Chapter 53 - The Death Of Luka and Mrs. Fillipov (Part 2)
~~~~August 1937~~~~
It had only been a week since he'd met her and she had instantly become the most exciting thing in his life.
This was the sixth night they'd been out together. He wouldn't necessarily call them dates, they did a variety of things but at the end of the night it usually wound up with him spread eagle on the floor and her riding him like a derby thoroughbred.
He smirked at the thought of that.
They had been walking down the street aimlessly, deciding what they would try to do next.
They didn't hold hands or link arms, it wasn't their style, they just walked side by side together as they continued down the street.
"Any thoughts?" he broke the silence.
"What can I say? There isn't a lot to do in New York with this Depression, everything costs money," she sighed.
"I have money," Nikola shrugged.
"Yah, but I've already eaten," she sighed. "And I don't want you to buy me anything."
"Okay, okay," he sighed and stopped. "Do we have to do anything? Can't we just...do what we always do?"
He gave her a devious grin.
"What? Like right here?" she grinned back. "On this busy street?"
"I'm sure we could find a way," he maneuvered behind her and pressed himself up behind her back.
His hands went to her waist.
"To anybody else we are watching the stars," he continued and Kate snorted.
"I don't think so...I'm a bit of a screamer," she teased.
"I'll cover for you, you start moaning I'll pretend I'm giving you the Heimlich, you start screaming I'll cry out "Mugger!", you scream my name, I'll say "I'm here!" and act like I'm hard of hearing," he chuckled. It sounded rather ridiculous, even to him.
Kate laughed.
"You're an idiot," she leaned against him. "But you are fun."
"I must be, you keep going out with me," he smirked.
"Have you ever done something...reckless?" Kate asked.
Nikola bit his lip in thought. He as done plenty of reckless things, setting things on fire, chasing after dangerous creatures, jumping in front of loaded weapons, not grounding his coil the first time around...having an affair with his best friend's wife.
"Depends on what you mean by reckless," he answered finally.
"Like rob a store, say that one, the jewelry store next to the hotel," she gestured to the old little shop.
"What are you thinking?" he looked down at her.
"Let's break in and take something," she looked up at him.
"What?" he scoffed.
"Only for the night then return it in the morning before they realize anything has gone missing," she took his hand. "I'll wear it while you..."
Her eyes finished her sentence for her.
Nikola smirked.
"You're just plain trouble," he grinned deviously, taking the opportunity to kiss her.
"Come on, let's do it," Kate smirked and pulled him over.
She grabbed a loose brick from a broken wall in the alleyway and aimed to throw it through the store window.
"No, Kate," he grabbed the brick from her and tossed it away. "We don't need that. If we're going to do this we're going to do it stealthily and with just a bit of cunning."
"Meaning?" she huffed.
"We aren't going to break anything," he said with a small smirk.
He pulled out a pin from Kate's hair.
"Just get me close to the door," he smirked and took her hand, leading her up the four steps to the store's front. He pushed her against the door and began kissing her thoroughly.
With one hand he held her firmly, while the other snuck over to the door handle. He continued to kiss her as he slowly worked the lock open. Once he heard a telling click he stopped, turned the handle, and they slipped in on the other side. It was so quick that Kate barely had time to blink before she was pressed from one side of the door to the other. A little bell welcomed their arrival.
She grabbed the lapel of his jacket and kissed him hungrily.
"That was such a turn on," she growled.
"I aim to please," he nipped at her lip and she pulled away.
"Now, what to steal?" Kate moved around him. "Something that would look good on me, don't you think?"
He went behind her and grabbed her hips.
"By that criteria we would be stealing the entire store," he teased.
She walked out of his grip.
"Then something expensive that looks the best out of all of them," she suggested.
Nikola saw a beautiful diamond necklace in the display.
"That," he pointed to it. "I would like to see you in that."
Kate smiled and went up to the case and admired it.
"It's perfect, how do we get it?" she turned to him and he went behind the case and easily picked the locks and pried the glass open.
He gently lifted the necklace out and brought it over to her.
"Turn around," he ordered softly and she complied.
With deft and nimble fingers he placed the necklace around her and clipped it together. It rested perfectly against her collarbone and made her eyes sparkle.
"There," he sighed, looking at her. "It's perfect."
"It is," she smirked and grabbed his tie, pulling him to her in a softer kiss.
"Let's get out of here," she whispered into his ear seductively.
"And where will we be going?" he grinned.
Kate kept her grip on his tie and pulled him to the door.
"We're going to try this out," a sparkle from the diamonds in the necklace caught in her eye and twinkled its way right to Nikola's gut and punched it.
He pulled his tie out of her grip and went back to the display and closed it then returned to her.
"Don't want to leave a trace, right?" he took her hand.
"Never," she grabbed him by the lapel and dragged him out of the store. The bell chimed behind them.
~~~~Summer 1897~~~~
Nikola held her gloved hand gently as he led her into the races. It was another one of those places she had never been to and he had convinced her to go.
The white blouse crested just under her chin and she wore a beautiful blue and white embroidered ensemble complete with a fascinator and umbrella. She looked picture perfect stunning.
Nikola wore a light cream suit and brown bowler with a blue cravat to accommodate her.
"Oh Nikki! This is marvelous!" she gasped as they entered the stands at the derby.
She held their ticket tightly in her free hand as they went to find a seat.
"I told you you'd like it," Nikola led her to a seat.
"It's more than I've ever imagined," she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "Look at them, oh aren't they gorgeous?"
"Mrs. Fillipov, you are a married woman!" he admonished.
"I mean the horses you goof," she swatted him and laughed.
"Well they are specially trained champions," he leant back on the bench and through his arm across the back of it behind her shoulders.
She rested a hand on his knee.
Katherine was enthralled by the sights and colors and sounds of the racetrack. She squeezed his knee ever so slightly when something new took her by surprise.
Nikola just sat back and watched her bemusedly as her eyes darted from place to place, trying to take it all in at once.
"Which ones ours?" she asked.
He took the ticket from her hand and read the number.
"Number 27. Lucky Ducky," he answered.
"Oh yes, how adorable," Katherine snickered.
He handed the ticket back to her.
"We're sure to win," he assured her.
"Oh I don't care about that! This is just fun!" she leaned against his arm slightly.
"There you are!" Robert Underwood Johnson entered and handed Katherine a small cup of ice cream with a spoon.
She took it gratefully.
"You guys disappeared so fast I thought you were carried off by horses," he chuckled and sat next to Katherine.
"Well we wanted to find a good seat, you did take a hell of a time choosing which horse to bet on," teased Nikola.
"Yes, number 17, Chernobyll. Sounds like a steady winner. Good odds," he surmised.
"I think Lucky Ducky is going to win, right Nikola?" Katherine interjected.
"I bet money on it, didn't I?" Nikola smirked.
Katherine laughed and turned her attention back to the racetrack.
"Ooh they're starting!" she grasped both Nikola's and Robert's hands.
Nikola and Robert shared a small grin as she stared in amazement.
There was something about this side of Katherine that they both loved.
The horses were released from the gate and began racing around the track. With every passing second Katherine's grip on Nikola's hand got tighter and tighter.
"Lucky Ducky in the lead with Caped Crusader trailing right behind and Chernobyll on the outside!" the announcer came over the microphone.
Nikola laughed as Katherine nearly lifted out of her seat in excitement.
He didn't care much for what the outcome of the race was, he wasn't much of a betting man anyway, he was here to show his friends a good time.
"Ack!" she cried excitedly as the horses crossed the finish line.
"And the winner is Lucky Ducky!" cried the announcer.
She threw her arms around Nikola in elation.
"We won!" she cried.
Nikola laughed.
"We did," he hugged her back before she pulled away and looked at Robert.
"Looks like our choice was the right one," she teased Robert and he chuckled.
"Nikki probably has some kind of scientific method to deduce the best horse," Robert shrugged.
Nikola chuckled. He just liked the number 27.
"What do we do now?" Katherine turned to Nikola.
"We go collect our winnings," said Nikola. "And place bets for the next race."
"Give me the ticket and I'll fetch the winnings. Why don't you take Katherine to go see the stables," suggested Robert.
"That'd be wonderful!" Katherine smiled.
"Just don't spend our winnings on another of your pitiful bets," teased Nikola.
"Yes, don't spend a penny of it," threatened Katherine with a stern and teasing eye.
"I won't, after my luck I don't think it will turn up much of a fortune anyway," he chuckled.
Katherine handed him the ticket and Robert went back to the betting exchange.
Nikola escorted Katherine from the stands to the stables to see the horses. A few pence to the stable boy and they were in.
Katherine stroked the face of the horse dubbed Lucky Ducky, their winning horse.
"He's beautiful," she sighed.
"He is," Nikola leaned against the wood of the stable structure watching her as she petted the animal.
"Thank you so much for convincing Robert and me to coming to this. Robert usually feels he's much to refined for this kind of thing," she chuckled. "It's nice to get out of the house sometime."
Nikola shrugged.
"It's no problem," he smirked.
"The three of us hardly do as much outings as we used to," she sighed again.
"Robert's been busy," Nikola defended his friend, keeping his distance from the beautiful woman.
"So have we," she turned to him with a knowing grin.
Nikola smirked slightly.
"I've missed you," she stepped away from the horse. "The last time we were alone together was..."
"I know," he interrupted. "I've been working. I haven't had a lot of time to get away, even for such wonderful company as you."
Katherine stepped up to him and kissed him tenderly. The kiss lasted a few seconds before Nikola broke it, pushing Katherine away.
"I'm sorry, I wanted to do that since you walked in the door this morning. With Robert away for a moment I couldn't put off the opportunity," she said with a small hint of pink in her cheeks.
Nikola smiled slightly but kept his distance.
"Robert and I were thinking of taking a trip up to our cabin next week for a few weeks. We were thinking of inviting you," she turned back to the horse.
"Well I'm flattered but..."
"Please come Nikki, you've been wearing yourself out with all the work you do, come out with us," he turned back to him and took his hands. "I couldn't spend two weeks away from you."
Nikola sighed and kissed her lightly.
"I can't," he whispered to her.
She kissed him back.
"A small break, that's all it is, your work won't blow away the moment you turn away from it, bring it with you if you must," she cupped his cheeks in her hands.
"But Luka..."
"Robert would be thrilled. He's always talking about you coming out to the country with us for a spell. Please," she gave him the sweetest look she could manage but he shook his head.
"I don't know, I..." he suddenly removed her hands from his face and completely straightened up.
Robert entered.
"Ah, there you are," he smiled at them. "I wasn't interrupting anything was I?"
Katherine smiled at him.
"Not at all, I was just telling Nikola about our plans to head to the country," she said.
"Ah yes, the invitation is extended to you of course," he smiled at Nikola and Nikola smiled back weakly.
"I don't think I can get away at this point in time," he started.
"Nonsense, it's only a few weeks, and Katherine and I will manage to keep you occupied for that time," he clapped Nikola's shoulder. "Come on, Nikki. We might never get this chance again."
Nikola sighed and looked at both of them.
"Fine, I guess I can bring my work with me. A change of scenery might be just what I need," he shrugged.
Katherine threw her arms around him in an excited and quick hug, pecking his cheek briefly.
"Marvelous!" she cried.
Robert chuckled.
"We'll make plans then. Excellent!" he clasped Nikola's hand tightly. "Now, we should place our bets before the race begins."
Nikola nodded.
"Yes, we should," he released his friend's hand.
Katherine and Robert walked out of the stables arm-in-arm, heading to the exchange.
Nikola let them go on ahead of him, instead choosing to pet the muzzle of the lucky horse he had bet on.
"Maybe some if your luck will rub off on me," he said to the majestic animal.
"Nikki! Are you coming?" Katherine had returned for him.
"Of course, sorry," he gave her a reassuring smile.
"Hurry up silly," she teased and left again with a small giggle.
Nikola let out a sigh and give one last look to the horse before following the beautiful woman out.
~~~~August 1937~~~~
Nikola walked down the street with a spring in his step. The night he had just had, had been exciting to say the least. Not only had it been dangerous and adventurous, but also when Kate got him to her apartment it became hot and sensual. He still had the image of her wearing nothing but the glimmering piece of stolen property around her neck and how much that had fed him animalistically.
There was something about her that brought out his adolescent recklessness; something he hadn't really felt in a long time and it was like an escape, from everything.
He looked down at the small package in his hand with a smirk.
Of course, as soon as he stepped out of her apartment he was his normal old responsible self.
He had enough on his plate without adding a robbery to it.
Kate hadn't even been awake. He got up at the crack of dawn and carefully removed the delicate jewelry from around her neck, paid her a few sweet kisses, she barely stirred, wrapped up the necklace and then headed on his way.
He arrived at the steps to the small store. The owner was just walking up the staircase to unlock the front door, that's how early it was.
Nikola improvised a quick plan and ran up to the steps.
"Excuse me!" he called to the storeowner.
"Yes?" the old man looked up from his key ring.
Nikola held out the package.
"Is this 3516?" Nikola asked.
The man nodded.
"This was accidentally delivered to my door, mail boy must've read the address wrong," Nikola said as earnestly as possible. "I thought is drop it off, your store's on my way."
The man looked at the label on the package and screwed his face up slightly. It was the address of his store, but he had no idea who would send it to him.
"Thank you," he took the package from Nikola.
"No problem," Nikola tipped his hat and walked away.
The old man shrugged and entered his store, the door chiming as he walked through the threshold.
He opened the package nimbly with one hand as the other tried to divest him of his coat. He managed to get it on the coat rack and open one corner of the nearly wrapped box.
With both hands free he unwrapped the rest of the package much easily. He pulled put the small little box and shook it gently. There was something inside.
He opened the box and gasped as he saw the contents. Amongst the shredded newspaper was a necklace, his necklace. His eyes immediately darted to he display case where he saw, for the first time, the empty display.
His eyes shot back to the box and then he suddenly darted of the store.
"Sir!" he called.
But the strange deliveryman of this package had gone.
~~~~Later~~~~
Rudy was making soup. His favorite: vegetable.
Nikola crawled around the apartment looking for holes while pretending to look for something else.
Rudy claimed he heard the distinct sound of an old hand drill chewing through plaster and wood. He was convinced they were spying on him again. He had heeded Nikola's advice and pretended to remain unaware and in character. They used code words to communicate which ended up sounding like Rudy was mentoring Nikola instead of telling him they were being spied upon.
Nikola was pretending to look for the old man's glasses while the old man made soup.
He didn't see any suspicious new holes yet.
"Nope, can't find them," he said, finally standing up.
"Nowhere to be found?" asked Rudy.
"Nowhere, but they're probably in the last place you look," Nikola subtly gestured to a slight crack in the wall next to the corner.
Rudy nodded and continued stirring the soup.
Nikola sat at the table casually.
"Vegetable soup again?" he asked.
"'Bout the only thing I can eat any more," Rudy chuckled.
"How sad," Nikola muttered.
"Could be worse, could be eating spam," Rudy poured a small bowl and set it in front of Nikola. "At least vegetables have flavor."
"True," Nikola smirked and twirled his spoon in the bowl absently.
"Are you going out with the girl again tonight?" asked Rudy.
"No, she has the graveyard shift because one of the maids caught the flu and she's covering for her, so I'll have to entertain myself tonight," Nikola sighed.
"You could always go for a walk on the park, feed the pigeons," suggested Rudy.
"As much as I enjoy feeding pigeons I enjoy her just as well. Last night, oh, the things we did," Nikola sighed whimsically.
"I don't need a description," Rudy rolled his eyes.
He set his bowl down on the table and sat down across from Nikola.
"I know, but still, it was wild," Nikola chuckled.
Rudy ate his soup without answering him.
"A nice escape from all the crap that goes around here," Nikola grumbled.
"It's not that bad," shrugged Rudy. "Keeps me busy."
Nikola gave a look to his older self.
"Seriously? You enjoy it?" he asked skeptically.
"I'm sorry, I don't have a young wild child who smells like peaches to amuse myself, I have to take it where I can get it," Rudy teased.
Nikola laughed.
"Now eat your soup," ordered Rudy.
"Yes sir," Nikola smirked.
He took one bite of the soup and pushed it away in disgust.
"I hate soup," he grumbled.
A ring at the telephone brought him out of his pouty state.
"Ooh, must be the front desk," Nikola spring over to answer it.
"Tesla's room, this is not him speaking," Nikola said rather whimsically.
A giggle erupted over the phone. Oh Jenny.
"A message came for Mr. Tesla from his friend Mr. Johnson again...would you like to come get it?"
Nikola smirked at Rudy who continued to eat his soup uncaring.
"I'd be delighted, be right down," he hung up the phone.
"You're not going to go find some entertainment are you?" asked Rudy.
"Of course not, I'm only going down there to receive a message, Jenny is a harmless little giggly butterfly, I'll be back before you know it," he opened the door and quickly sauntered out. He was in a weirdly good mood today.
He smirked. Possibly because he could still see the sparkled in Kate's eye as he...
Ding!
He reached the elevator and hopped inside.
"Where to?" asked the bellboy.
"Reception," said Nikola with a wide grin.
He reached the ground floor in short time exiting out of the elevator and heading towards the front desk.
"Hello beautiful," he said as he approached Jenny.
She giggled and blushed a bit before handing him the neatly folded message. He reached for it and she held it out of his reach just long enough to press a deep red lip kiss to its paper.
Nikola smirked.
"Thank you Jenny," he took the message from her.
"You should drop by more often Mr. Javor," she flirted and Nikola smirked.
"I'm here all the time," he stroked a finger teasingly under her chin. "You just got to know where to look."
What was he doing? He was turning hormonal!
He shook his head and stood up straight.
"Later Jenny," he took his message and turned to see a rather unimpressed Kate glaring at him.
He smiled sheepishly.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
He came up to her as she was standing at the elevator.
"Javor," she greeted coldly.
"Hi Kate," he waved at her.
"So, did you make plans with Jenny for tonight, or is he mainly for weekends?" asked Kate.
"Oh that...it's not what it looks like..." he said lamely.
"Of course it doesn't," Kate entered the elevator with her cart and she him daggers with her eyes.
"Hey, it was nothing. And it's not like we're going steady...or whatever the new term they're using is. You said it yourself, no relationship, no jealousy, no six kids," he defended.
The bellhop stayed conveniently quiet.
"Jealous? Who's jealous? I never said I was jealous. I was referring to they way you blatantly tried to screw her with your eyes in such a public fashion. I'm kind of embarrassed to be seen with you right now."
"I wasn't...it was...this isn't even my letter, she's been flirting with me for ages, I've never...I will never. Kate..." he sighed. "If you don't want me to flirt with someone else, just say so."
"No, we agreed. No relationship, no problems. Six kids and all," she sighed.
"Kate," he grasped her hand lightly. "I was thinking of you...with Jenny. I honestly was. I haven't gotten you out of my mind since last night. I can still see the sparkle..." his hand drifted across her clavicle just barely before the elevator dinged again and Kate quickly marched out.
Nikola handed the bellhop a few extra coins.
"This is to keep your mouth shut," instructed Nikola. The bellhop nodded. "Kate!"
He followed her out.
"You are sending some very mixed signals here," he grasped her hand.
"What the hell do you mean?" she yanked her hand out of his.
"You are saying one thing but acting another," he clarified.
"Come again?" she glared at him.
"Well, you say you're not jealous but your actions clearly state that you want...more," Nikola watched her face drop slightly. "Tell me what you want me to say, Kate."
~~~~Later~~~~
Nikola looked up at the ceiling of the room in the New Yorker. How these things happened to him so quickly he would never wrap his head around. All he really understood was the gorgeous dark haired brunette lying nakedly against him.
"Do you do this often?" he teased looking at her.
"What? Take strange men into empty hotel rooms and ride them like a thoroughbred?" she teased. "Do you really want to know?"
"No, not really," he smirked and stroked a hand through her medium short hair. "What does this mean for us now?"
Kate sat up slightly and ran a hand lightly down his chest.
"It means that we carry on just like before, only you don't flirt with that flimsy blonde anymore, and I don't offer room service," she chuckled.
"So we're screwing around exclusively?" he gave her a look and she nodded. "I can live with that."
He rolled over so that he was on top of her and kissed her soundly.
"I'm going to miss you tonight though, so many fantasies about you and jewelry," he smirked.
"Well you're going to have to save them for later," she kissed him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I could leave you a dirty note to hold you over till later."
Nikola chuckled then froze.
"The note!" he sprung out of the bed and began fumbling around for his trousers.
"Where's the fire?" she teased.
"This note, I need to get back to Rud- I mean Mr. Tesla," he nearly jumped into each pant leg.
He scurried over and gave her one last kiss.
"I'm sorry I have to cut our little reprieve short," he threw on his undershirt and white button down. His suspenders were thrown haphazardly over each shoulder. "But I've got to go."
"Try explaining the lipstick kiss embedded on the front," she teased.
Nikola smirked.
"Some things are better left to the imagination," he fixed his hair quickly then headed to the door, only to run right back and grasp her head to give her one very last and thorough kiss. "Later."
He ran out to head back to room 3327.
He was met with a rather disapproving glare.
"Please don't tell me you slept with the giggly one," Rudy said unamusedly.
"No, I didn't sleep with the giggly one, I slept with Peaches," he smirked. "The same one."
"Why don't you two just get married and save us all the trouble," sighed Rudy.
"Because, once she figures out that I'm an 81 year old vampire scientist that won't age and will never die, she might see that as a bit of a turn off," sighed Nikola.
"And maybe she'll die from congenital heart failure long before then," Rudy joked darkly.
"Besides, neither of us want that," he sighed. He fished the note out of his pocket.
Rudy eyed the lipstick stick on the back of it.
Nikola ignored the glare.
"I wonder what Robert wants from me," he sighed, his tone shifting. He read the note. "He wants me to meet him tonight, at the park."
Nikola puzzled over that.
"What for?" he asked aloud.
"A gentlemanly heart to heart," suggested Rudy.
"Doubtful," shrugged Nikola.
"Fine then, a gentlemanly duel to the death," Rudy rolled his eyes.
"Closer," Nikola tapped his chin with his fingers. "I have to go anyways. If only to see him again."
Nikola sighed. He'd missed the company of his old friend and his wife but he would have to jump through a lot of hoops before Robert would forgive him for what he'd done.
"Luckily I have no plans. So tonight, you'll stay in and lie low, I'll dawn the grey hair and fake wrinkles and go out to feed the pigeons."
Rudy nodded.
"Suits me," he shrugged.
"Ok, and... stay away from the wall," he gestured slightly with his head.
"I dealt with that already. Made a complaint that I thought there were rats chewing through my wall and the infestation was coming from next door, made a big bluster about it to, you'd have been proud," smirked Rudy.
"Rudy, you may not be the smartest man I've ever met but this proves that there's sneaky little streak of genius running through," smirked Nikola patting his friends shoulder.
"I've been your roommate for a decade or so, I should have picked up something during that time," smirked Rudy.
He coughed raggedly and Nikola cringed.
"I'm going to lie down if I'm being given the day off," sighed Rudy.
"Good idea," Nikola nodded. Watching with a twisting gut as the old man hobbled over to the bed and strained to sit down and swing his legs over.
Nikola never wanted to age. He looked at himself in the mirror.
He guessed he lucked out in that respect. He never would. He wished he could do the same for people like Rudy or Kate.
He smirked.
He would enjoy having Kate around for a while. Just the way she was.
He shook his head.
It was probably best this way. His punishment for immortality, having to sea while mortal loved ones either and die.
Nikola headed to the bathroom and flicked on the light. He was going to meet Robert in the park tonight around midnight as per his request. It would take all that time to effectively age himself.
It was about a quarter to eleven when he finally stepped out of room 3327. He brought his collar up and he held the bag of crumbs in plain sight. He walked with Rudy's spare cane. He wore his hat low and walked steadily, ignoring everyone as he reached the lobby.
He reached the front step of the hotel and took a deep breath of fresh night air before stepping down the low steps.
He adjusted his coat and fixed his hat. The street was abandoned aside from a few taxis driving back and forth.
He started walking towards the park.
There was a commotion down the street.
"Out of my way!" a voice barked, throwing then driver from his seat.
Nikola stopped.
Was that?
"Hey! Hey! That's my cab!" cried the driver. The engine was already started and the cab was soon heading straight for him.
"Luka?" Nikola asked, unsure, he'd never seen his friend like this, it was like he was possessed.
The car kept coming towards him showing no signs of stopping and Nikola calculated its trajectory.
"Robert! Stop!" he cried, his feet taking more than necessary to receive the message to move.
The next thing he knew he was sprawled out on the road, a fair distance from the car. He felt blood trickling down his face and could feel several bones out of joint or even broken.
Suddenly a hand yanked him up, and Nikola fought unconsciousness.
"Was it worth it?" Robert cried. "Screwing my wife, was it worth it?"
Robert kept his voice hushed but he shook Nikola forcefully.
"I loved her more than anything! I loved you more than anything, and this is how you repay my friendship. Three years of lies."
Nikola groaned painfully. He knew what Robert was saying but couldn't form the words.
"I wanted to kill you, Nikola, my dearest friend, you! I wanted you dead, to pay. To feel just as betrayed as I feel!"
He punched Nikola hard in the face.
"She was my wife, Nikola...she was the woman I loved...why'd it have to be you that stole her from me. It should've been me," he threw Nikola to the ground and Nikola fell back with a groan.
Robert handed the cab driver a wad of cash before dashing off into the park.
"He won't get away with this," said the driver leaning down next to Nikola. "I'll call the cops, they'll catch him in an instant. I'll get you to a doctor."
"No!...I'm fine," Nikola sat up. It merely caused some customary bruises and upset my digestion a bit," he said quickly. "I've suffered worse."
"Are you sure?" asked the driver. "You were knocked pretty far."
"I said I'm fine!" snapped Nikola.
"Geez," the driver backed off and headed to his car.
Nikola picked up Rudy's cane and leaned on it heavily as he walked back to the hotel.
"Mr. Tesla, are you ok?" Jenny ran up to him to help him to the elevator.
"Jenny, be a dear and have a bottle of wine sent up to my room please," said Nikola as he walked past. "Just leave it by the door, I'll have Javor bring it in," Nikola made it to the elevator and rested against the wall. He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the streaks of blood off his face.
He reached room 3327 and entered shutting the door behind him.
When he got there he pried his shirt open, seeing where his rib was bulging out where the car ha initially hit him. He cracked it in place with pain yelp, he back slamming against the door.
He also grabbed his knee and cracked it back slightly. The sound was sickening and the wave of pain cases him to collapse on the floor.
He slid belly down on the ground as he fixed another rib with a sickening click. He vamped out and howled slicing his long talons across the floor.
One last adjustment and it was all gone and he lay on the floor breathing heavily. The tears threatening to spill not because of the pain. Because he had hurt someone he deeply wished he hadn't.
He had broken Luka and Mrs. Fillipov.
What he saw tonight wasn't a man who was slightly upset because his best friend had lied to him, it was a man whose entire life was shattered because of one secret, his secret.
And he didn't even have the decency to love Katherine the way she deserved. He just slept with her, and that was the sad part.
He really was a bastard.
He hoisted himself to his feet.
"Rudy," his voice was thick and raspy. "I'm okay. Sorry if I..."
He stepped into the bedroom and froze.
Rudy was lying in the bed, eyes closed, a bloody handkerchief clutched in his left hand resting on his chest.
The pale hue of death colored his skin. Lifeless and blue.
Nikola clutched his heart, feeling some kind of attack come over him, a panic attack or maybe this is what happens when the heart has too much sorrow that it can't handle it.
He fell back against the wall.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
He felt more pain as he crumbled to the ground.
He crawled over to the bed and draped the sheet over his friend's dead body.
"Maybe you didn't know," he sighed.
He sat on his knees and clasped his hands together, praying. He felt it was necessary.
The smell of death around him was frightening and he felt himself turn, a prickling and icy sensation crawling up his arm.
This almost felt like his initial transformation, all these emotions, and sensations, the pain...it was crippling.
He took in a deep breath and stood up. Hardening himself to it.
He looked down at Rudy's body and knew what he had to do.
He grabbed the old man's coat off the rack and threw it over his shoulders roughly.
He wiped the makeup out of his hair and the wrinkles off his face. He slicked his hair back and grabbed a roll of twine from his desk. Carefully wrapping his friend in the sheet he was lain in and tying it up neatly.
He grabbed some extra sheets and towels to make it look more like a laundry pile and headed out the door carrying his lookalike in his arms. He would find a good place for him. Somewhere in the park, near the pigeons.
It was one of the hardest nights he thought he had ever endured.
~~~~Author's Notes~~~~
Sorry about that...it's a bit tragic...but i threw in a little fun so it should be ok :) Right? *backs away slowly*