Disclaimer: we do not own Van Helsing and Dracula, just the OCs that appear. Them being Kathryn, Petra and Andrei. They are utterly OURS *possessive mode on*
We are sure that any of you will give us a reason to kill you in your sleep, right? *murderous face and evil grin*
We want to thank the reviews we go on the previous chapter and we tried to comply to some of the changes you guys proposed, but we found it hard to cut back on the details.
Please review!
Kisses*
P.S.: We heard some people complaining that it is a bit dififcult to read on FanFiction due to the small letters and to the background's brightness, but we want to let you know that there are options on the beginning of each chapter that allow you to change enlarge the font size and to change the contrast (black background and white font).
II.
Numb
"Fear is all I hold
Bound and beaten down
All the pain I can't escape today
Is always with me"
Tear The World Down, We Are The Fallen
I was sleeping soundly, with no dreams tiring my mind, when a rather rough bump woke me up. I slowly opened my eyes, feeling my head too heavy and disoriented to be able to open my eyes with the usual speed.
"It's good to see you, sleepyhead." Petra said with a more strident voice than the one I would have liked to hear. I held my head with both hands in a slightly stupid attempt to stop the buzzing sound that was giving me headaches. How long had I been slumbering? It must have been a lot of time. Even Petra's voice sounded distant with so much buzzing, it could be strident but it was like it was a blurred image. Darned coffee addiction.
"Hum?" I stupidly groaned as I glanced around, still a little confused. The sights were becoming more clear as the seconds went by, the same happened with the driver's voice, whose thin braids were being held by her faithful white hairpin.
"Otso. Vampires. It's all real." My brain blocked for some moments, only to start working again at full speed, remembering everything that had taken place before I blacked out. Shit, for some moments I swear that I thought that all hadn't been anything more than another, extremely vivid, nightmare and that I was going through my very first hangover.
Desperately, I wished to go back to the state of unconsciousness that I had been until then, anything was better than that situation… Well, on a second thought, it could be much worse, I could be dead. Only then was when I realized that I was awake, it wasn't a nightmare but my life. "Welcome to New York." My friend continued as she guided Otso inside the big city.
I looked around, everything seemed to be too much for someone who has just woken up. There was too much movement and noise on the streets. The city was covered by a soft white layer, it seemed that a blizzard had taken place during the day, and there were columns of dark smoke coming from the buildings' chimneys and small food stands.
It was the first time I had set foot on the busy city, I only wished that it had been in another occasion. However, I don't know how, I couldn't bring myself to remember the reason why we were there. I glanced up at the sky and noticed that it was becoming darker. That was strange, because I remembered falling asleep around 8 p.m.
"Care to explain me, again, why we came here?" I inquired as I yawned loudly. Even though my head was still remembering and sorting out what I had lived and seen, I still felt it very slow. Petra let out a slight and tired sigh escape as she turned on Otso's gadget. I saw her clicking on the menu and choosing the SMS choice, where she quickly typed a very simple sentence, Bring coffee. Then she sent it to the same Andrei we had spoken to before. "How long was I out?" I asked as I covered my eyes with my hand and slid down the seat. One by one, the street lights began to light up.
"23 hours." She stated while entering a grey parking lot that had several stories, it seemed to be a tad full. But, 23 hours? And she still let me sleep? No wonder my head was in the state I had it in. If only10 hours of slumber made me a little slower during the day, 23 would make me incapable of functioning.
We were able to find an empty spot in a rather dark area of the parking lot. She parked Otso and turned him off, oddly leaving the key in the ignition.
"Try to wake up okay? We'll have to walk from here but Andrei will get us at the bridge." She asked, turning to me. Right after that she got out of the car, took the arabesque out of the backseat and made her way to the trunk.
"Easier said than done." I grumbled lowly before a loud yawn escaped my lips and I dragged myself out of the red jeep. As soon as I was out a horrendous cold air hit my bones, making me straighten up as quickly as it made me wake up, I had to hug myself in order to maintain the body heat I had left in me.
Petra closed the truck while carrying a rucksack on her back and came closer to me, eyeing the car. I noticed the slightly sad look her eyes were giving Otso. I eyed him as well.
"Are you sure you want to live him here?" I asked as I got caught in a wave of pity and guilt. I knew that Petra had an abnormal fondness of the blood red jeep and I remember how much I liked him as well. I had a great difficulty in getting rid of anything.
"I have to…" She answered solemnly as she dragged her palm along the car's smooth hood, her face holding an unpleased expression. I looked around and noticed that most of the cars that were parked there where covered in thick layers of dust, the building didn't even had lights. It looked like a car graveyard. Maybe no one would take him. "Let's head to the bridge." She grumbled as she made a tremendous effort to take her eyes off one of her most praised possessions and to turn her back to it, as she made her way to the parking lot's exit.
I stood there looking at the vehicle for a while longer. It was stupid but I was feeling remorseful for abandoning him there.
"It feels like we're abandoning a puppy… Well, if it has to be… Let's go then…" I turned my back and followed my friend with every cell of my body trembling with the cold.
"You're really sleeping." She joked as we entered the busy streets. I was starting to hate that place. There were too many people and too much noise. The putrid smells of exhaust smoke were making me slightly dizzy. The cold wasn't helping either. Even if I wanted to turn off my system and focus on another thing other than my surroundings, I would never be able to in those conditions.
I couldn't understand how New York was considered such an attractive destination. Not even the people seemed to be welcoming, they ran instead of walking on the concrete pavement, not even one apologized when they bumped against one another. This city didn't have anything of xenial or polite, but then again, most big cities don't. My roots, of a woman raised in a much less exuberant town, hated this kind environment. That's why it was so difficult for me to enjoy such unnecessary and annoying apparatus.
I followed Petra through the snow filled streets, always paying attention to where I set my feet on, so I wouldn't fall again.
"There's too much noise." I muttered, more to myself than to anyone in particular. The noise of the cars mixed with the racket of the constructions was unbearable to my ears. "Where were we supposed to meet with this Andrei anyway?"
From what I knew from the individual's personality, it should be a rather interesting encounter. I didn't know what to expect and not knowing left me even more disturbed. Although I didn't show it, I was in a state of panic that was almost catatonic. I knew that I wouldn't scream hysterically. I had learnt, some years prior to these events, that it wasn't worth it, who doesn't want to help or to understand simply won't do it. There were people that reacted in excess, I apparently reacted by default.
Even after what I saw in those 48 hours, it was still hard to believe in the existence of vampires. Maybe this was still a nightmare from which I couldn't wake up.
"At the bridge. The sight is quite beautiful." She answered me with a calm voice as she walked and fixed her backpack. The fact that the sight was nice didn't leave me any less apprehensive.
"I'm going to trust your word." I said as I suggestively pointed my index at her. However, as those hours went by, I seriously doubted if I should trust her or not. I think that the only thing that kept me from running away from all that mess was the fact that, apart from the friendship we shared for 3 years, she had saved me once again. I piously believe that, had I fled, I would already be dead.
"Kath, your questions?" She asked when we arrived at the bridge. I glanced around, the sight was truly beautiful. The shy warm hues of the winter sunset, reflected on the calm and gelid waters of the river, gave the white painted city another portrait. What questions did I have?
"HHHhiojefHHbwp03e9rthjhnfdsfiojum… First: do you know why they're after me?" I inquired with a serious voice.
"I have my suspicions but it's going to take a while to explain them to you. When we arrive at somewhere safer I'll tell you everything." She promised when we stopped in the middle of the bridge, both of us were hit by freezing cold blasts of air that were caused by the cars the passed by at full speed.
My patience was wearing thin, she had been avoiding my questions but I would make her talk as soon as we arrived at that so called safer place.
"Look at this city…" She exclaimed as she motioned at Manhattan's area that was on the other side of the bridge. "Just glass and metal. Ah! I almost forgot…" Petra remembered as she took a small dagger out of her bag, it seemed to be made out of silver but I couldn't be sure. It was a very simple weapon and had the same insignia I had seen before. I made a mental note to ask her about the symbol's meaning later. "Here, hide it in your sleeve. Just in case."
I stood eyeing her bemused, what the hell did she want me to do with it? I didn't have any practice on wielding weapons and she knew it. Not to talk about the astonishment that was to know that she had an arsenal with her. Did she have the cage hidden inside that bag as well or did she leave it with Otso?
"What do you want me to do with this? And why the hell to you carry daggers, crossbows and blood around?" I asked a little more exalted than what I intended to be. My answer was given by Petra's well marked eye roll. Later, when I recalled everything that had happened, I noticed that I probably was a little annoying, but who wouldn't have been in that situation?
"You didn't get it yet? I'm a kinf of Buffy. And that is used in the same way you carve a steak."
"I know that, I'm not an imbecile, but in what?" I asked, completely stupefied.
"In what tried to kill you?" She answered sarcastically, like it was the most obvious answer in the planet and like I was going to come across anymore of those beings in a near future.
"Okay…" I attached the knife onto my forearm and inside my sleeve. I didn't know how to walk around armed but I would hide that with me, it wasn't a bad idea to be protected, even if it was just a little. "You'll still have to explain me that story but for now, who's Andrei?" If she wasn't going to answer to anything else, she had to give me at least this.
She was hunched over the side of the bridge facing the sunset, her eyes closed enjoying the icy breeze.
"You're going to meet him soon, but don't attack him. He's one of the few that doesn't kill humans." I almost lost my balance. She had to be jesting, she had killed a vampire not even 48 hours prior and now she was telling me that we're going to meet another. "These imbeciles love pollution." She went on, twitching her nose due to the odors that filled the air, like the answer she had given me was completely normal.
"Excuse me?! Do you mind saying it again?! I don't think I quite understood what you said, he's a vampire?" My synapses must have collapsed by then.
"Yes, but he doesn't feed on humans till the point of death." She answered before a sailor appreciatively whistled at us, and Petra, as gracious and as kind as ever, replied by giving him the middle finger.
I lamented soundly.
"What have I gotten myself into?" I asked more to myself then to Petra but I was sure she had heard me clearly. What had happened to my life? Then I recalled that she had spoken about a Gabriel, was he another vampire? "And that Gabriel? Please don't tell me he's one as well."
"It's more what have they got you in." She corrected seriously, looking at me face to face. The sun had already set and the electrical lights brightened the night covered city. The cars kept passing from one side to the other, she had to raise her voice a bit for me to hear her properly. "Gabriel is another thing, but that's for him to tell you. None will hurt you." She paused, looking at me with guilt gracing her features. "I'm sorry, okay? It was never my intention to lie to you or to hide something from you, much less to get you into this mess."
I could forgive her, I knew that sooner or later I would, but completely it would take a while. It was all too much to process.
"But you did it extremely well" I commented very seriously and a bit bitterly. In the 3 years, that I knew her and where we shared a house, never in my right mind would I have guessed what she was hiding. She had never said or showed me anything and that was angering me a bit. I leaned against the bridge. "But having in mind that you saved my life, I'll accept your apologies when I'm given a very strong coffee".
She rested her body against the bridge, irritated and rearranging her hairpin.
"If it had been my fault it would be okay, we would solve it easily, but having a tracker after you doesn't make any sense. And why you out of all the people of this that planet I could befriend?" She mumbled to herself.
Indeed, it didn't make any sense whatsoever, I didn't even have a plausible explanation for what had occurred. Snowflakes started falling softly.
"Fuck, I left my coat at the gas station. Well, there's no turning back now. Can you explain to me what a tracker is, please?" I asked as I rubbed my arms to create some heat. The sweater she had given me was too baggy for my size and didn't protect me from the cold wind that started to rise.
Petra was still hunched over watching the river, which was as dark as the night sky and lighted only by the thousands of city lights. One could see the small flakes flowing throw the air due to the bridge's lamps.
"Tracker is what vampires that hunt a specific prey are called." She answered mechanically. I felt like an animal with a bounty on its head. The more she told me, the more surreal everything seemed to be. I was sure of what was going on, I had seen it with my own eyes, but it was hard to make my consciousness believe in it.
"Ah…"
"Good night, my ladies. It'll be my pleasure to hand lent you my coat if one of you holds these coffees." A slightly familiar voice sounded behind me. The shock of it made one of my hands fly to my head and the other to my chest. Had I been a cat, I would have fled.
Everything around us was so solemn and was only interrupted by the noise of cars passing through the bridge. The last thing I expected was to hear a jolly voice coming from nowhere. Was I so distracted that I couldn't perceive when someone got close to me?
Turning into the voice's direction, I came faced with a rather good looking man. In the beginning I had some difficulties in perceiving his features, but I could see that he had an extreme pale skin, much fairer than the vampire that had attacked us but not as white as the snow that piled up on the concrete ground. He wasn't palely ill, it was like the skin color of someone with albinism.
What was most impressing about him was his height. I felt smaller than ever with his arrival, he must have been around 1,90m tall. I was expecting to see the same bloodied eyes I had seen in Carmilla but his were light, even lighter than my blue ones. His were as grey as rainy days and, even having a normal color, they had something uncanny within them. That's odd, I thought to myself. Why were his eyes different? I could see them due to the light that came from a lamp near us.
His blond hair reflected the orange light of the street lamp. It was well combed back and already had a considerable length, only being out of place due to the wind that surrounded us. The light also reflected his well-drawn facial features, but not too much. Physically he didn't seem to be a too bodied man, although it was proportional to his height.
Underneath the layers of expensive clothing one could perceive that he was in excellent shape. I guess that, being a vampire, it was expected.
Even having in mind his physical appearance and the fact that, apparently he was a vampire, his presence didn't bother me much. However, I decided to keep my guard up, I wasn't ready to trust my life to a vampire after being attacked by one.
Inside I prayed that what Petra said was true, that he wouldn't hurt me…
"The coffee was only for her." Grumbled Petra, but with a small smile playing on her face. There seemed to be some contempt in seeing him.
"You've been driving for over 24 hours, don't be stubborn and do this for me." He countered, making a face and giving his voice a more serious signature. Meanwhile, he handed Petra both coffees and borrowed me his coat.
I didn't really know what I should do, I felt a little uncomfortable in that situation.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Kathryn, I've hear a lot about you." Andrei said very politely, before he helped me getting inside his black overcoat. I had to take a very deep breath no to eye her accusingly. I couldn't stand being lied to. I knew she had done it to protect me, but the feeling was unbearable.
In order to remain controlled I occupied myself with closing Andrei's coat around me. I looked like a scarecrow but at least I was warm.
"Thank you." I said with a slightly forced smile. I was truly grateful for the gesture but I was still a tad grouchy. "It's a pity I cannot say the same to you." I continued as I sent a suggestive look at Petra. I couldn't help it.
"That it isn't a pleasure to meet me or that you haven't heard of me?" He asked me as he pretended to be indignant. Petra handed me one of the hot cups of coffee and rolled her brown eyes.
"Ask me again in some hours and I'll tell you if it was a pleasure to meet you or not, but you already marked some points with the coffee and the coat. Thank you. And no, I was never spoken to about you." I answered with a smile. I know, I was being a big bitch but Petra didn't seem to have taken it the hard way, for she made an extremely innocent face as she drank her beverage.
He, on the other hand, seemed to be a little offended.
"You despiser, you could have said that I was, at least, your cousin." He mumbled as he grabbed her backpack. "Come, the car is at the end of the bridge."
I gripped tightly onto my coffee as I tried to warm my bruised hands, and drank two large gulps. I wanted to wake up completely. We walked the platform until its end in silence. It was still somewhat long but the path was done with ease. It was a straight bridge, with no ups and downs, and the sidewalk was big enough for us to be safely far away from the road.
We got out of the bridge and turned into a very noisy and colorful street, stopping in front of a black Hummer. These people had a weird appreciation for jeeps.
Andrei gave me his hand to help climb inside the car without stumbling over his overcoat. It was then when I noticed that his body temperature was similar to mine but just a little colder, it was the opposite of Petra's. After helping me, he took his place at the driver's seat and she sat by his side. The car smelt like brand new leather seats and had a small note of eucalyptus mixed in it.
"Is everything alright?" She asked him as her hand touched his leg. There was something strange going on there, the last time I saw her touching a man so intimately was for her to kick him in the crotch. The gesture seemed to have a calming effect on the blond vampire. There was, or had been, something between the two, that was for sure.
"Yes, I'm just trying to understand what's going on. Did you have any sequels?" Andrei asked worried.
"She was a tracker and she was alone. We may have another one on our toes but I think we lost her back in DC." She answered quickly. I glanced through the window, seeing the lights passing through my eyes quickly and trying to organize my confused head. I felt like a nuisance in that situation.
"If she causes any trouble we'll take care of it." He affirmed like he was talking about going for a walk. He eyed me through the rearview mirror "You're reacting extraordinarily well." He commented surprised. It was a good thing that he couldn't see the state my head was in, or could he?
"Believe me, I'm not that well. I still don't know what I have to react to, exactly." Everything was too diffuse and the information too extraordinary for one to process it coherently. I still had the feeling that I was just dreaming and that I would wake up anytime soon.
I saw Petra reclining back on her seat and laying her head on its small pillow as she closed her eyes. Even saying no, one could see how tired she was and that she was in need of many sleeping hours.
"She's stronger than she thinks. She may burn her fuses two or three times but she quickly recovers them." She commented, while being very nice on the number of times. The brunette knew that I was freaking out and how I truly responded to stressful situations. Andrei also noticed her tiredness.
"Sleep a little Petra, please." He asked, his voice sounding concerned "Hey Kathryn." The vampire called me as he kept his eyes on the road. From the car's interior we could hear the muffled sounds of the busy streets, "Don't you have any obvious questions?"
"Hum… I have many questions, but obvious I just have one or two. First one: husband?" I asked innocently, trying to distract myself and to fulfill my curiosity. I knew that Petra would be a tad mad at me later but, at that moment, I didn't care anymore. If she didn't give me any answers, maybe he would.
Needless to say that he cracked up laughing at my so innocent question and Petra removed her hand from his leg and turned in my direction.
"Kathryn, you're in a car with a vampire and your question isn't if you're going to turn into a blood sack?" Asked Petra with a slightly censorious voice. You should have given me some more decent answers, now suck it up, I thought to myself.
"I was already assured that my physical integrity would be maintained." I answered, and that wasn't a lie. Petra herself had told me as much. Her expression changed into one of annoyance.
"For a human, you're extremely clever. And yes, husband." He answered while looked at the braided brunette that had reclined back on her seat "As far as I remember we didn't get a divorce."
"It's impossible, it was by the Catholic Church, there's no divorce. But it isn't like we're really married." She grumbled. For some reason that seemed to be a subject she wasn't very fond of, unlike Andrei. He seemed much more at ease with the matter, almost like he was teasing her about it.
"That's not what the paper says." Answered the vampire, while forcing a joking and cartoonish voice that made her laugh.
"What paper? That was so long ago that it should be in an advanced state of decomposition by now. Forget it Kath, next question?" She continued. Well, at least I was sure that she was married.
I passed to my next question, one that had been haunting my thoughts ever since I heard Carmilla speaking.
"I'm going to leave that matter be, you two seem to have some matrimonial issues to solve." And they seemed to be a lot. "Now, a question that worries me the most, what was that story about He wanting me? Who's He?" Petra made a face, she must have gotten fed up with that question.
"I already told you that it's long story sweetie, and we need to tell it to someone else as well, we need help to protect you. More questions please."
"You're stubborn." Now it was my turn to make a face, "Hum… How do you two know so much about this stuff?"
"Me it's kind of obvious. But Petra is different, she's been around for a long time." Answered Andrei, his eyes never leaving the road.
"How much? And please don't say a lot." I said with a very serious face, I was getting tired of half-answered questions.
"4 and something. Athanasius has been around for seven centuries." Petra replied, pointing at Andrei. My eyes went wide. Finally she was giving me some decent answers. But how could someone live for so long?
"I wouldn't give more than 30." As far as I knew Petra would turn 31 that year. It seemed that I was wrong. Both seemed to be extremely young, in their early thirties like I said, but that could explain why I had never seen a single physical change in Petra during the three years we had lived together.
"Thank you for the compliment, but I was changed when I was 33." Andrei remarked, chuckling a bit, "And Petra isn't 4 centuries old, she is 4 thousand." 4 thousand? No wonder she had never told me a thing.
"Thanks…" My friend mumbled a little angry. Did the quantification made her feel old?
"You're very well preserved." As odd as it may sound, I wanted to laugh. I was feeling comfortable around them and, without knowing why, that information didn't bother me. I still saw Petra as I had always seen her, that wasn't going to change just because I had found out that she had some more millennia weighing on her.
Petra turned around once again and eyed me surprised. Well, it should have been the third time in that half hour that I had left someone with their jaw hanging open.
"You must be the second creature, mortal or not, that doesn't get like this." She said as she widened her eyes suggestively. Meanwhile Andrei started laughing loudly and turned the car, arriving to a residential area.
The houses were all white, typically American and identical. Just another way society found to standardize people.
"I'm a criminal psychologist darling and, after these days, I've heard pretty much everything." It wasn't a lie, I had a high tolerance for what was an exception to common criteria. What was different and odd didn't bother me.
"Well, seeing things that way." My justification seemed to be enough, for she turned her eyes back to the road.
"Hey Kathryn, do you like dogs?" The vampire asked out of the blue. I crocked my head to the side and stared at him for some moments. That question was the most random one he could have chosen and, out of everything he might want to know, my taste on pets was the most intriguing.
"Athanasius!" Petra scolded lowly. Okay… What's wrong with that question? I asked myself.
"I like them, I had a German Sheppard when I was little, why?" I asked intrigued.
The vampire drove us into a small residential neighborhood near the ocean, where houses looked like mansions. We stopped in front of a white one.
"Curiosity." His answer wasn't entirely convincing. From Petra, all that one could hear was her voice grumbling as he got out of the car to get her bag from the trunk and got inside the house with a hurried pace. I was getting out of the Hummer when Petra came to me.
"Are you okay?" She asked concerned.
"For now." I wasn't, but I didn't want her to become any more worried than what she already was. Inside I had the slight feeling that it wasn't going to take me very long to become even worse.
"Come, let's get inside." She answered with an upset expression. Apparently she had understood that I had lied plainly.
When we crossed the gate we heard Andrei speaking in a purposely strident and affected voice from inside the house. "Honey, I'm home!" Immediately after that the sound of dishes breaking was heard.
My eyes widened and I glanced at Petra. She had her eyes set on the dark skies that stood above us with a sincere look on her face. It seemed that she was asking a superior entity for patience.
We crossed a small garden and entered the mansion. I came faced with an ample hall with a cream stone covered floor. It didn't have a very extravagant decoration, but one could see that there was taste in the choosing of furniture and ornamental pieces.
It was extremely minimalistic and there weren't any objects that were made out of porcelain and glass. The division was very well illuminated by white lamps, but they didn't hurt the sight of who entered. The furniture – a sofa, a small table and some bookshelves – was all in earthy colors. The room was embellished with some decorative vegetation flanking every door – the double one from which we had come from and the ones that led to other rooms.
"Is he gay?" I questioned Petra as I eyed her suggestively. The question was harmless, you can't judge me for being curious.
"AC/DC, darling." She answered while copying my British accent, which wasn't as deep as she made it sound like by the way. Meanwhile she helped me get out of Andrei's overcoat and hung it on the hanger that was on that Hall.
I didn't like it very much when she did that, she thought that my accent was funny and seemed to be jesting with me. But I understood what she meant, in British slang AC/DC, besides being the classic rock band, also meant bisexual.
"Oh!" I exclaimed in realization. Then we moved along to what seemed to be a white and blue living room. It was decorated with a nautical theme. The lamp that hung from the ceiling was swinging violently, like it had been pushed. That made the light of room be redirected several times and at several places, not maintaining its focus on anything.
Standing next to one of the walls was Andrei, with pieces of broken porcelain surrounding his feet, and on the other side of the room, next to a huge plasma TV, should be the one they called Gabriel. He was holding a white and blue ceramic vase and pointing it at the blond vampire.
Andrei had a very satisfied look plastered on his face, like what had happened was just what he wanted.
In the beginning I just stood there observing the scene that was before me with a raised brow, it was like going back to kindergarten and watching two boys fighting, but then my attitude changed when I noticed Gabriel more carefully.
He seemed to be a little older then Petra and Andrei, at least physically. He was a somewhat tanned man, like he had worked underneath the sun for many hours. He was wearing a simple sweater and a pair of jeans that suited him very well, the clothes didn't seem to be as expensive as Andrei's. The man had short hair and its color matched his eyes, both were brown. He was a little shorter than the vampire but had a more sculpted body, not in an exaggerated way, it was really attractive at an aesthetic level. By his features, the vestigial wrinkles and the slight tiredness that marked his face, one could guess that he was somewhere between 35 and 40 years old but, having in mind the others' real age, I doubted that he was that young.
In that moment I didn't know what I should do, I know that I must have looked like a cat evaluating an entirely new object. I didn't know if I should feel afraid of him or not, I was trying not to associate his more masculine appearance with my arsehole of an ex.
I think that I became wearier of him than I did with Andrei for that reason, but I couldn't be completely sure. There was something different about him.
"Now, don't be rude, we have a guest. Gabriel this is Kathryn and Kathryn this is Gabriel, the one we were talking about." Andrei introduced us with a particularly malicious smile on his pale face.
"Hum… It's a pleasure…" I said a little bit embarrassed as I put out my hand. I was trying to understand what he could be. Gabriel stood still for some short moments, he looked at me like he had seen a ghost, which was strange because I had never crossed paths with him until that night. He recovered quickly from whatever hit him and put the vase on the ground, so we could shake hands.
"Likewise." He answered very hastily. As soon as my skin touched his I felt like I had gotten a small electrocution. Gabriel's body temperature was higher than Petra's, but not by much. Well, it's positive, I thought to myself, you're definitely not a vampire. But the fact that I didn't know what was wasn't bothering very much, it was something else. I started to feel uncomfortable and restless, it was like my chest was tightening. For some moments it got a little harder to breathe.
I was pulled away from my thoughts when Petra clapped her hands loudly one time.
"Everyone to the table, please." She demanded as she started undoing one of the many brown braids that covered her head. I was finally going to see her without them. Everyone sat down around a long mahogany rectangular table. I sat in one of the sides alongside Petra. The men sat in front of us, Andrei in front of me and Gabriel facing Petra. It was then when the courteous smiles ended, we were all much more serious.
I got the impression that that would be the moment when I would know what was really going on.
"You tell or I do?" Andrei asked Petra, who had a solemn expression on her face.
"I do. Kathryn will catch what she can but even mortals know who Vlad is. Well, minimally." I was already dreading the conclusions of that conversation. Was she telling me that Dracula was real?
"I'm don't see is to what extent." And it was true. What I knew was written in historical and fictional books.
I didn't know if they were real or not, until that night they were completely fictional to me.
"What you know is already enough." Answered Gabriel with a patronizing tone, he didn't even look in my direction, which was somewhat irritating given the situation. Not to mention the fact that I needed to know exactly what was going on, hiding information wouldn't help me cooperate.
Petra didn't seem much appreciative of the commentary either, because she glanced a bit angrily in the brown haired man's direction. The later, at least, had the decency to act somewhat admonished.
"Okay, the problem is that the gentleman is alive and had a very good health. But, seeing that you assassinated his last experiment and since Frank has already died, my idea is that he has resumed the project." She said in Gabriel's direction. With the news his sitting posture became starker and his facial expressions hardened, "He must have understood that with female vampires it won't work and decided to turn his attentions to mortal women." Petra explained. I stood there paying as much attention to what she was saying as I could. Meanwhile my stomach started rolling and writhing into a tight ball.
"The Vatican didn't inform me of anything, are you sure?" Gabriel asked with very serious and a slightly surprised look on his face. The Vatican was also in the middle of this?!
"Do I have to remind you that before the Vatican was even a rock, I was already here?" She asked as she undid the rest of her braids, "And the vampire's conversation seemed to be accurate." She got up, went to her bag that was on the couch and came back, putting the recorder on top of the table. The device started reproducing everything that Carmilla had said.
Listening to everything once again wasn't a very pleasant feeling. I already had the notion that I was supposed to be part of some lab experience, but of what type?
Gabriel remained attentively listening to the recording and once in a while he looked at me, he seemed worried and confused. There was some regret in his features, but I couldn't be sure. I still hadn't heard a word coming from Andrei, but the lines on his forehead creased and his grey eyes looked like metal orbs. I was getting more frightened as the minutes went by and eve more panicked when the vampire referred to me.
At the time the questioning seemed to be rather short but now it appeared to be much longer. I don't know if it was due to the fear that I now held, to the adrenaline of the time or because I was starting to understand what was going on. Finally the recording came to an end.
"What happened exactly? The leech didn't tell me anything." Gabriel said, probably mentioning the blond. Petra looked at me and motioned Andrei with her head. The later left the room and went in the direction of what seemed to be a kitchen. Had that been telepathy?
"I believe that Kath is one of the "genetically viable" humans." Petra informed while making the gesture of quotation marks with her fingers. Genetically viable for what?! What the hell did she mean with that? I was getting even more confused. I swallowed dry before speaking as I tried to find my voice.
"What does that mean, exactly?" The words seemed to be imprisoned inside my throat, for it was hard even to speak them.
"It means Kathryn that we will need to be very careful with you. He's searching for viable uterus for his spawn." She said very quickly as she observed me with some apprehension in her brown eyes. I felt my body temperature dropping drastically, "The lady came into the morgue when we were working. She wasn't definitely expecting me and we need to worry about the other tracker, Jade. Of course that…" She referred while turning to Gabriel and to the vampire that now arrived with a cup of warm water with sugar, which he gave me, "They may not come, but…"
"That's out of the question, better be safe than sorry." The vampire exclaimed. Gabriel remained solemn, the aging wrinkles particularly creased.
"If the others become of no used for the experiments will he come after her?" He asked.
"Mandatorily." I drank the sweet water with one large gulp and lost all the color I had left in my face.
I couldn't have any children, what would he do once he found out? He would kill me for certain…
"Basically, what you're telling me is that, either way, I'm fucked." I commented as I started to feel my breathing stuck in my lungs. I wasn't foreseeing a happy ending to this story.
"Only over my dead body I'll let him lay a hand on you." Both men reacted at her statement. On Andrei's face appeared a pained expression, as if she had physically hurt him, while Gabriel looked like he was ready to give her a lecture. There had to be a story behind those words and, if there was, both didn't seem to enjoy it much. She ignored their expressions, "So, if you want to come, we'll have to split tasks. Fake documents, everything of sorts and a particularly sunny place for us to get settled in. Kathryn, do you have a dream holiday destination?"
I was worried about the course my life could take, which was either inside a casket or miraculously pregnant with a centenary vampire's offspring, and she asked me about my dream holiday. It didn't make any sense, I believe that I couldn't even think of a country due to my state of shock.
"Do you really think this is the appropriate time to ask me that?!" I exclaimed perplexed.
"We need a place to settle in, sweetie." She answered calmly as she finished undoing the last braid. It was rather strange to see her with loose and finely frizzled hair due to the time it had been braided. It didn't look bad on her, it was simply strange seeing her that way, I had gotten used to another image.
Even with some difficulties, I thought for some moments. It was hard to empty my head from what I had learnt.
"I don't know, Hawaii, Maldives?" I know, I could have been a little more original with my choices but I wasn't in the mood for anything that wasn't my imminent death.
"We have a house in Hawaii and it's always bright there." Andrei suggested and Petra nodded in agreement. My eyes became wide.
"Wait, you're really considering going?" I asked a little shocked. I wasn't expecting them to accept it straight away, much less their willingness to go without even knowing me. Gabriel got up from his seat.
"I'm going to call the Vatican and then to your landlady, if any of the vultures finds out, well…" And there was my answer. But how the hell was the Vatican involved in this? I adored seeing them discuss this as if I understood everything. Every time I started to comprehend something there would always some new information to get me even more confused and to worsen my nervous state.
"Tell the cardinal I send him a kiss." Exclaimed Andrei teasingly. The other gave him a sidelong glance.
"Yes, because the thing he most wants in this world is a kiss, from you." The brown haired man countered.
"Don't speak of what you don't know." The other said with a suggestive smile before turning to Petra, "Hey, go sleep for a while." He asked my friend in a completely different tone of voice from the one he had used 4 seconds prior.
From the corner of my eye I saw Gabriel shaking his head and turning his back to make the said call. I think I heard him whisper very low Moron.
"Don't be stubborn Athanasius. Kath, we need to do some shopping." The brunette informed me as she caught her hair into a small bun and held it with her white hairpin.
"We do?" And once again she showed signs of not being mentally sound, I eyed her like she had grown a second head. We were in danger and she wanted to go shopping! Before she could give a comeback to that, Andrei intercepted her. I was starting to love his capacity of shutting her up, not many could.
"No you're not, you and I are." He pointed at me. We are?! I already knew that, at that point, I had no control over my life and in that moment I gave up on trying to find any logic in that situation, it was better if I cooperated with the ones' that wanted to help me. My survival instincts told me that I only had two options, to trust them or to end up in dire straits.
But it was strange, they didn't ask me for anything in return, they just wanted to help me. Part of me wanted to see where all of this was going, the experience was promising to be a rather interesting one.
"Athanasius, please…" She begged exasperated. Andrei put his hand on her leg and eyed her intensely. She quieted down and gazed into his eyes, the air around them became heavier.
"She's safe with me and you know that. Please." He insisted. I was feeling uneasy seeing how he gazed her. Petra took a deep breath and nodded, got up and went to her backpack to grab something, "Let's go Kathryn, Gabriel's call, to get us the permissions, is still going to take a long while and Petra's going to take a much needed nap."
"Not wanting to be rude or ungrateful, but are you sure it's safe?" I asked. Petra came back and handed him a Tablet.
"You're safe with me and trackers usually don't attack in public places." He guaranteed me. I looked at the wall clock, that had a hand-painted anchor adorning it, and I noticed that it was a tad late to be out shopping.
"It's 10 p.m., there're no stores open." I stated. He laughed loudly and got up from the table, motioning me to follow him. From the corner of my eye I saw Petra laying down on the long sofa.
"Welcome to New York, the city that never sleeps." He said smiling as he helped me get back into his coat. I felt a bit more at ease when I understood that the dagger Petra had given me was still attached to my arm.
While shopping, Andrei never took his eyes from the Tablet for a long time, he had been the one checking a list of objects to make sure we bought everything. It was a very, very long list.
How could a mall be swarming with people at dawn was beyond me. It was 5 a.m. when we arrived at the clothing section, the store was enormous. We had already bought everything that fit in the categories of footwear, casual clothing and other materials – batteries, camping equipment, thermals, painkillers, many first aid kits, some medicines, personal hygiene products and even hair bleacher. It was interesting, and weird at the same time, to see him making me try on shoes and clothing.
Luckily, I had already eaten at a fast-food restaurant. I didn't expect to see a vampire protesting against my meal choice. He even asked me if I couldn't have picked a healthier place. Not that he was going to eat anything, he said that he was worried about my health, saying that it was too much crap – his words, not mine – and that I could say goodbye to junk-food because, while I was with them, I would have a very fit diet.
As I ate my hamburger and French fries I observed the people that crossed my sight, asking myself how could it all seem so normal for some people when I had a vampire sitting next to me and complaining about my meal. Only after that it was when we went to buy what was left on the shopping list.
"Well, we have an extensive list." He stated "What number do you wear?" I just eyed him, feeling a bit weird.
"Hum… I'm a 2 on the torso and a 4 from the waist down." I answered extremely embarrassed. I wasn't used to have people making me this kind of questions ever since I got my independence back, and he hadn't asked me that when we were buying the other items of clothing.
"Okay." He replied as he started picking up some boxes of beach articles with things like towels, sunscreen and flip flops. "We're going to take some bigger numbers in case you need them. Why are you making that face?" Discretion wasn't certainly one of my best assets, but I decided to be honest with him. It wouldn't hurt any of us and he seemed to like to talk with me.
"People don't usually ask me what number I wear only some hours after meeting me. One thing, it's 5 a.m., the sun won't hurt you once we leave?" I inquired, that question had been bothering me for a while.
"I doubt that having people telling you that your chances of becoming an incubator for monsters increased is also a normal thing." Okay, he had a point there. We arrived at the bikini section and I found it odd seeing him so comfortable walking around between hangers of intimate feminine clothing. "Pick whatever you want for yourself and something for Gabriel if you can, I get too tempted to pick him something embarrassing. As for the sun, I fed from Petra's blood before we left, so it's fine." He answered as he grabbed a black bikini, it was probably for Petra.
That world was very strange and new to me. That made me realize that I had too many romantic conceptions of life.
"Hum." I tried to process that new piece of information as I search for a simple dark blue bikini. I intended to have three sets, at least. I didn't know for how long I would stay with them but I also didn't know if I would ever have the courage to wear them, but it was better to play it safe.
I used to judge the people who used shopping as a mean of relaxation, but being there, contemplating that list, eased my head from what had happened, but never forgetting what I had as a destiny. It was impossible to forget it, it was like an irritating alarmed had been attached to my brain and it wouldn't stop ringing.
As much as I wished to ignore it so I could think properly, I couldn't. "But wouldn't that transform her or something like that? I know it's a dumb question but give me some slack." I was already guessing the number of idiotic questions that were getting ready to come out. For them this stuff was completely normal, for me it wasn't.
"I don't drink directly from her and, even if I did, Petra can't be transformed. The vampire that tries to feed from without her permission may get something like a severe allergic reaction." He responded with the biggest patience I had ever seen as he picked up a black and gold bikini of minimal proportions, "What do you think?"
"Hum… Okay." I eyed the article. If he valued his life he better not present her with that thing, I don't believe the consequences would be very pleasant ones, "The color is nice but you have to search for something else, something that isn't a nipple cover." I warned him as I put two bikinis for me inside the shopping cart.
One was dark blue, very simple with only two ribbons on the sides of the bottom part, and the other was of a similar model but all black and with a silver bead on the end of each strap. I still needed a brown one.
Once I found one that I liked, I started searching for some trunks for Gabriel. I went through the shelves unpleased, I doubted that he was a big fan of thongs. "What colors does usually he wear?" I wondered stupidly once I was 15 meters away from Andrei. Much to my surprise he heard me perfectly.
"Gabriel only wears blacks and depressing greys." He replied a bit loudly as he chose a much more decent piece for Petra, but it still had the metallic gold details. Well, at least he didn't seem to have any problems shopping for her. I picked three pairs of trunks, all of them very plain and approached Andrei and the cart again, "Okay, this is the one. Excuse me." He called one of the store's helpers, "Could you give me this bra with the number… Kathryn?"
If those days were bad, they had gotten much worse when I realized who the tart he called was. My heartbeat triggered with the anger that came attached with that disgraceful vision.
"Susan." I stated with a disgusted voice as I eyed the fake blond that stood before me with a horrible orange dress that matched her personality. If I had been able to avoid her I would have, but the vampire had already called her so I didn't have the slightest chance. She came in my direction faint-heartedly.
"Hi Kathryn, how are you?" She asked slightly livid for seeing me, but not before eyeing me from head to toe. The blond man was out of her visual field but inside mine. I know that he had a confused mask on and that he duplicated the same gesture a Roman emperor would do before deciding if a person would keep on living if she should be executed.
This one was clearly to be put down like an animal.
"I was just fine until I laid eyes on your snout." I answered back with the most cynic voice I could ever use. After what she had made me go through, she had a lot of nerve to speak to me and even look me in the eye. She didn't seem to understand the insult, for she kept looking at me like she was dumb. Not that it was a lie, in fact it seemed to be quite true. Her gaze made me want to come out of my calm appearance, to become violent and slap the stupidity off her face.
"Won't you introduce us, sister?" Asked Andrei very innocently, now standing next to me and wanting to know what was going on between me and the blond. I gave him a sidelong glance, warning him to shut up, but his presence managed to calm me down and to stay focused.
I decided to play along with him and not to descend to her level to cause a scene in the middle of the store.
"Andrei, this is Susan. Susan, this is Andrei, my brother-in-law." I answered very quickly, I just wanted to get that over with as quickly as possible. She eyed him up and down with interest. I sneered and she stepped back. I heard him ask another assistant for Petra's number but I felt his eyes vigilant on what was going on.
"Brother-in-law? Already? The trial isn't even over!" She exclaimed. I believe that, in her head, I should still be locked up at home afraid of everything and everyone and slicing my wrists open in sorrow and despair. For I all knew, she could even think that I was going to forgive William.
"And? I'm free to do whatever I want with my life. Don't worry, luckily I don't share your mental capacity of a goldfish and, regarding that, there's nothing that can be done." I factually stated.
"But you got married?" She asked again. For fuck's sake, she's really that slow, I thought to myself. I had called her an animal twice and she hadn't even noticed it. Andrei let go a muffled scorned laugh and approached us again with a badly hidden smile. Apparently I wasn't the only one taking advantage of her slow personality.
"She did, with my wife's brother. We're travelling to India today." He informed with a big smile as he shook the several bags we had with us. I just hoped that he wasn't talking about Gabriel, the man scarred me a little.
"Let's go Andrei. We already lost too much time here and, if we don't hurry up, we're going to miss the plane. Petra won't be happy if that happens." I asked as I pushed the shopping cart away. As soon as I mentioned my friend's name, Susan's face became as white as chalk and her body stood stuck on the store's floor, just like a useless statue.
I turned my back at her and went straight for the register. Andrei stayed talking to her for 5 more minutes, he received the bra from the other helper and came back standing next to me.
"If anyone asks, we're going to Calicut." He said.
"Don't worry, they won't." If they hadn't done it before, they wouldn't do it now, "Did we got everything on the list?" I asked.
"Yes, but can you explain me why you were so rude to the girl? According to what she told me, your ex. is still on the run. When I mentioned Petra she almost ran away from me. What happened?" He asked while giving everything to the cashier.
"She also didn't tell you why he's on the run?" I asked, but he shook his head negatively. I heard the beeping sounds of products being passed on the register by the girl. I took a very deep breath. "Let me clarify it to you then. That whore and my git of an ex. were fucking each other behind my back. When I found out I said that I would leave him. I ended up on a hospital bed for a month and a half. He ran away before the police got to him, he must be wanting for the crime to expire. But don't worry, it's been a while now since them…" The boy called our attention once it was time to pay. Andrei didn't touch the subject anymore.
The register signalized 23 thousand dollars, my eyes almost shot out of my head. "Did we spend that much?!" I was a bit of a scrooge, I had never spent so much in clothing.
"20 thousand isn't much, believe me. Let's get back to the car, I have some questions to make you and, if you want to know more, we can also talk about it." He answered as we made our way to the parking lot.
We started putting the shopping bags inside the trunk and on the backseat.
"Hum… Okay, you already answered to a lot of mine, I believe that it's your turn to make the questions." He had answered to a lot of stupid questions, it was better to let him make as much as he wished. I had just met him but I felt comfortable around him, to a certain level, which as strange. He shook his head surprised.
"You're a very strange human, maybe that's why she likes you. How are you handling everything?" He questioned me. That was an excellent question. On the outside I was relatively well but inwardly I was accumulating a big amount of crying, which I was saving up for when I got the chance to be alone. Once again I had lost the control over my own life and the feeling was creating an anguishing knot inside my throat.
"I've been called worse things, I'm going to take that as a compliment. I'm terrible, it feels like everything made a 180º turn and I don't know where to land my feet on." We got inside the jeep and started our trip back to the house.
"It's a compliment." He said as he turned the wheel and we left the mall's parking lot. "You know who Dracula is, right?"
"If we're talking about the one of the book, yes I know." I answered while inspecting the iPhone he had gotten me, I think that Andrei wanted to make some changes to guarantee that the device wouldn't get detected. It was completely black and very simple, but extremely beautiful nonetheless. "But if you're talking about of who he is right now, I don't have the slightest clue." he laughed at the answer I gave him.
"Are you familiar with the Victorius' Pharmaceuticals?" He asked. I thought for a short while. The name sounded familiar. I searched through an extensive list of brands of every drug I had dealt with and of all psychiatrists I had worked with, usually they were the ones prescribing the drugs for our patients.
"I recognize the name. I believe that a psychiatrist I worked with once used drugs from that company. He had some issues with overdosing and stuff like that later on, the amount patients getting better was very little. He's name was Jason I think, I can't remember very well." He turned the wheel once again and we arrived at the colorful and busy streets.
"And do you know who the heir is? The little playboy that at the age of 25 already had a hold of the enterprise's leadership and dated 50 women every week? Viktor Danshov?" He asked.
I glanced at him a little confused. To my mind came the gossip magazines that I read when I went to the hair salon or to my physiotherapy sessions. I remembered seeing the pictures of a very good looking man. He had very thin features and extremely dark eyes, they were almost as black as coal. His hair was as straight as Andrei's but, instead of being fair, it was as dark as the night.
I cannot remember many details of the man's appearance, I never had much patience to read about the others' lives but, somehow, his face had gotten attached to my mind.
"I see something here and there, on the news and in magazines, but I usually don't pay much attention to those kinds of news."
"Exactly." The vampire answered.
"How so?" I kept looking at him.
"It's him." I was even more perplexed with his answer. How can he expose himself so much? It doesn't make sense, doesn't he have to get out only at night?
"Really?!" I exclaimed. If he tried to do something to me could I use the media as an asset?
"Yes." He confirmed as we entered the suburb area, "It's him. He arranged ways of becoming so famous that he founded the pharmaceutical. If you notice, the only images of him during daylight are of him wearing sunglasses and a hood, we believe that he has a doppelganger just for daylight events and that he wears contacts. Of course that the medicine created on his lab has dubious origins, they disrespect several international treaties, but if the money keeps on coming no one will bat an eye." He was very serious as he explained everything to me.
"Do you know anything else about him?" I asked, curiosity taking the best of me.
"You can Google everything."
"Hum… I think I'll give it a try." I just had to find a way to get my hands on a device with internet connection.
"Go ahead." He urged on as we got out of the car. We grabbed all of the shopping bags and put them in the living room.
Gabriel was still on the balcony, which had the sea as a view, and appeared to be having a heated argument on the phone with the poor creature that was on the other side of the line, Petra should be sleeping in one of the bedrooms.
From the living room's window I could already see the day breaking and the snow starting to pile up on the corners. Andrei searched something through the bags and took the bleaching product from them, after that he quickly took it to the room where Petra should be sleeping in. When he came back, he motioned me to follow him. I complied and we entered the kitchen.
The division looked like one of those kitchens that were on decoration magazines. It was cleared by tiny orangey lights, the counters were all made of beige stone and the cupboards were of a chocolaty brown wood. On the other hand, the appliances contrasted with their stainless steel surface. It was the perfect mixture of rustic and modern, and it was all perfectly cleaned. What caught more of one's attention was the cooking island that was on the center of the kitchen and surrounded by brown chairs. It seemed that it was there where they took most of their meals.
Andrei immediately put himself on the other side of the island and motioned me to sit in front of him.
"What do you like to eat?" He asked as he rolled up his sleeves and held his blond hair in a ponytail. Now I could see the beginnings of black inked tattoos on his forearm, which was revealed when he pulled up the sleeve of his black shirt.
"I'm not very picky, why?" I asked, sitting in front of him.
"Right now I only have meat and greens, I was going to make some pasta and vegetables for Petra, but what would you like to eat?" He answered very calmly as he opened the fridge's door and scanned its inside. I stared at him. A vampire that cooked?
"Wait, you cook?" And there was another stupid question. Those days weren't doing me any wonders.
"Oui mademoiselle." He answered with a smile, while taking several different vegetables out of the fridge and putting them on top of the island. Then he went to pick up a small plastic bowl from one of the shelves that were on the kitchen's right side.
He opened the tap and started washing them. "Petra survives with a diet of fish, greens and water, but you need more protein. Do you need a specific nutrient?" He put the clean vegetables on the bowl and went to grab a cutting board and a sharp knife. He grabbed the ones that were in front of me and started pealing them with a breathtaking speed. From that day forward I would make it my mission to learn as many cooking techniques as I could with him.
"If I have my levels of estrogen in order I'll be fine. But why the hell do you cook?" I was still dumbfounded with what I was watching. Even though he was doing it rapidly and without even looking at them, the vegetables were finely chopped.
"You need estrogen? Do you have some kind of hormonal deficit?" I nodded as an answer before he stopped what he was doing and quickly went to a relatively big pantry, which was also on the kitchen's right end, and came back with a package of flaxseed, "Because it's fun. I took a degree on nutrition last year so we're going to avoid giving you any pills." He continued as he eyed me critically. Well, it seemed that my supplements were hitting the trash can. "You're too thin for someone that has a hormonal insufficiency, I have to fatten you up." He stated. I squinted my eyes, I was fine the way I was.
"I'm fine, thank you. I just exercise a lot. And yes, it a small one, nothing uncontrollable." I replied calmly.
"Still, you need to gain a kilo or two. But you still haven't answered me." He continued as he put the flaxseed in a bowl, "What's your favorite food?"
"Italian. You're worse than my grandmother." I whispered.
"Someone with hormonal issues shouldn't be so thin, Kathryn. What about Italian lasagna filled with veggies and mozzarella? Then both you and Petra can eat it." He suggested as he took a huge steak out of the fridge.
"Hum… Sounds good to me. For whom is the steak? I suppose that it isn't for you." I was feeling too comfortable around him. In me that kind behavior wasn't normal. Could it be a vampiric feature that made me feel at ease?
"It's for Gabriel, it's kind of a need." He answered in pure simplicity. Andrei put the red piece on the frying pan and the sound of meat toasting filled that kitchen. I found it odd when he had said it was a need. Did it have something to do with what Gabriel was?
"A need?" I asked. The vampire stopped what he was doing and eyed me again.
"Oh, right. Petra didn't tell you. He's a werewolf and the full moon ended yesterday so he's a bit weak and cranky." He informed me. That explained why Gabriel's hand was abnormally warm and why Andrei had asked me if I like dogs.
If the concept of vampire was difficult to assimilate, the werewolf one was a complete shock.
"Sorry, he's what?" I exclaimed. So, if Andrei was a vampire and Gabriel a werewolf, what about Petra? The blond howled like he was making fun of me.
"Yes, one of those. He transforms and everything." He clarified as the turned off the stove where the steak was. This one had gotten slightly toasted on the surface and rather bloody in the center, it was what one might call a really rare steak. He washed his hands and got back to chopping the greens, waiting for my reaction.
But I could barely react, each moment that passed made me even more scarred of the reality I had been thrown into. I inhaled a little faster. He must have noticed, for he filled up a glass of water and put it in front of me. "Welcome to our world." He said solemnly.
"Yeah…"Welcome, right. I drained the cup quickly.
"You're reacting extremely well." He commented. I hoped there was sarcasm hidden in that sentence. He filled the glass once again, but this time he put some sugar in it before giving it to me.
"So, if you're a vampire… He's…" I started as I pointed at the balcony, "A werewolf… Then what's Petra? The vampire she killed called her a witch, but she didn't clarify." I asked, completely ignoring his statement.
"Hum… Well, you humans use the sorceress, I think witch still sounds like something negative." He continued in his extreme patience for my inquiry. I was getting into a catatonic state once again. Nothing was normal.
"It feels like I'm stuck in one of those True Blood's books…" I mumbled as I put my head in between my hands. He laughed and got back at what he was doing.
"There are no fairies around here, I guarantee you. And I don't glitter in the sun nor do I have any telepathic powers, although they could be useful." He reassured me with a smile.
"And leprechauns no? The amount of new information is too great." Everything was spinning around again.
"Do you want some tea?" He asked as he looked at me with concern. "Your heartbeat is higher but aren't going to pass out."
How the…? I eyed him chocked.
"How do you know?" I asked amazed. He pointed at his ear suggestively before going back to the pantry and coming back with a plastic container that seemed to have a ball of dough inside.
"Oh! Okay. Hum… Let's change the subject, please. Do you need help with that?" I asked while pointing at the food that he was preparing. I was in need of a distraction urgently. But what he had said made some sense, he had heard me grumbling from 15 meters away and put himself right beside me when I was about to slap Susan's face off. He laughed once again.
"No, thank you. Do you have any more questions?" He said as he rolled up his sleeves even further up, then he spread flour across the beige stone of the island in order to work the dough, which he had probably done many hours before. I noticed that he wasn't using the rolling pin to flatten it, he used his own hands. Now I could have a better view of his tattoos, they seemed to have a tribal pattern but I couldn't be sure.
"At the speed you're cooking, too many to be answered before dinner's ready." I answered, taking notice of the speed with which he worked on the dough.
"It's still going to take a while." He said as he stopped to look at me "You're nothing like I expected you to be, you know." That statement made laugh for the first time in many hours.
"What were you expecting then? A chick screaming hysterically every time one of you said something?" I asked with curiosity, I think that I was even smiling. He chuckled once more.
"I honestly don't know. But I never thought that you would be so easy to talk to. Most humans are stupid and like to be that way." And that wasn't a lie.
"Believe me, that opinion does have some fans." I observed. I was one of them. I liked to work with people, but to put up with them out of my working period not really. I preferred to limit myself to Petra's company.
"You're abnormally comfortable." Noted Andrei as he cut the dough into thin sheets.
"Believe what you wish, but I've been in far worse situations." It was a matter of opinion and personal experience, "And none of you has tried to eat me, yet." I finished with a strained smile. He grinned back and sniffed the air. I crooked my head to the side, confused.
"You smell good but it isn't quite my taste. A-?" He asked me.
"I'm not even going to ask how you guessed." Everything was too fantastical.
"I didn't guess. Vampire. Blood. They're no legends." He averred as he pulverized the sheets of dough so they would have the density he wanted them to have, "At least the feeding part."
"I'm starting to believe so." I admitted as I crossed my arms on the stone beneath them and glanced over at Gabriel, he was still arguing on the phone. Either the ones he was dealing with were complete incompetents or he had a really short fuse. I looked back at Andrei, the later had gotten a terrine and fresh mozzarella.
"You didn't notice anything about Petra? From when you lived together?" He inquired me. Of course my answer would be a positive one.
"Yes, I noticed some things. When I arrived at her apartment it looked like it had been emptied or that she had just moved in. She never spoke of her past and never took someone home, even when she encouraged me to do so if I wanted to. Once she left the apartment with a murderous face but I was in no place to demand any explanations, she was making me a great favor in letting me stay with her." I went on. I wasn't ready to tell him that I suspected that she was the one sending my ex. to the hospital before he ran away and I had the feeling that, if I did it, I would get Petra in trouble with Andrei.
The morning was shining brightly and there were already small amounts of snow on the window's corners.
"Hum…" He made a thoughtful expression. Meanwhile, he started making brilliantly upright layers of vegetables, dough and cheese. It looked like he was preparing a dish for a culinary magazine. "And now? Do you willingly accept being dragged into this insane world without calling the cops?"
"I don't have another choice. But it should be interesting arriving at the station and going like this: "Look, I want to press charges against a vampire that wants to kidnap me and possibly suck all of my blood." He leant against the counter laughing loudly with my impersonation of despair. "I'm not saying that I'm okay with this, I'm not, but I know what I saw back at the morgue and in that field. I don't have a choice but to go along." He nodded, but quickly changed his expression into an annoyed one.
"She never spoke of me, did she?" He asked slightly hurt. I couldn't sustain a small laugh, he seemed like a boy getting ready to throw a tantrum.
"No." I answered with an apologetic face, even knowing that it wasn't my fault. He grumbled something that sounded like German and put the terrine on the oven.
"What salad do you want?"
"Surprise me. I want to see what a vampire can cook without tasting the dishes he prepares." Leave it to me to challenge the vampire. He laughed maliciously.
"I'm a chef, after you taste my food you won't want eat anything else. Do you like peppers?" He continued smugly.
"As I said, I'm not picky."
"Okay. Petra calls you Kath, can I call you that as well? Kathryn is too long." I nodded positively.
"Kath is really much easier." I answered. Apparently he agreed.
"You can call me Andrei, Petra only calls me Athanasius but that's because she got used to it and enjoy annoying me." He finished the salad as quickly as he had started it and the oven rang with the cooking time came to an end. He went to get the terrine, with no protection whatsoever, put it in front of me and gave me a fork "Attack." I eyed him skeptically.
"You don't expect me to eat all of this by myself, do you?" I asked slightly scared. Meanwhile, he took out another fork and stuck it carefully in the terrine's other half.
"Half is for Petra, if you two don't mind sharing the terrine. Gabriel broke the last dish before you arrived." He mumbled as he stuck, a little bit aggressively, a fork and a knife on the almost rare stake and put it in front of one of the island's seats.
"Hum… It smells nice in here." It was Petra's voice, she came in with a towel wrapped around her head and dressed with an oversized t-shirt that she usually wore to bed and with a pair of shorts. I pushed the lasagna a little bit to the side so she could eat it well.
"You'll have to share the terrine with Kath, the canine had a fit of rage and broke the remaining dishes. Hey Kath, eat it, it's not poisoned." He guaranteed, but I swear I was eating.
I was just a little nervous, I didn't know whether I should pay attention to the fact that they were describing angered behaviors, in which the dishes suffered the consequences, like they were part of their daily lives or to the fact that he wasn't eating.
"I'm eating, grandma." I muttered as my eyes squinted. Petra laughed loudly and scooted closer to me, taking off the white towel off her head in the process.
"Granny hum?" She teased. He stuck his tongue out at her.
"Yes, but he's not worse." I stated while looking at her hair "You have black hair?"
She took a forkful of the lasagna and sighed in contempt.
"At least you're an Italian granny. Yep." She confirmed, making a small popping sound in the end.
"She always did." He commented as he glanced at her ebony hair. She swallowed the forkful of lasagna and turned to me.
"Sorry, you never saw me without the braids, did you?" She asked with a somewhat guilty expression.
"It's the first time in three years." I answered, while eating a bit more. Meanwhile, Gabriel came into the kitchen. He didn't seem to be as upset as before, but my chest clenched a little nonetheless.
"I already spoke with the Vatican, they'll send the documents in an hour." He informed as he sat on the end of the island that was the most distant from me. Petra took a somewhat irritated and deep breath.
"Yes, sorry about that." She apologized before turning into the brown haired man's direction, "Did you take care of the fake IDs or did you forget?"
"There's your steak." Said Andrei, pointing at the still hot frying pan.
"It's all been taken care of, don't worry." He answered her with a very serious expression. I got the impression that, from the three, he was the one with a more reserved personality. The weird sensation of my chest scrunching didn't leave me until I left the table. I couldn't understand why. Andrei looked between me and Gabriel with a strange face and exchanged glances with Petra. There was some understanding between the two, but I was so distracted trying to comprehend why I was feeling that way and everything that I had learnt that I didn't even bother to question them.
"And your opinion, Miss Kath?" Asked Andrei out of the blue.
"About what, precisely?" I questioned back after getting out of my introspective world and taking another bite of the lasagna. He narrowed his eyes offended and I hear Gabriel's muffled chuckle.
"It seems that I have to do much better, you're not amazed by my lasagna." He muttered while crossing his arms over his chest and putting on a determined expression on his features.
"He's worse than a housewife, but only give him compliments when you think that it's really good." Petra advised me as she took a bite of the pepper and flaxseed salad.
"Oh! About the lasagna. Sorry, my head was somewhere else. It's superb, but you can't beat my grandmother." It wasn't a lie, it was better than many that I had eaten before, but nothing beat's grandma Florence's cooking. He made a rather ugly sound.
"Challenge accepted!" He exclaimed before starting to clean the counter, having a special attention to the grease that was incrusted on the stove.
"Kath, after this you're going to sleep, okay? Leave the rest to us, but be sure to pick a fresh change of clothes and a warm coat." Petra asked me. I believe that she understood that I was on the verge of an emotional breakdown.
"Are you sure you don't need anything?" I asked while looking at them all, it was bothering me that they were going to take care of everything while I slept. Andrei shook his head.
"You can go, I'll take care of the children." He assured me. Both Gabriel and Petra made a face at the observation. I lifted my hands a bit in the air, it wasn't worth to insist any longer.
"Okay, if you insist." I said in defeat. Gabriel didn't say a word, he remained quietly eating his steak and observing what was going on. That started to bother me halfway through the meal.
As soon as the terrine was emptied, Petra took me to, according to her words, what was Andrei's bedroom. It was an ample chamber, adorned with shades of navy blue, white and cream, it had a king size bed covered with the same hues. On our way I opened one of my bags to take out a long sleeved thin blouse, a pair of thigh jeans, a set of lingerie, a pair of boots and a warm black overcoat. I also took a light blue pajama that I had bought. I didn't take much care while picking the clothes, I didn't have much patience to do it.
Petra told me where everything was and wished me a goodnight's sleep before going back to the kitchen, where Gabriel and Andrei awaited her. As soon as the door closed I let a deep breath leave me. To my luck the bedroom had an en suite bathroom, so I took the opportunity to take a hot shower and to tend to my wounds. Mechanically, I let my clothes fall on the floor, put Petra's dagger on the sink and got inside the shower. I wasn't preoccupied with taking in the details of that area, I only knew that it was a white bathroom.
As the hot water dripped down my head and I observed my feet stopping it from going down the drain. I made a mental list of everything that had happened during those days. Vampires, witches and werewolves are real. Dracula exists and wants me as a monster incubator. I could die if I didn't left the life that I knew behind, maybe permanently. I was going to travel to Hawaii on the next day. And why did Gabriel's presence bothered me so much? It was all too much…
I rested my head against the white tiles and eyed the ceiling as the water fell on me, observing the shower's small white lights. I asked God, over and over again, if I hadn't suffered enough. I didn't know what I had done wrong to deserve all of that pain. I desperately wanted to know why and each day my faith in Him broke just a little bit more.
I was only 26 and my life never ceased to get worse. Knowing that I would never get my answer and with everything that had occurred weighing on me starting to break, I finally started crying out everything that I had endured and piled up during those days. Once again I had lost all the control that I had over my own life and the memories, that I had fought so hard to drown and to lock away forever, started emerging.
I let myself slide down the cold wall and sat on the shower's floor, hugging my knees and letting the steaming water fall on my skin, observing the small drops sliding down my arms and legs. I tried to regain control of myself once again, but for half an hour it was impossible. I just stayed in that position crying compulsively and letting everything out. I doubted that I would have any more of those alone moments. Remembering that Petra could come in if Andrei warned her that my heart rate wasn't normal, I got up and closed the tap before I exited the shower.
I felt numb after my outbreak, my limbs moved almost automatically, like I was a robot. I wrapped a fresh towel around me, sat on the toilet's lid and dressed my forehead, hands and knees once again. Thankfully Andrei had a first aid kit inside the cabinet. They were getting better but they still stung.
Slowly I got myself inside the cotton pajama, closed the windows and laid in bed, putting the dagger under the pillow. I couldn't think about anything but I didn't want to fall asleep, I was sure that the nightmares would come back bloodier than ever that night. It took me 15 minutes to fall sleepy as I curled myself on the extremely soft cotton sheets and eyed the room's darkness.
I ended up falling asleep with the sound of the ocean waves cradling my senses.