Heartlessly Humane
By wired2damoon
Chapter 10: Close Calls And Closer Confines
A/N: The plot thickens…mawhahaha *evil laugh*
As promised, there is some Mitchell/Annie steaminess in the following chapter! Yay! :D ~wired2damoon~ x
- General, 3rd Person POV -
Loud echoes of quickened footsteps bounced off the walls of the alleyway as the figure hurried towards the large, glass, dome-shaped building.
Dr. Benson was late.
And in times like these, it was never good to be so.
Gritting his teeth, he tried desperately to keep himself composed as he ran through in his mind what he was going to say to his superior when he arrived. He had never been the most talented of liars, but knew that he'd have to come up with something better than, "sorry I'm late, I was just having a quickie with my secretary in the bathroom…"
No, he really didn't think that would suffice at all…
With these nervous ramblings running around wreaking havoc in his already fragile state of mind, the scientist burst through the electronic doors, raced towards the elevator and pushed the button to level eight with shaking hands.
He knew he was being ridiculous, when he was just a little over ten minutes late, but, he couldn't help but let his over-active imagination run away with him as the voices of his co-workers echoed in his ears.
"You'd never wanna be late when you're going to meet that Professor, Mike, she's a mad one she is…"
"Oh…you're working for that mental-case? Better watch your head, mate…"
The man almost shivered as he remembered the last time he…displeased his boss. It wasn't that much of an exaggeration when everyone he worked with called her a basket case.
Which is precisely why, the very second the elevator doors flew open, Dr. Benson sprinted down the corridor as fast as his legs could carry him, heading straight for his station like there was no tomorrow…which there might not be, if the Professor was kept waiting another minute.
He skidded to a halt at the large, glass door marked, "Examination Room 101" and plunged his hands into his long, white lab coat, fumbling to find his key-card. Once his fingers clasped around it, he slid it through the electronic system and waited for the light to go green so he could enter the room.
Once it clicked open, the scientist raced to the very end of the very large, spacious, laboratory and turned left at the sign marked, "Project X". As soon as he saw his work station come into sight with nobody visibly around, he began to relax and slow down to a walking pace. He reached his desk and sat down heavily on his chair, wiping the sweat from his brow and burying his face in his hands. It seemed he'd beat his boss here after all…
"Very nice of you to show your face, Dr. Benson," came a cold voice from behind him.
Benson jumped a foot off his chair and stood up rapidly.
"Pro-Professor, I-I didn't see you there…" he stuttered nervously, watching intently as she slowly walked towards him, her high-heeled (and highly impractical for a laboratory in his opinion) boots scraping stridently on the coarse floor.
"Well, here I am Dr. Benson, and have been for the last ten minutes…care to explain to me why you're late?" she asked, her voice a mixture of pseudo-charm and very bona fide austerity and authority.
"Well…I…uh…" he trailed off, his excuses disappearing in a mist of panic and tension.
"-Save it Doctor, I really couldn't care less about your eccentricities concerning your infidelity. But, what I am interested in however - is what you found out for me…providing you weren't too busy committing adultery, that is…" she snapped, her jaw set, looking entirely daunting, her grey eyes boring into him.
He shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously, rubbing the back of his neck - where the hairs were now beginning to stand up. How the hell does she find these things out? I hope she doesn't tell my wife…he thought to himself.
"R-Right…well, I-I checked out that private investigator agency and they-they were no good. So, I-I started to do some poking around myself and think I may have a name and a few details about one of the individuals," he mumbled, turning away to search through his desk, where he pulled out a large bundle of paper from one of his drawers and handed it to the woman.
She took it greedily, snatching it out of his grasp and leafing through it with such excitement that could be compared to a child reading the Harry Potter books.
"Good, Dr. Benson, very good indeed…" she cooed and Benson's shoulders sagged in relief.
It was a well-known fact that he, a quite successful scientist, was not at all happy running the professor's manic errands and basically being her assistant, but he desperately wanted to put his name on the map in this corporation and he knew that doing her bidding would definitely help.
And so, he became her lap dog in this top-secret, quite mental (if he were to be honest) project.
"Well, I'll-I'll keep trying to gain information on the other two, then, shall I?" he asked, desperately wanting to get away from this ghastly woman and go home for the night, it was already past nine already.
The professor glanced up from the documents, looking startled. In her obsessive reading she had quite forgotten he was even there.
"Oh, yes, yes, Mike, you're excused for the night, you can go back to shagging Ms. Bracken in the conference toilets," she snapped, turning on her heel and storming away without a backwards glance.
Mike Benson sighed, watching her go. He really did question that woman's sanity. He wasn't quite sure, as of yet, but she and another man who was a psychologist - and her accomplice you could say, were quite obsessed with finding information on three individuals. The psychologist in question, already having found a definite lead on them, as it was.
Benson couldn't understand why it was exactly he was needed if the old man (he had failed to meet yet) had such a lead on them already, but he had rummaged nonetheless, high and low, but could only find data on one of them.
George Sands. A man in his mid-twenties who disappeared off the grid a little over three years ago after being attacked by a wolf in Scotland.
He didn't know why - the guy sounded reasonably normal to him (despite the disappearing act), but he caused a stir of great interest in the old man and his boss.
Shrugging his shoulders, Mike closed back up his coat, got his work notes out of his drawer and made his way out of the room and towards the elevator.
He would really have to stop pondering over the weird 'extra' project that his boss had involved him in.
He knew it would just cause trouble, after all.
And everyone knew, trouble plus Professor Jaggat were never a good combination…
And lets face it, Dr. Benson wanted to live another day, even it was just to shag his secretary…
- Mitchell's POV -
I heaved a deep sigh as I parked a little down the road from "O' Sullivan's Gym", leanin' forward and restin' my head on the steerin' wheel. I still couldn't believe that Annie had managed to rope me into actually doin' this, but, at the same time, knowin' in my heart and…I suppose, soul, that I'd never let her even try and attempt somethin' like this without helpin' in some way.
From my position, I managed to have a clear view of all aspects of the large, one-storey gym, my heightened sight comin' in quite handy, of course. With narrowed eyes, I scoured the buildin', searchin' for the resident fang-man.
It wasn't long until I found him, right where I suspected, liftin' weights. I blew out a low whistle as I saw him benchin' 250 pounds with definite ease, but smirkin' as I knew well that I could top that even on a bad day.
I had to train my eyes to keep lookin' at him and not stray towards my watch. I was a little antsy about just sittin' in the car, keepin' my distance, but I knew, it was better to stay here, just in case I had to make a quick getaway, whether it's because I'm spotted or because the girls are in trouble…
I couldn't help but wonder how much trouble Annie and Violet could manage to get into in an empty apartment, but knew it wasn't entirely implausible, considerin' the times.
Violet had described this guy, James, to me, and I found that he is exactly how I imagined he'd look. Tall in stature, the same height as me, maybe an inch or so shorter, bulky - definitely seemin' (I hate to say it) larger and stronger then me (but that obviously isn't the case) dark-skinned, almost Hispanic lookin' with brown hair. He was young too, barely twenty-one if I were to guess…
I can't say I recognised him from Herrick's gang, but then again, there were so many of them, absolute scores of new recruits that I wasn't really surprised when he didn't look familiar to me.
I was beginnin' to get bored after only ten minutes of watchin' him lift the weights up and down and turned on the radio, turnin' the dial impatiently before finally stoppin' on an old Beatles song.
Tappin' my fingers on the steerin' wheel, along wit' the beat, I thought back to the weird way I felt earlier on tonight when Annie had stood extremely close to me.
I can't, and I mean can't in every sense of the word, identify what exactly would make me react so…I'd love to say passionate, but really, it was more like a horny teenager if I were to be brutally honest.
I mean, I've always been aware that Annie is extremely attractive, beautiful…sweet, kind, gentle, funny, caring, passionate, vibrant, stubborn, energetic…the list really does go on, but I guess, I was…a little…shocked when what I thought was…intense sexual attraction seeped into my veins as we stared at each other, as she gripped my arms tightly.
Even now, I had to shake my head to try and vanquish the provocative images that were beginnin' to form as I further thought of our accidental kiss and the newer kiss on the cheek from moments ago. I bit my lip, knowin' that these crazy thoughts and feelin's were just a reaction to my sudden celibacy, just my mind havin' a laugh at me as I fought the thirst of not only blood but sexual contact too.
It was just my mind always being determined to make my life difficult by providin' a completely off-limits woman to try and tempt me (in my desperation to not fuck up one of the best friendships I've ever had) by making me deliberately go out on the pull, fuck some random girl and then inadvertently kill her.
It was all just a vicious circle really.
It didn't at all mean that I felt anythin' other than friendship for Annie…
I'm sure of it.
Annie and I are just friends…that's all we'd ever be.
I mean, really, a vampire and a ghost? What a mental idea!
It was really Violet's fault for ever plantin' that idea in my head in the first place!
As that thought entered my brain, I was snapped out of my reverie as I remembered that I was supposed to be watchin' said vampire and not obsessin' about somethin' that I wasn't even really feelin' (my libido is just workin' over-time) and would never (even if it wasn't just my libido and in fact, somethin' much, much deeper that I felt for her) happen anyway.
I trailed my gaze back up to the window and saw with a nervous jolt that the entire gym was plunged into darkness. I gasped as I realised James was no longer liftin' weights but was actually already outside, lockin' up the gym for the night.
I glanced at my watch with a frown on my face, wonderin' how long I'd been spaced out and noticed that it was only 9:40pm. Why was he lockin' up so early?
That question was irrelevant at the moment however, as I saw him walk towards his car and hurriedly started the engine.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," I hissed under my breath, pullin' out and speedin' past him as he got into his car, (keepin' my head turned so he wouldn't see my face) and wrenched my phone out of my pocket.
I knew buyin' Annie a phone would come in handy one day.
Keepin' one eye on the road and one eye on my phone, I went to the first name in my phonebook and pressed the green button, liftin' it to my ear as I sped down the road and took the sharp turn widely, all the time hopin' desperately that they were already outside, waitin' for me.
"C'mon, c'mon, for fuck's sake answer your phone Annie!" I hissed, grittin' my teeth as I was engulfed in traffic and had to stop at a red light.
"Dammit!" I growled as I heard her warm, cheery voice say at the end of the line, "sorry Mitchell or George, I can't answer the phone right now! Promise to call you back though!"
I couldn't help but roll my eyes and smirk a little at her answering machine message. It was so typically Annie.
I slammed my foot down on the accelerator as soon as the lights turned green, lookin' in my rear-view mirror to see if James' car was anywhere in sight, he would have to come the same route to go home.
There were no cars behind me and I breathed a soft sigh of relief. Perhaps he'd go to the funeral parlour after all, or to the shop or…somethin'.
After another two minutes or so of hectic speedin' I finally arrived outside the apartment buildin' and slammed on the breaks, lookin' out the window, frantically searchin' for the ghosts.
I glanced at my watch and saw that it was now 9:50pm. "They should be out by now," I grumbled to myself, grippin' the wheel tightly.
After another few seconds of starin' intently at the front door and seein' no one in sight, I gritted my teeth, pushed open the car door, stood out and slammed it behind me. If I have to, I'll drag both of them out, kickin' and screamin'. There is no way, we're gettin' caught trespassin' in one of Herrick's minion's homes.
I wrenched open the gates and raced towards the door, only to stop in my tracks right as I reached out to pull the handle, seein' to my dismay that you had to be buzzed into the buildin.' *(A/N: I decided that seen as this apartment block is technically a public building, that Mitchell wouldn't have to have permission to enter it. But, seen as James' apartment is private, he'll need permission to come in there or into anyone's individual home…)
"Fuck!"
The word was no sooner out of my mouth, before a good-lookin' blonde girl appeared at the glass door, smirkin' at me flirtatiously as she opened it and stepped out.
"Well, hello there, I've never seen you here before…" she cooed, battin' her eyelashes at me, standin' in front of me.
I threw her a quick, thankful smile as I squeezed passed her, into the lobby, "uh…my friend just moved in, he's not answerin'…thanks for lettin' me in," I rambled quickly, winkin' charmingly before boltin' towards the lift without a backwards glance.
I pressed the button vigorously but it was takin' way too long so I headed towards the stairs and began to race up them as fast as my legs could carry me. I remember Violet tellin' me that the apartment she used to share with James was on the fifth floor, apartment 2H.
Once on the fifth floor, I ran down the corridor, my eyes dartin' to check what numbers and letters were on each door.
When I saw 2H in sight, I leapt right up to it and began frantically knockin' with both hands.
I tapped my foot anxiously as I waited for someone to answer.
"Come on, for fuck's sake, come on!"
- Annie's POV -
I frowned deeply as I heard someone knock at the door, quickly and loudly.
I felt Violet's eyes on me.
"…Who could that be?" I asked her, putting the picture of James and what looked like his little brother back down on the coffee table.
Violet shrugged and quietly made her way over to the door, and stood up on her tip-toes to look through the peep hole.
"…It's…Mitchell," she said confusedly, looking back at me.
I bit my lip, knowing this couldn't be good.
"Well, open the door!" I ordered, striding over quickly.
She nodded, and pulled the door open, revealing a flustered Mitchell standing in the doorway.
"Mitchell what-"
"-We have to go, now!" he cut across me, "James left the gym early, I saw him get in his car, he could be comin' back here, I don't know, but we have to get outta here, just in case…"
Violet nodded and turned back around to look at me.
"Alright, okay, we're ready anyway," she replied, grabbing the plastic bag off the couch and making her way back out to Mitchell. I went to follow but stopped in my tracks at the look on Mitchell's face.
"Mitchell what-"
"-Oh shit!" he hissed, looking at something down the hallway.
"Get back in!" he continued, shoving Violet lightly.
"What?" I asked, as Violet raced back into the apartment, a frustrated and confused frown on her face as Mitchell began whispering frantically.
"Invite me in!" he hissed.
Violet looked from me to him, anxiously, "what?"
I jumped forward, "Mitchell, come in."
He shook his head, "no, you don't have the authority to invite me in. It has to be someone who has lived here," he looked at Violet expectantly.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, "oh, right, uh, Mitchell, come on in…"
He stepped over the threshold quickly and slammed the door behind him, hearing it lock automatically.
"James is downstairs, I caught his scent," he informed us, "there is no way out except down the way we came which isn't an option so quickly, is there any suggestions on what the fuck we do now?"
Oh no…this is not good.
- Mitchell's POV -
I froze as I heard footsteps approach the door. I didn't have to look at Annie or Violet to know they heard it too.
The three of us scrambled speedily, Violet boltin' off to the left as me and Annie raced off to the right. We flung ourselves through the nearest doorway, frantically lookin' around for somewhere to hide. Unfortunately, the room we chose was James' bedroom, so that left little choice.
Before I could voice this to Annie however, she silently took my arm and yanked me towards the walk-in-closet. She slid the doors open as soundlessly as possible and pushed me in, before stepping in herself and slidin' the doors shut again.
It was only once the door were closed did I begin to realise how small the closet actually was. We had to stand so close to each other to fit, so close in fact that I could feel Annie's thigh rubbing against mine and bit my lip, tryin' desperately to focus on something, anything else.
My eyes pricked up as I heard James open the apartment door, close it behind him, shuffle around in his livin' room and switchin' his TV on. I started to wonder where Violet had hidden…
"Won't he be able to pick up your scent?" Annie whispered, turnin' to face me, pressin' her body plush against mine. My mind was growin' fuzzy as I felt my back pressed to the wall of the closet and her chest pushin' against mine, makin' me shiver - and not just from the cold.
Vibrant images started to flood my brain, and not the PG kind either.
Ye know, the type where a guy and a girl are in a confined space, the guy lifts the girl up, the girl wraps her legs around his waist and they fuck the brains out of each other…
I try not to let myself imagine who might be the raunchy couple however, that might send me tippin' over the edge and cause me to do somethin' I would enjoy immensely, but may very well regret.
Shakin' my head, I bit my lip and closed my eyes, tryin' desperately to block out everything remotely sexual from my mind, which isn't an easy task, mind you.
"Uh…I doubt it. He's never met me or at least never been alone wit' me - only in a group, so he won't be able to distinguish between my scent and the scent of the other vampires' that have passed through here," I whispered back, barely audibly.
She nodded, and even in the darkness I could see that her chocolate eyes were troubled.
"I'm sorry, Mitchell…" she mumbled, "I never meant for this to happen…I didn't mean to-"
"-Shh…" I put my hand over her mouth and wrapped my other around her waist - cradling her to me. She let out a gasp at suddenly being jerked forward, her face gettin' buried in my shirt, but I held her close to me as I watched through the crack in the doors as James came into the bedroom and plonked down on his bed, his back to us, his head in his hands.
I instantly stopped breathin', my hands tightenin' around Annie. In my mind I knew that there was no way he could actually hurt her (he'd probably do more damage to me, if he were in any way trained) but I couldn't stop the irrational protective streak that ran through my entire body as I saw him come within harmful distance of her.
I could feel that Annie wanted to turn around and look out at James, but the limited space prevented that, so instead she just stood, stock still, bitin' her lip, listenin' intently.
The young vampire stood up and my entire body stiffened nervously as it seemed that he was comin' over to the wardrobe. At the last second however, he veered off to the right, sat down on the other side of the bed and then proceeded to lie down on his back.
I heard James sigh as he dragged his palms over his face, which now I noticed, actually looked weary. Vampires don't tire, per se, but they can get fed up, and that's exactly how this young fella looked now. Fed up. Somnolent.
It was an expression that I had often worn throughout the years. Especially the ones when I was entirely alone, a lone monster in the darkness, a mere blip on the radar just hangin' on the outskirts of humanity.
But, there was somethin' a little different from the way James looked now. Not only was he fed up and lonely, but he also seemed…like his entire world had fallen down around his ears.
It was only when I saw him reach out behind him, under his pillow, and pull out a worn, crumbled picture, did I realise that that was exactly what had happened. His entire world had ended.
His entire world, was Violet.
Lookin' sombre, his fingers gently traced around the photo. I craned my neck and caught a quick glimpse at it (my enhanced senses workin' in my favour), seein' that it was quite an old picture, Violet looked even more young than she did now, and he certainly wasn't as tall or muscular. It looked like it was taken outside a school on a particularly sunny day.
Now that James was lyin' on the bed, Annie had inclined her neck around so that she could see him too. Through the darkness, I saw her bite her lip, her eyes glistenin' wit' unshed tears of sympathy.
We really were lookin' at a broken man.
Which made me wonder, why it was exactly that James had shunned Violet and kicked her out when she came back to him as a ghost…surely if he loved her that much, it shouldn't matter that he was a vampire and she a spirit?
As I thought that, my chest wrenched uncomfortably as I remembered Annie's words, nights before, "after all Mitchell, you can't help who you fall in love with…"
No, with true, deep, unadulterated and unconditional love, things like that shouldn't matter…
I edged my head down to fully look at Annie, who was still starin' out at the shattered man. My hands shifted a little on her waist and she glanced back to look at me - her warm eyes silently questioning me, her lips parted, seeming much closer to me all of a sudden. I was captured by those brown orbs and felt myself drifting. She tilted her head to the side, shiftin' slightly so that her hip was pressing into my palm. If I were still alive, I'd be breathless and my heart would be thumpin' a million miles an hour right now...
I was getting dangerously comfortable with the whole situation, too comfortable in fact, so I shook my head, throwin' her a smile, hopefully reassurin' one before lettin' go of her all together, foldin' my arms, suddenly feelin' colder. I couldn't bring myself to look at her anymore…
No, stuff like that - it really shouldn't matter…but unfortunately, things still manage to get in the way.
Like if she's your best friend and you're not quite ready to admit your feelings for her are actually well beyond that of a horny teenager…
I shifted slightly, tryin' and failin' to put some distance between us.
Humm…why does this closet seem even smaller all of a sudden?
- Annie's POV -
Eventually, James got up from the bed, placed the photograph back under his pillow and went out of the bedroom to go take a shower. Once I heard the shower turn on, I reached out and slid the closet doors open, stepping out and glancing behind me to see if Mitchell was following.
He just nodded at me, so we tip-toed back out to the living room, where we saw Violet, standing in the middle of the room, staring at the bathroom door, a painful look on her face.
"Where did you hide?" I heard Mitchell whisper, and Violet jumped, violently startled, hand flying to her chest.
"Jesus! A little warning, Mitchell!" she scolded quietly, glancing back at the door. "I hid in the bathroom, until I heard him coming in, then I came out here…don't worry, he didn't see me, I teleported too quickly…" she trailed off, not looking at either of us.
I nodded, jerking my head towards the front door, "shall we… go then?" I whispered slowly, hoping that I didn't sound insensitive.
She turned around and stared at me, an indecipherable expression on her face.
"Annie…I-I think I'm gonna go back to London for a few days," she mumbled softly, her gaze falling to the floor, "I-I can't cling to him anymore and I didn't live here long enough to have any sense of home…the-the only place that has ever really felt like home to me was the apartment we used to share in London. It's currently on the market, so there's no one living there, I'd like some time to myself for a few days…do you mind…?" she asked, sounding nervous, as if she would hurt my feelings.
I walked determinedly over to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. "No, no of course I don't mind…don't be silly. You take as much time as you need and check back in with me as soon as you're ready…" I murmured, leaning back and holding her shoulders at arm's length.
She nodded, "alright then…" she whispered, nodding at Mitchell, "see you both later then…" she smiled softly, before disappearing into thin air.
I looked back at Mitchell who was now making his way over to the front door, silently signalling to me. I frowned, he was acting a little odd since we came out of the closet (ha, I couldn't help but laugh at that in my head), his behaviour confused me.
Shrugging my shoulders, I let it drop and quietly followed him as he opened the door, stepped out and began hurriedly walking down the corridor. Biting my lip, I tried desperately to block out the after feeling of being in such a close range of him, shutting the door softly behind me before pursing him, all the time staring at the back of his head.
Just what exactly goes on in that brain of his?
A/N: Okay, so I decided to stop it here as it was getting way too long! There was originally more Annie/Mitchell steaminess (excluding being trapped in a small closet together) in this chapter, but I decided to leave it and put it in the next…you know, to spread the loveliness around. Next bit of sexy-steaminess is even that little bit steamier so stay tuned!
Sorry for the lack of George and Nina, I promise they're in the next chapter!!
UP NEXT:
1. More Mitchell/Annie sexiness (even more so than the above) - also, Mitchell can't seem to control his over-active imagination. *Wink*
2. We find out about what was in the plastic bag Violet took from James' apartment
3. George and Nina talk about the future
4. A plan begins to form…
Hope you liked it! If so, let me know, thanks to all of my reviewers, you are ace! ~wired2damoon~ x