Disclaimer: I do not own Little Vampire or The Craft (the universe of my OC) and all depictions done are out of love for their respective franchises. *Cries for an eternity*
Author Note: Author-fan2012, you are my hero! The light at the end of my tunnel! Thanks a billion for the reviews ;D!
- O -
Nancy covered her mouth as she coughed up a storm. She wheezed and gasped until she could finally clear her throat of whatever dust or obstruction had entered. "God damn," she muttered into her sleek jacket sleeve. She had been moving a few loose rocks at the end of her cave and they must have unearthed some foul airborne spawn. With a groan and a careful twist of her body she shoved the most probable culprit boulder to the side. As it scarped across the ground to its new permanent location Nancy's mind flashed.
Glossy backed roaches emerged from beneath the rock.
She gave out a panicked gasp and threw herself away from the stone. She blinked for a few minutes before finally concluding that the terrible bugs had been imaginary. Her hands ran worriedly through her hair. "This is such crap." And she had been so hopeful. After she cast that spell of protection last night she had slept without disruption. Absolutely no bad dreams. Nothing. Now she was seeing the imaginary little buggers. She breathed deeply out of her mouth. I suppose there isn't a spell for hyperactive paranoia.
Or was there? That might be worth looking in to. It would mess up her carefully crafted magic equilibrium, but that was a price she was willing to take. Cockroaches were nothing to fuck with with. She would have sooner ended her life skydiving the night before than to have to live the rest of it seeing those nasty creatures on a daily basis.
With a cringe and a new found determination she retrieved her pentacle tablet from a stony ledge. Her fingers ran gently over the carved divots of the stone. "Fire in the air, fire in the ground, I use the fire that can not be found." Her mind tingled as it was rewarded with the information that she had sought. Her eyes opened slowly.
"Shit."
She needed the cut of a fresh fern.
Which was above ground. She had to go back up onto the surface to get the plant materials. She felt that that just wasn't going to fly. No way. Not with her Vampires it wasn't. With a groan she held her forehead. Besides, she was supposed to have been gathering herbs yesterday. Not running away. There was absolutely no running away happening, only herb gathering. With a wince she looked around the dark of her chamber. It was quiet. She strained her ears. She almost swore she could hear the scuttling legs of large roaches crawling about. There was no way in hell she could deal with that. No way in hell.
She was just going to have to convince Frederick. She was going to have to find a way.
With shaking legs she rose swiftly and removed herself from her now tainted glowing blue sanctuary.
- O -
Gregory leaned leisurely against the bumpy cave wall. His hand beheld a small pebble that he was currently using to amuse himself. He threw the small rock easily up into the air before capturing it once more in his grasp. His thoughts were troubled. Stirring around and around, infinitely curious about the Witch inhabitant of his family's catacombs.
Why had he told her to return? Why had she embraced him? Why did he feel this way?
His thoughts rolled like the pebble he was lolling around in his palm.
He blinked quickly.
The answer came quite simply.
She was interesting. She was the most interesting disrupting creature that his family had encountered in centuries. She had completely disturbed the boredom of their underground lives. Or his life at least.
Though, he wasn't lying about his family's more optimistic adjustment of life. Her presence brought about a strange sense of hope to his cave dwelling kin. He could care less about whether or not they found the bloody stone, and he heavily doubted in the sneaky Witch's proclaimed abilities. But for whatever reason, her presence gave his mother and father security. Whether Frederick would admit it or not, Gregory could tell. Granted, suspicions ran high. The Witch had yet to show them any progress in her research of the stone. But Gregory surprisingly found that he trusted her.
He rolled the pebble over in his hand.
She would do what she could to help his family. After last night, he found that he believed this trail of thoughts.
She was honest with him. She left to protect his family. She cared about the fate of his family. That was all Gregory needed to know.
He tightened his hold around the rock until he felt the surface of it begin to crumble.
She was grateful to him.
She had tried to embrace him. The same way he had observed how she would grab his siblings in her weak hold.
He began to sift the remaining particles of the pebble through his fingers.
He felt uncomfortable. As much as he was intrigued by the Witch, he was also repelled.
She was absolutely unpredictable. One minute she was cowering before him then the next she was touching him. Hugging him. Even more bizarre was her suicidal descent from the sky. That had been so wholly unexpected that Gregory could do no more than watch her small body assail to the Earth. He had wanted to laugh and beat her senseless at that unanticipated moment. She was altogether strange.
He wondered vaguely if all of the human race had become so vulgar and impulsive.
His dread locks shifted as he turned his head to the side. The object of his thoughts had manifested, he had heard the raspy lilt of the Witch's voice.
- O -
Nancy gulped before rounding the corner to see the full form of Frederick's back. The high pointed collar of his clothing shifted as he turned his head to regard her.
"Witch," he greeted with little emotion.
Nancy nodded. She found herself suddenly wordless in his company.
His eyes looked haunted by her abrupt appearance. He had seen the same vision. The cockroach hex. She was sure of it. Great.
"Do you require assistance?" Frederick droned at the Witch, a bit perturbed by her silence in his company.
Her presence unnerved him. She could tell by the slightest curl of his upper lip. Maybe she could use that to her advantage. "Yes, actually," she drawled. A sense of power hit her. "I was so lost last night that I forgot to retrieve a magic material for one of my spells." Good. She had said that without stuttering.
Frederick's black eyebrows rose and fell quizzically. Let the Witch leave again? He was skeptical. He wasn't even sure if he believed her about the night previous. The Ring of Attamon had only revealed that bizarre scene of the vermin devouring the poor girl. It had shown him nothing of her adventure in the woods. Frederick felt himself frown. He didn't trust her. He couldn't be held responsible for her escape, her story could prove to be a ruse, and then she will have truly left them. He didn't want to be accountable for the death of his family's hope. He turned his gaze down to her imploring face. "I trust you will take company?"
Nancy squinted in confusion. "Company?"
"Yes," Frederick gave a stern nod of his head. "One of my children will accompany you." He stated, rather than asked her.
Nancy nodded hurriedly, he was actually going to let her go? "Of course, yes of course," she slurred out in pleasantly surprised affirmation.
Frederick looked pleased. "You will not be lost without a guide this night," he spoke satisfied with her positive response. Maybe she truly did not intend to leave after all? Maybe his son's word rang true?
- O -
Gregory watched the scene with hooded eyes. She was going above ground again? He was beyond curious. Why would she return to the surface so soon? Before he could enter the scene and volunteer his assistance, the small frame of his younger brother emerged. He must have been stalking the conversation as well. Gregory wanted to smirk at the coincidence.
- O -
"I shall take Nancy above ground," Rudolf stated factually to his father.
Nancy blinked in surprise at the boys flurry of appearance. 'He must have been listening to us,' she realized with a jolt. It made her paranoid. She had no idea. Who else could be slithering around in the crypt? With a quick sniff she dispelled her drifting thoughts. Wasn't she one to talk. She was the resident number one eavesdropper in this hole.
"Very well, Witch," Frederick gave her a steel eyed gaze. "Rudolf," he spread his hardened look to his youngest son. "I wish you both safe journey." With that last bit of announcement he swept his moth eaten cloak back and swept himself from the room.
Nancy turned a large smile over to Rudolf. "So, it's you and me to tonight huh?"
Rudolf scratched the back of his bashfully. "I believe it is." He looked up to Nancy in sudden remembrance. "I apologize for listening to your conversation. I admit that I was more than curious when I realized it twas you who was talking to my father."
Nancy shrugged in indifference. "Don't worry about it. I would've done the same if I were you."
Rudolf smiled slightly at her easy admittance.
Nancy blinked and shifted her arm so that she could play with her nose ring.
Rudolf coughed for a moment before speaking. "Are you ready to venture out?"
Nancy grinned. "Let's go," she straightened herself before taking confident steps forward.
"B-But do you not need your bag?" Rudolf stuttered eloquently at her sudden enthusiasm.
Nancy stopped her steps to ponder for only a second. "Nah, I just need one thing." She winked at the Vampire child.
Rudolf nodded quickly before attempting to match her quick steps through his home.
"You navigate as well as we do," he praised as he turned to follow her down a tunnel that would assuredly lead them to an exit hole.
Nancy laughed happily. "I'm glad to hear it."
- O -
Rudolf stood patiently next to a tombstone as Nancy wiggled her way out of the ground. He tried to keep himself from smiling too much at her annoyed squeaks and pleas at him to put in a word with his family to widen the entry holes.
She pulled herself to the surface with one final hurl. "What I would give to turn into a bat so I could just fly out of these damn needle head holes," she wheezed to herself. Her hands slid around in the moist grass for a moment before gaining enough ground to push herself up into a stand. She huffed at the unblemished Vampire child before her. He wasn't covered in mud.
He hid his smile behind his intricately clothed arm. "Are you quite prepared now?" He offered his hand.
Nancy felt the adrenaline return. It hadn't occurred to her until this moment. She would be flying again tonight. Damn. There was no help. She was going to be addicted. Eying Rudolf's extended limb excitedly, she inwardly promised herself she wouldn't go daredevil again this night. That was reserved exclusively for the annoyance of Gregory. With an unconscious nod she took hold of Rudolf's hand and felt herself begin to soar.
- O -
They descended smoothly into the dense forest at Nancy's instruction. With amusement she noticed that Rudolf was more considerate and didn't deliberately try to run her into clouds like his brother had the previous night.
Rudolf propelled them carefully down through the crisp wings of the tree's branches expertly.
Nancy was beyond impressed. As they touched down to the ground she whooped happily and released Rudolf's tiny hand.
Rudolf tried not to laugh as Nancy bounced up and down on the moss of the forest floor. "What brings about such happiness?" He was genuinely curious.
Nancy stopped her frolicking to shrug carelessly at Rudolf. "I don't know, I just like flying I guess."
Rudolf shook his head in amusement.
Her mind buzzed with the sound of her heartbeat. There just really wasn't anything quite like the feeling of flight. It took a full ten minutes before her mind could focus again on her task at hand.
With purposeful strides she glided herself through the forest until she reached a large wild fern overgrowth outstretching from beneath a fallen oak tree. Rudolf stepped cautiously behind her.
"Is this the plant you seek?" His small voice questioned.
She gave a determined nod before squatting herself down to begin the tedious process of extracting sections of the fern by its roots. Rudolf sat quietly atop the fallen oak beside her.
Not before long Nancy grew tired of the silence and the eerie sounds of the forest. "Rudolf, ask me some stuff," she grunted as she dug deep into the earth to retrieve her prize.
The child blinked curiously at being addressed. "What would you like me to inquire?"
Nancy winced as she tugged on a particularly difficult root. "Anything, something you want to know about." She looked up into his confused face. "This forest is really creeping me out, distract me please." She elaborated finally on her reasoning.
Rudolf nodded in quiet understanding. He appeared to ponder for a moment.
Nancy's hands yanked tirelessly on her root.
"What did you and my father see in the Ring of Attamon?"
Nancy face blanched and she released the root with a squawk. She had fallen backwards onto the mossy floor.
Rudolf jumped easily from his roost. "I apologize! Are you well?" His face reflected worry.
Nancy sputtered a nervous laugh before righting herself. "Yeah," she rubbed her dirt covered hands together. "Anything but that question, okay?" she smiled tightly up to him before submerging her hands back into the filthy ground.
Rudolf felt guilt hit him. "Please forgive me, I did not realize-"
Nancy cut him off. "It's okay Rudolf," she gave him her brightest smile. "It's okay." She turned her head back to her work.
He felt himself inhale. Nancy had never used his name before. He felt strangely happy. He certainly was not as dear a friend to Nancy as his sister Anna, but it pleased him greatly to hear her so friendly with him.
"How bout I tell you a bit about my childhood, hmm?" she spoke distractedly as she dug through the earth. Not even looking in his direction.
Rudolf's ears perked up at her offer. "I would very much like to hear about it," he spoke politely. Doing his best to hide his intense curiosity on the topic. He figured that the childhood of a Witch had to be more than what might be considered ordinary.
"Let's see," she pondered. "To start out, I guess I should say that I was born in America."
Rudolf's eyes widened at the admittance.
"That's why I have this silly accent," she wrinkled her face funnily. The fern emerged finally from the soil.
She fondled the rough ends of the root. "I was a little devil back in the day," she smirked to herself. Memories of her early mischief flooded her mind. "I was born with non-magic parents," she added quietly.
Rudolf nearly fell off of his seat on the uprooted tree. "Truly?" he was amazed. "Your parents were not Magicians?"
Nancy laughed loudly at his surprise. Magicians. Ha! She wished. Then she would have been able to turn her magic off. She wished that she could have been born a magician. She smiled wryly. "Yeah, and I was quite the curious little trouble maker," she sent a smile towards Rudolf. "Not much has changed since then."
Rudolf smiled a small smile back at her.
"I once animated the silverware in my mother's kitchen," she recalled fondly. "It danced for an entire week."
Rudolf chuckled lightly at the short tale. He could hardly imagine such a ridiculous scene, but he had no doubts that the Witch before him had performed such a feat.
She smiled slightly at Rudolf's laughter. "My parents had no explanation for the phenomenon." She shook her head. "They called a ghost specialist, they honestly thought it was a haunting."
Rudolf's laughter stopped short. He was surprised. "Didn't you tell them it was your doing?"
Nancy sighed. "Of course I did, but I was seven years old. They thought I was just being imaginative." Nancy ripped the last remaining ferns from the earth. "They caught on after a while though," she mumbled under her breath.
Rudolf helped Nancy up from the ground. "...Are you ready to return?" he asked carefully, he could tell Nancy's mood was plummeting.
Nancy turned to Rudolf, very grateful for the subject change. "Yeah, I'm ready to fly!" she proclaimed grasping the child's hand eagerly.
Rudolf smiled widely at her expression before lifting them in flight.
- O -
Nancy smiled with content as she meandered through the caves with Rudolf beside her. The courteous boy refused to allow her to walk alone to her cave end and insisted that he walk with her to it. Such a little gentlemen. She only wished his older brother could be so well mannered.
As they neared her stop she flipped herself around to look down at Rudolf's small form. "Thank you Rudolf, you were a huge help," she dropped down to her knees and gave the boy a short hug.
Rudolf pat her back quickly in embarrassment. "It was nothing Nancy."
She stood back up to her full height.
"Should you need to go out again, I will be more than happy to help," Rudolf offered with a small serious smile.
Nancy shifted the bundle of ferns under her arm. "Actually, I might need to go out again tomorrow night if you're free?"
Rudolf nodded in surprise. "That's rather soon, but it's no problem," he gestured with his hand. "I shall see you here then, tomorrow's eve?"
Nancy gave a nod of her head. "Yeah, I'll see ya then," she held her hand up in a wave from behind, as she made her way down her blue illuminated tunnel.
Rudolf smiled to himself as he turned to make his way back to his family's sleeping quarters. Nancy was fun to be around. He looked forward to their adventure tomorrow.
"Rudolf," a familiar voice called to him as he turned a corner.
He shifted his head to find the imposing form of his older brother leaning against an angel statue.
"Gregory," Rudolf greeted as he stopped to adhere to his brother's call.
"You took the Witch out tonight, didn't you?"
Rudolf was confused at the question. Not a question really. It had sounded like an accusation.
"I did," he began in confusion. How did Gregory even know about that? They weren't even gone half the night. He doubted even Anna had noticed Nancy's disappearance. "I took Nancy to the surface." He corrected the name unconsciously.
Gregory crossed his arms across his chest and glowered down at his sibling. "Don't worry about taking her tomorrow night," his boot skid as he angled it against the statue he was leaning against. "I'll take her."
Rudolf was beyond confused. But with the solid look Gregory was giving him, he didn't question the decision. "Very well," Rudolf nodded to his brother before moving quickly from his company. How strange. He had thought Nancy and Gregory didn't get along. He hoped that his elder brother wouldn't use this as an opportunity to upset the Witch. He suddenly feared for her. Maybe he should have fought Gregory's odd declaration. But somehow he had known of their meeting again tomorrow. He wondered if his family had anything to do with this switch. He looked briefly over his shoulder to see the unmoved figure of Gregory. Rudolf shrugged his Victorian clothed padded shoulders before slipping around the bend to get his rest for the night.
- O -
Nancy worked hurriedly through the day preparing her powerful incantation of hex and paranoia prevention. It was taking a lot more time than she had initially anticipated. She had worked without stop for almost the entirety of her daylight hours. Her viciously built up internal clock informed her of this. She even ventured to guess that her Vampires would be awakening any minute now.
Damn. At the realization she threw her mud and charcoal caked hands down in submission and sat quietly on the ground. She still needed thirteen bundles of Tenur moss. Once she had that, she was sure she could complete the spell. She could just slap herself. She had been stepping all over it just the night before with Rudolf. How annoying.
With a labored sigh she made herself stand. The sooner she got her materials, the sooner she could cast the spell.
The hiss of a cockroach sounded off from inside her ear.
She jumped and held her head in complete panic. She had to get this under control.
More motivated than ever, she shot forward to find her Vampire child guide for the night.
- O -
It was still pretty early so she wasn't surprised that he hadn't been waiting for her at the edge of her tunnel. With her intuition as her light she led herself around the underground maze.
"Nancy," the boyish voice of Rudolf sounded off from behind her.
She whirled around with a gasp on her lips. "There you are!" she spoke in relief. Thankfully, she hadn't had to adventure far. "Are you ready to take me upstairs?" she joked with a smile.
Rudolf gave her a strange look. "Actual-"
His voice was overridden by Gregory's. "I'm taking you tonight." The brutish figure of the older boy made himself visible.
She squinted at him. She didn't know what to say. "Are you serious?" she directed the question at no one in particular. But at the nervous look Rudolf had sent her, she guessed that this was just the way it was going to be tonight.
Gregory's face shone with indifference.
"Okay," Nancy shifted the weight from one foot to the other awkwardly. "I guess I'll see you later Rudolf," she waved to him, still in her stupor of bewilderment, trying to catch up, as Gregory had already begun walking away to lead her above.
"Until later, Nancy," his small voice called after her as she vanished from view.
He sincerely hoped Gregory was on good behavior this evening.
- O -
Nancy tried her best not to laugh as Gregory lifted them through the air. The boy hadn't said a word since they left Rudolf's company. Deep within her mind she wondered if he felt awkward around her after their interesting little hug encounter. Her wind blown face looked over to him discreetly.
His features were utterly blank.
Nah. She decided. He's fine, she concluded. But still. What possessed him to take her out this night. She was almost disappointed by his lack of teasing and ill mannered jokes. Almost. Maybe he was making an effort to be nice?
She looked to his face again. Not so discreetly.
His features twisted into a sneer. "Why do you keep gazing at me?" he demanded, his dread locks and white hair plait tumbling around in the night breeze.
Maybe not. She smiled wanly at him. "Because you're beautiful," her voice reeked of sarcasm.
His hand twitched and she felt her fingers slightly slip from his hold. This time, she's the one who clasped tightly. If she was going to skydive, she wanted it to be on her own terms.
Gregory's face twitched. It took him a few full minutes to understand that she had been joking. He felt foolish. He felt the blood of the deer he had devoured earlier flood up into his cheeks.
Nancy actually felt bad about her remark. He looked flustered. Well, that was unexpected. She didn't know Vampires could blush.
She spoke quickly to try to divert his attention. "There," she pointed below them. "The materials I need are there," she looked over nervously at Gregory.
He nodded silently before following her directions and lowering their forms back to the world's surface.
Nancy felt giddy as they glided downwards, Gregory was a more reckless flier than his younger brother. He didn't seem to care about decelerating. Especially when it came to landing. Nancy tried her absolute hardest not to whoop in excitement as they narrowly dove through the trees to reach the darkened forest floor below. Nancy tumbled to the soft mossy ground as Gregory released his hold on her hand.
She rolled over in the moss for a moment before pushing herself upward. She sat up on the soft tickling tines of the undergrowth before she began ripping chunks of it from the moist soil.
Gregory leaned himself against a nearby low hanging tree bough. He watched Nancy as she worked.
Time ticked on.
His gaze was really starting to unnerve her. "Could you please stop staring at me?" she snapped finally as she dislodged a large chunk of moss.
Gregory smirked at her and brushed a bit of dirt from his trench coat. "You are the one who began this game," he quipped back easily.
She could have punched him in that moment. She decided to do the next best thing. "Yeah, well, if you wanted to go on a date with me so bad, you could have just asked?" she asked casually, not even looking up from her work.
The stunned silence that followed her off handed remark was hilarious. Nancy let her lips quirk into a large smile.
"I am doing no such thing," he practically growled at her.
Had he done that a week ago, she would have been terrified, but she was used to his antics by now. He wouldn't hurt her. Maybe let her fall out of the sky, but he wouldn't hurt her. "You could have fooled me," she shrugged her shoulders, still never looking up from her work on the ground beneath her.
Gregory did growl this time. "Please inform me of my behavior so that you won't get the strange opinion that I am courting you," he grumbled at her and kicked a nearby rock with his boot.
Nancy actually laughed at that. "Okay," she giggled to herself.
Gregory's face seized in confusion.
Nancy's laughter hitched when she looked over to his expression. She started gasp laughing. "I was just joking with you," she managed to choke out to him.
Gregory failed to see the humor.
Nancy wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "Don't look so serious, sheesh," she huffed airily at him.
He exhaled loudly before crossing his arms at her. This just wasn't how he expected their outing to go. He wasn't quite sure what he was expecting, but he certainly didn't picture it to be quite this annoying.
Nancy shook her head from side to side. He had shut down. He was such a five year old. Rudolf and Anna were probably more mature than him at this point. She laughed quietly to herself. She had been just joking, but now she really was starting to get the feeling that this was supposed to be a date. That would actually make a small bit of sense: his random silences, lack of regular teasing, blushing, and his tantrum over her accusing this of being a date.
Yeah. She was convinced. It had to be a date. She knew all too well the panicky feeling you get when a date doesn't go the way you planned. She was starting to think that Gregory did too.
Her fingernails dug deep into the ground as she peeled back a larger layer of moss. She found herself feeling flattered. 'And here I was thinking that the boy didn't like me.' She glanced over to his pouting figure.
Huh? Now that she thought about it. He was kind of cute in that strange old world sort of way. His punkish clothing was just icing on the cake really.
She began humming tunelessly to herself. She honestly wasn't thinking about romance right now was she? She had to be insane. Man that cockroach hex must have been powerful.
Gregory cleared his throat to interrupt her musings.
Her head whipped in his direction.
"I asked you what you needed this moss for?" He looked grumpy at being ignored.
Her mind went blank for a moment.
When his question actually hit her, she wanted to scream and run away. Lying to Gregory never really seemed to go over well. "Well, I'm making an incantation," she paused to look back down at her work. "To protect myself."
Gregory's mouth twitched into a frown. "From my family?" he questioned blindly.
"No, no, no," she dismissed his theory with a smile. "There are just some bad spells out there that are trying to get me."
Gregory looked annoyed. "That's quite vague." He squashed a rolly polly under his boot.
Nancy shrugged and pulled the final green patch from the earth. "It's all you need to know," she spoke smoothly.
He changed the subject. She wasn't going to budge anymore information. He could tell. "Why do you need materials for magic in the first place?" That question had been burning in his mind for a while now. He had thought magic folk could just use magic as they damn well pleased. But this girl had all varieties of strange rituals he didn't even know existed in the magic world. Granted he didn't know much about the magic world. Even if he was an inhabitant of it.
What is this, an interrogation? Nancy stopped her assault on the ground and placed her last square of green to the side. "Magic is all about reaping what you sow," she said very simply.
He waited but she never elaborated.
She picked at her dirtied black fingernails.
Gregory watched her silently as she stacked the piles of moss and then wrestled the bunch to fit under one of her arms. It never really occurred to him to ask her if she needed assistance.
She held her hand out to him. She was ready.
He grabbed hold of her without difficulty and flew them back as swiftly as he could.
The silence of their flight was suffocating. But not nearly as suffocating as the speed he was flying at. Nancy could barely breathe. She couldn't even yell at him to slow the fuck down. But before she could turn blue from the lack of oxygen they were already landing back in the cemetery.
She breathed deeply. Then refitted the moss that was trying to slip free from her hold before turning to address her guide for this awkward night. "Gregory," she called him to attention.
He was overly surprised to hear his name come out of her mouth. His bored look disappeared in an instant. She had his full attention.
She smiled coyly at him before sauntering closer.
Gregory started to wince. Was she going to hug him again? With all that dirt and grime on her body?
He started to recoil, but she grabbed hold of his torn jacketed shoulder and tugged his face downward. Her lips made brief contact with his sallow grey check before retreating. "Thanks for the date," she smirked up at him from their still close proximity. "Just talk more next time, okay?"
She laughed loudly at his horrified expression before slipping herself down into the hole to the crypt.
All was silent in the graveyard, save the sound of the wind rattling the leaves in the tree tops.
Gregory stood.
Staring.
Staring at the hole Nancy had just pushed herself into.
His emotions were unreadable. His feelings were unreadable. His thoughts were unreadable.
His form dissolved rapidly into that of a grey speckled bat.
He flew away briskly into the light of the moon.