered unceremoniously over to them and began rifling through one of the toolboxes until a strange sound caught his attention.
He turned to it.
"Oh, it's you," he said, greeting the shadow behind him. "It's going to rain tonight, do you want me to go to the castle?"
The shadow said nothing in response only made the sound of a lighter being flicked open and closed.
"Please, no more arrows, I almost hit her," the Scottish man pleaded. "I've never intended it to go this far, and now she has this new man to protect her. I saw them in the market today. It was like he knew I was there."
He turned back to the tool kit he was sorting through earlier.
"If we want to do...as you say, we got to get rid of him, he'll make any attempt a load of trouble," Ralph McGinnis continued to explain. "There's also the woman too."
He let out a sigh.
"I don't want to hurt the girl. You promised me she'd be safe."
He moved away suddenly.
"All right, all right. I'm going. No arrows, but I can do something else, just as effective. I'll try to take care of the man while I'm at it."
He assorted his toolbox and picked it up.
"I'll be on my way then."
He turned off the light and climbed back up the stairs.
~~~~Later~~~~
Nikola had his arms wrapped around something. Something soft and smelling of lilac, it was rather pleasant.
He felt around a bit more.
Oh god he hoped it wasn't a farm animal.
He was afraid to open his eyes when a glorious sigh resounded on top of his chest.
He cracked his eyes open carefully.
Well, how did this happen?
He was still lying in the grass near the river, dressed in his now dry shorts with a deeply snoozing Laren sleeping on top of him.
It was getting to be late evening and the moon was just peeking out of the greying sky. It was going to rain, he could smell it.
That and he could smell her. Despite the mud and the water she smelt wonderful. It was a very relaxing if subtle scent only really detectable by his heightened vampiric senses but it really was a beautiful smell.
She sighed again and shifted slightly, still lying on top of him.
She must've gotten cold or something. She looked perfectly comfortable now.
One of his hands reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face.
Today had been a wonderfully strange day involving this woman, and somehow all their animosity had dissolved like salt in water.
Suddenly her breathing pattern changed and she lifted her head up sleepily.
When she realized where she was and who she was lying on she immediately sat up her face looking a tad flushed.
"Oh my dear," she muttered.
"Have a good sleep?" Nikola smirked and sat up as well.
His bare torso chilled at the loss of warmth and he reached over and pulled his shirt on beside him.
"How long?" she asked.
"As long as I've been, how long that is I don't know," he shrugged.
She shivered and got up, grabbing her now dry clothes and putting them on.
"I must've moved in my sleep," she sighed. Nikola stood up and put on his pants.
"It's no problem," he waved it off.
"I'm terribly sorry," she kept her face away so he couldn't see her blush.
"It's really not that big of a deal, we just fell asleep in the grass together, that's all," he shrugged.
"Right," she sighed, now feeling foolish.
"I'll walk you back to the castle, it's going to rain soon so we should probably get a move on," he suggested and Laren nodded.
"I agree," she pushed her long blonde hair out of her eyes.
They began trekking up the hill. Not long after the dark clouds broke and rain was pouring down on them.
"So much for drying off," laughed Laren. She and Nikola ducked underneath the shelter of the stable entrance. He somehow ended up with his arm wound around her waist. She didn't find it odd either, she just cuddled closer to him for warmth.
He chuckled.
"What a day," he smirked at her.
"Yes quite," she smiled at him.
There was something about her, he couldn't place why.
They were nose to nose again, looking at each other. A part of him wanted to close the gap and kiss her again. There was just something about her.
Maybe he hadn't had it in a long while, exile and hiding doesn't usually make room for romance but it was more than that. Was he falling in love again?
No, it couldn't be that. He was just curious. She was clever, conniving, and just as immature as he was, all the things that turned him on.
He eyed her lips slightly then backed off, maybe later.
"So, should we make a mad dash to the house?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure," he smirked.
"I might have to borrow a shirt of yours. You didn't exactly leave me with a lot of spares," she sighed.
"I'll get your clothes back for you tomorrow when the rain stops," he smirked slightly.
She laughed.
"Thank you, a little variety would be nice, though it was good, very good," she smirked.
"Why thank you. The rooster wasn't a bad touch on your part. Can you give him a day off tomorrow?" Nikola joked.
"Sadly, that is his actually post, I placed you in that room specifically to be near Murray," she shrugged.
"I'll just have to find another place to sleep," he grinned at her, oddly flirtatiously.
Did he really just imply that?
She gave him a look.
Yes, yes he did just imply that.
He decided it would be more awkward if he tried to correct himself so he just nodded and went with it.
"What are you insinuating Mr. Tesla?" she asked cautiously and with a slight pinch of suspicion.
"Nothing," he shrugged less than innocently. "But I bet you're curious as to what I'm thinking."
"I am now," she said with a laugh. "Weren't we mortal enemies hours ago?"
"You know what they say, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," he replied with a chuckle.
"You are such a tool," she said, rolling her eyes.
He laughed louder and swiped his hand through his hair, spraying her slightly.
"First you kiss me, then you talk like this, I better not find you in my room tonight," she teased.
"I'm attracted to adversity, what can I say?" he told her with a smirk.
"So you're attracted to me then?" she asked with a humored twinkle in her eye.
Nikola's grin faltered.
"Heh," he half-chuckled awkwardly, suddenly at a loss for words.
"Don't worry," she let him off the hook. "I wouldn't touch you in a million years."
She giggled slightly.
"I don't know, I think you'd be missing out," he shrugged.
"On you?" she scoffed.
"I'm pretty fantastic," he said, smirking. She knew he was just talking out of his ass at this point.
"Are you now?" she placed a hand on her hip.
"I heard you squeak a little when I kissed you," he leant close to her. "And that's just a kiss."
She leaned her face closer to him.
"I don't like the taste of mud in my mouth," she whispered semi-seductively.
He didn't fail to notice how their proximity made it so that when ever she spoke her lips almost brushed his.
He smirked, wondering what he could do to make the contact that much more prominent. It was a delicate game.
He barely moved his head an inch just tilting it ever so slightly. Their eye lines remained in steady contact. Challenged and with a small bit of yearning, he was watching for the kill switch and she was waiting to see if he'd chicken out first.
Nikola could feel her breath on his chin, warm in comparison to the wet droplets there. Her hair was wet and plastered to her forehead.
Were they still screwing with each other? Was this just another level to their game? They'd tied in the first round, and now on to a new game of one-upmanship? They've seen what they were capable with in the battle of wits, now it was a battle of wills.
He remembered talking to Robert once about how some people, who outwardly seem to hate each other only act this way because they secretly desire the other person more than their brain can comprehend. He had used Shakespeare's Much Ado as a prime example. The boy and the girl playing in the sandbox, the boy is tugging on the girls pigtails, the girl is throwing sand at the boy, the childhood version of flirting.
Was he in love with the girl in the sandbox?
Was that a bad thing?
His lips curled into a smile, he had made his decision.
He lifted a hand slightly to...
"Mr. Tesla!" Fei Yin's voice split the two apart almost dramatically.
"What is it Fei Yin?" asked Laren, regaining her authoritative persona.
"It's Ralph! He's back!" she cried.
"What?" Nikola barked.
"He left me a note...he's here," Fei Yin almost trembled, Nikola could see it the distance he and Laren were from her.
"Get back inside and stay away from the windows, ok?" ordered Nikola.
Suddenly the light above the stable went out with a small smash.
Nikola leapt to protect Laren from anything.
The visibility of outside was low.
"Fei Yin, get inside now!" Nikola could just see her. The rain was pelting hard and was obstructing even his vampire eyesight.
Fei Yin nodded and ran back to the house. The lights were still on.
Nikola grabbed Laren's arm.
"Come on," he said in a hushed whisper.
"Nikola," Laren clung to him.
"Fei Yin's inside, I suggest you be there too," he tugged her out of the shelter of the stable.
Suddenly the lights inside the house blinked and then shut off.
The night black sky and the thick rain was leaving Nikola in a complete state of disorientation.
The rain obstructed both his sight and his hearing. He clung tighter to Laren.
He kept moving quickly. His memory still worked, and he remembered exactly how many steps it took to get from the stable to the front door.
"I can't see a thing," Laren sounded worried and held his hand tighter.
"That's the point. He's trying to catch us off guard," said Nikola.
"He's doing a bloody good job of it," sighed Laren.
Nikola suddenly stopped.
Something in the air had changed; a smell.
A slight gasp of hot air behind him.
Nikola turned around carefully.
Lightning cracked above him and filled the bleak dark with a crack of light. In that crack Nikola saw him. Six feet four, huge and broad with an angry face. He held something in his hand, aimed to strike.
Nikola used his vampiric abilities to push himself and Laren out of the way. Laren shrieked.
Nikola barely had time to gather his bearings before he was walloped in the head with what felt like a hammer.
Whatever skull fracture he would've received healed instantly and he recovered quickly enough to discover he was lying face down at the man's shoes.
"Nikola!" cried Laren.
Nikola spun and grabbed the arm hurdling towards him, breaking the wrist and causing the large brute to drop the implement.
Ralph let out a feral snarl and grasped his arm to him.
It gave Nikola enough time to grab Laren and begin pushing her to the door.
The back of his shirt was grasped just as they reached the threshold and Nikola was flung back. Splashing into the wet ground.
Instinctively Nikola rolled over, just in time before a heavy steel-toed boot crushed the ground where his head had been.
Nikola made it to his feet and shook off the rain.
Ralph let out another snarl and Nikola instinctively vamped out and slashed him.
Ralph backed off with a yelp but rebounded with his fist. He clotheslined Nikola and hurdled him to the ground.
Laren ran out and grabbed Ralph's fist as he brought it back to hit Nikola.
"Stop! Ralph! What are you doing?" she cried.
He didn't speak only growled and shook her off. He grasped the hammer and pinned Nikola down by the throat, despite his broken wrist. Nikola saw him lift up the hammer, jagged edge down.
Laren found herself lying next to Ralph's tool kit and saw a crowbar sitting in it. She grasped it tightly in her hands and quickly stood up.
"God forgive me," she prayed as she swung the bar into the side of Ralph's head.
He flew sideways and away from Nikola clutching his head.
"You," he growled and turned to Laren, he grasped the front of her shirt and she dropped the crowbar.
"What do you want from us?" she said, shivering.
He snarled and held up the hammer but found a hand was stopped before he could bring it down on her.
"That's not how you treat a lady," came in the deep, unnatural rumbling of Nikola's inner beast shining through.
Ralph's ferocity melted under the gaze of the black soulless eyes. He could see his fate reflected in them as lighting cracked the sky again.
He dropped the hammer.
"Now let go of the woman, or I will break more than your wrist," Nikola snarled vehemently.
Ralph dropped the hammer and let go of Laren. She stumbled away, not knowing exactly who or what she was more afraid of.
She had seen the creature too. There was nothing human about him. The eyes, the fangs, it was something of a nightmare but behind it all it was still him.
"That's better, now Mr. McGinnis. You're about done terrorizing this household," threatened Nikola. "Even if I have to bring you in myself."
Ralph, in a moment of panic grabbed a small container of something from his back pocket and threw its contents on Nikola.
Nikola released Ralph as the liquid began to burn at his skin. His healing abilities managed to come in and repair the subsequent damage but it was enough for Ralph to escape without a trace.
Nikola looked all over for the large man but he was lost among the dark and rain.
What was left though was the small canister. Nikola picked it up and sealed the lid. There was still some liquid left. He would analyze it later.
Another crack of lightning and Nikola changed focus.
"Laren, Laren are you alright?" he asked coming up to her.
"I, uh, I," she didn't know whether to be terrified of him or grateful so she was stuck between shocked and speechless.
"Come on," she involuntarily backed away from him when she felt his hand touch her arm. "Laren! I won't hurt you."
There was something in the way he spoke, she knew he was telling the truth.
She allowed him to lead her back to the house.
Once they were inside she was soon swept away from him by her scared and confused staff, asking a flurry of questions she did not have the answers to.
Nikola quietly slipped away to the staircase. He looked back and caught her eye for a tense moment. He gave her a look that meant they would talk about it later. She seemed to understand and nodded her head. She began instructing the maids in lighting the candles and the fireplaces to restore some heat and light to the castle.
Nikola slowly made his way up the stairs to his bedroom.
His shirt was worn through and completely ruined. There was a small hint of blood at his hairline where he had been struck by the hammer.
He had soon peeled off his wet and burnt garments. He tossed them in a pile to most likely get thrown out or used as dish rags.
He dried and changed quickly then grabbed a spare shirt and a pair of his trousers and headed back downstairs.
The fireplace in the parlor had already been lit and Laren was sitting before its roaring flames.
She looked cold.
Nikola coughed slightly.
She turned to him and he held up the spare clothes.
"I, uh, thought you might like some dry clothes to change into, at least until your other ones are dry," he held them out to her.
She nodded silently and took them.
He turned his back and let her peel off her wet clothes and change into his dry shirt and clean trousers.
She hung up her wet clothes before the fire and coughed to signify that she was decent.
Nikola turned back around and looked at her.
Her blonde hair was let down in wet stringy clumps and the shirt was too big for her but she looked...beautiful in a way.
"Did he...did he hurt you?" asked Nikola.
"No...no, just bruised me a bit," she said, her thumbs twiddling slightly.
"Is Fei Yin alright?" he asked.
"A little upset but he didn't try to harm her," said Laren. "Given the circumstances she's very lucky. We're very lucky...I'm very lucky. He might've killed me."
"I would've never let that happen," said Nikola with a determined eye.
"I wasn't so sure you wouldn't have for a moment there," she said seriously. He could tell she was a little bit freaked out and confused by what she had seen. "What happened out there?"
Nikola approached her cautiously. Unsure of what to say but sure he had no choice but to tell her the truth.
"Please sit down Laren," he said softly and she obeyed, quietly sitting down on the small settee.
He stood in front of her and felt awkward so he decided to kneel instead.
"Laren what you saw, what I did...it's not what you think," he started.
"I don't know what I think. All I know is that it wasn't human. What you became it wasn't..."
"Please just listen to me," he sighed.
"And your clothes they were...they were burnt, he threw...I saw him throw acid at you, but you...your skin there is..."
"Laren, I'm a vampire," he just came out and said it. "At least, partially. It's a long story, and I'm not sure how much of it I can actually tell... but you asked me why I don't talk about myself well there you have it, I'm not exactly normal," he sighed. "Helen knows. It's why she asked me to help because I am abnormally strong, inhumanly strong... and because I don't kill easily."
He went over to the fire and put his hand into the flames. The pain was excruciating and he could see the way Laren squirmed uncomfortably.
"Nikola, stop!" she finally cried and he pulled his hand out of the fire.
He held it up to her.
"He can cut me, throw acid on me, bludgeon me with a blunt instrument. It won't keep me down," his hand healed as he spoke. It was now as perfect and untouched, if a little callous. He kneeled in front of her again and she grasped the hand, looking at it from top to bottom.
"There you have it," he chuckled. "The perfect bodyguard."
Her uncertainty melted slightly into some kind of amazement.
"But...how?"
"There is no wizard, no magical potion or poisonous bite. And I don't drink the blood of humans, Helen has made me a medication for that, I promise you. I'm just part vampire with a few heightened senses and some tricks up my sleeves."
"Are you really...?"
"Nikola Tesla? Yes," he hadn't been able to admit that for years. "I'm 91 years old and yes, I still act like a child," Laren laughed slightly. "Laren you must know that I shouldn't be telling you this. This is not something most people take well, but I'm trusting you with this secret because I...I want you to trust me so I can better look after you...and Fei Yin."
Laren took in a deep sigh.
"Let me see it," she stated firmly but softly.
"You want me to..."
She nodded.
"Please," she begged.
Nikola looked into her eyes. They were not full of fear as they once were.
He nodded and closed his eyes, calling the beast forward. He kept his hands away from her as the long black talons grew out his fingertips.
She watched as his skin paled slightly in the light of the flames and his teeth grew sharper and more prominent.
He opened his eyes and the black orbs bore into her soul. She gasped slightly. There was a hint of red on the edges of the eyes that swirled inwards and melted into the black making it seem a lot less soulless than they had first appeared.
This, for a small fraction, was the real Nikola Tesla. Not the man she had read about in the papers. She didn't know who that man was but she knew this man.
She reached her hands out and cupped his face, surprised by how cool it was comparatively. Her fingers traced the animalistic teeth protruding behind his lips, exploring the contours of his face.
Nikola closed his eyes as she continued her exploration of him, pressing his face more affectionately into her hand. She traced his ear and jawline to his chin. She wanted to understand the man behind the monster that really wasn't a monster at all. He was a shield, her protector.
His hair had dried and resumed its strange state. Her hand ran across his cheek slightly and just into the beginning of his hairline right beside the temple.
Nikola could not help the involuntary gasp as her nails lightly scraped across his scalp, weaving her hands through his hair. His breath hitched slightly, somehow hers did too.
Nikola opened his eyes and grasped the hand entwined in his hair. He brought it down to his lips and kissed the palm of it, gently letting his vampiric fangs scrape against the skin. He was showing her the control he had, proving to her she had nothing to fear.
He placed one last gentle kiss to the palm centre and then looked up to her with blue-grey eyes.
She looked flustered, her breath seemed a little uneven and slightly ragged.
"Laren, I..." he whispered gently.
"Shhh," she hushed him.
She slid off the couch to kneel before him.
They looked each other in the eye.
"I don't exactly know...anything about you anymore," she said almost breathlessly it seemed. "Nikola, I..."
She ran her hand through his hair again.
"You don't make any sense to me," she whispered.
Nikola's heart was pounding loudly in his chest.
"I just told you all you need to know," he said softly. "Except that I want to kiss you again."
He leaned in slightly and just barely touched his lips to hers when she backed away from him.
"No," she said firmly. "I don't think I can let you do that."
"Why not?" he asked.
"When I first met you, do you know why I despised you?" she asked. He shook his head. "It was because you reminded me exactly of him. George. My late husband. I wasn't ready for a reminder because I felt not only were you not him but you were a shoddy replacement for him and I resented you for that. But now I realize that you are nothing like him at all. And now I don't understand why my heart doesn't stop racing when I'm around you. You infuriate me, you impassion me, you confuse me. So I'm going to say no before you twist me any further. No, Mr. Tesla, I will not be falling for you."
Nikola sat on his haunches a bit stunned at the honesty of her confession.
"All right," he stuttered.
"We will continue with our arrangement as agreed. You will continue to guard Fei Yin. We can continue to be friends and when all is said and done we will shake hands, you will go your way and I will go mine. Our hearts will not be crossed here."
Nikola listened to every word.
"All right," he nodded.
"Ok," she sighed and stood up. "Goodnight Mr. Tesla."
"Goodnight...Ms. Hayward," the informal name stung his heart a little when he said it.
She nodded and walked out of the parlor.
Nikola blinked, what had just happened? He swore Laren had just confessed she had feelings for him, or was projecting latent desires for her late husband on to him, or that's how it started but now she was falling for him now and she didn't want to because she was still in love or at least felt she still should be...boy it was confusing.
He got off his knees and let out a huff of air.
There was something deeply erotic in the way she had explored his vampiric form. The gentle fleeting touches, the soft, held breath he could hear her breathe as she came to know his hidden monster. No woman, not even Helen had done that to him.
She exposed him in that moment. He was completely bare to her. He could still feel her hands sweeping through his hair, the feel of the pads of her fingers over his skin.
He stood up and knew that if she walked in she would see the effects of her probing his demon. It wasn't just lust though, it was a deep need, a need for a soul to understand him and his monster inside.
It both aroused him and made him ache with an emptiness that has long been ignored.
He made it back up to his room and lay down on his bed. He didn't bother to strip any layers he just laid back, tucking a hand behind his head to support his skull.
Today had been one weird roller coaster of different emotions from first hating her to somehow absolving that, to playing with her, and now...
He scrubbed a hand over his face.
Why did she touch him like that?
He sighed again.
It was best to forget about it. He didn't need to fall in love with another woman who wouldn't have him anyways.
~~~~Author's Notes~~~~
Aww, sigh...love is in the air...sort of.