All recognizable characters are not my own but making them bend to my thoughts is.
Within a few minutes, I was back home in my apartment and had stripped off my hunting clothes in to more casual ones. I liked where I had settled myself within the city. The street out front was relatively quiet and in the back, there was a little garden area that backed onto a small park only the surrounding buildings had access to.
On cloudy or rainy days, I found myself drifting back there to find some semblance to where my eternal journey began. Standing by the shaded window, I listened to the city outside as it came alive as the sun started rising steeply in the sky. Waiting out the day was never an easy thing for me to get accustomed to. When I first came here, and realizing I needed to stay hidden, I took to the tunnels below the city that were used for drainage. It was entirely too revolting of a place to spend one's time so I scouted around for abandoned places. Warehouses in the industrial area served my purposes rather well, but I found myself being a bit too restless there so the hunt continued for a better place. I had started to miss the old days when I could be out in the middle of nowhere and not have to worry about being discovered until I found this place.
The neighbourhood back then wasn't as hospitable as it is now and the troublemakers soon started disappearing after my arrival. The police back in those days often turned a blind eye to gangsters gone missing or found a few weeks later rotten. It was convenient and the good humans, the ones who wanted to settle down and breed more humans, were alright in my books. The earlier ones, the ones that knew the history of the place, kept their kids on the straight and narrow path for fear of having history repeat itself. That was several decades past. The newer ones weren't so careful but then again, the police tended not to turn a blind eye anymore either to missing persons; good or bad.
The last few decades of living in the city had turned me into a great reader during the daylight hours. When I was not lost within the pages of my latest book, I was peering out the window and watching the world go by outside. Knowing what was happening around me was now a key point in my surviving and using my superior hearing was invaluable. Some nights, rather than going out for a hunt, I'd sit and listen to those around me.
It passed the time but it was daylight and many of my neighbours were out at their places of employment that tested my nerves and bored me. My eyes darted about as the humans went about their daily business outside; many were heading to work as per usual and others running for buses or cabs or just for the sake of running to stay in shape. I started wondering where the blue eyed man was, where he lived, what he did during the day time to earn his living in this city. The image of his eyes, his face came back to my perfect memory and recalled his features once again in my mind. I spent a few hours like this, in a daze, before I came back to reality at the sound of screaming far below only realizing it was from laughter. I decided in that instant that the man with the blue eyes clearly interested me enough to seek him out again.
The following evening I returned to the same place where I saw him and found a corner to wait where I wouldn't be noticed. Hours passed and there was no sign of him, or any familiar human. I broke off my watch and headed home, very unimpressed at myself. This pattern of failure continued for several more nights until it was Friday night again and I had taken up a position on a rooftop nearby. I cast my gaze down on the endless stream of foot traffic that resembled the crimson flow in veins, admiring the simplicity of it all as I waited. I mused over the hum of beating hearts mixed in with the purr of traffic and the choir of voices when he emerged from a doorway. He looked around and seemed to pause until a friend's hand tapped his shoulder to draw his attention away and off they went.
I followed their path along the darkened rooftops only to watch them disappear behind a heavy door with Tavern etched into it. "Do I dare?" Before I was able to reason my way out of proceeding, my curiosity got the better of me and I was floating down between two buildings in the narrow space and the tips of my feet touched the ground. I brought out a little case of colored contact lenses and put a set of them on. Always careful to check my surroundings, I gave myself an approving nod that I wasn't noticed and headed for the place where blue eyes was.
Once inside the place, I spied the companion sitting at the bar, but there was no sign of him. I thought to myself, "Sitting at the bar, I might be approached and disturbed. Sitting at a table with a second empty chair will buy me a little privacy." I found a place off to the side and sat down to watch. This place wasn't much better than my usual places where I hunted, but the bar area where the alcohol was kept was noticeably nicer than most. The table that I was sitting down was a heavy wooden construction that may have been as old as me and the numerous etchings of names and phone number in the wood gave it that character that was indicative of places like this.
It didn't take long for a waitress to approach and ask me for my order. I rattled off the first name of a beer that I saw advertised above the bar and she quickly went to go get it for me. She returned quickly with a bottle and a glass with some ice in it. I asked her to start a tab to which she nodded and went off to her next table.
The smell of beer was one of few things that I could tolerate smelling as I poured some into the glass and waited for Blue-eyes to show up. It didn't take long until he emerged from behind the corner and sat down beside his friend at the bar. They started talking about this and that - topics I couldn't really quite follow along with without knowing the root of the story. It seemed like they were their own little world until his friend perked up and said, "You should really get back in there, Peter.'' To which he silently nodded.
'Peter'.Peter was his name and it rolled off my tongue as if it had always been there. It was fitting for the man with the blue eyes.
"Here, let me get the ball rolling for you." The friend called the waitress over and had another beer sent to my table much to my surprise.
Had I been so obvious and lonely looking that I had been noticed? I guess so, I mused.
"Fucker, I don't need your help!" Peter sounded a little irate at the friend's gesture and didn't even bother to look back at me.
The friend nudged Peter's arm, "Sure you don't be a total ass and go say hello to her." His friend motioned over at me.
Peter ran a hand through his hair and muttered under his breath, "Here's to getting my ass shot down." He took a swig from his bottle of beer and looked at me as I dropped my eyes down to look into my nearly empty purse. "At least you've got great taste, fucker."
I couldn't exactly place what I had felt at that moment; I was usually the hunter stalking my prey, waiting to make my move. But this, this was entirely different - I was being approached and I wasn't entirely in charge of the outcome; if he wasn't going to be my meal at the end of the night. I wondered with every step he took what his pick up line would be. I wondered how he would break the ice, what he could possibly say for me to go back to his place - if that was even his intent at all. Of course it would be, I'm spectacular, a man wouldn'tnot attempt to capture my attentions.
Peter finally reached where I was and motioned towards the empty chair that sat across from me. I gave him a quick nod approving that he could sit down. He took the chair and turned so his back was towards his friend and sat down, legs stretched out beside the table before setting his drink down on the old etched wooden surface of the table. I was all ears and I felt the venom in my eyes burning at the contacts as I watched him intently. He looked up from the lip of his bottle and chuckled to himself as he shook his head.
"I'm just gonna sit here for a bit to shut my friend over there up and then leave you to enjoy your night, Miss." He lifted his bottle and took a long drink.
"Seems like you got this all figured out then, I guess I don't get a say." I raised my brow as he set his bottle down.
Peter half spun his bottle on the table, completing the water ring mark. "Darlin' trust me when I say that you don't want to waste your time with me, I'm damaged goods." He was dead serious and it didn't sound like a please pity me line I often overhead in bars from guys working that angle.
There it was again, that look of sorrow in his eye. He aged slightly at that moment and I watched it take over his whole body, heart weakening, pulse slouched ever so slightly more.
"We are all damaged goods and you're nothing special in that department so you're going to need to put a little more effort into sloughing me off." I took what looked like a sip of beer from my glass without consuming any.
"How about I insist on you tossing your drink at me to sweeten the deal for you? Girls like doing that right? It's in the movies. It'd be fun for you." His lip curled up slightly as did mine at the offer.
"Tempting, very tempting." I sat back in my chair and looked around the bar. "I suppose you'd want me to yell at you too?" He nodded to the affirmative. I ran my fingers along the sides if the full glass before me that was collecting condensation. "No. I don't think so. There aren't enough people here to make it worth my while and it'd be wasted effort on my part." I shrugged softly to which he let out a breath to turn his head back to his friend, who made some gesture to encourage him, but he was determined to not to succeed with me.
My feelings were getting hurt; wasn't I enough? Was he that broken? I slid the beer that landed on the table earlier before his arrival towards him when I noticed he was nearly done with what was in his hand. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not much of a drinker so you'll have to finish that for me."
His hand went for it without argument. "Are you trying to get me drunk Miss?" His hand wrapped around the bottle easily as he drew it towards him.
"Well what if I am? You might get a bit more hospitable if you were drunk." Two more bottles hit the surface of the table. "See? Your friend thinks so too."
One
Two
Three
Four - I sized him beers should loosen him up enough. More bodies were filtering into the place and it was making my skin crawl, but you wouldn't know it to look at me as I kept my look calm.
I looked over to Peter as he looked at his bottle and I shook my head; somewhat disappointed. "Well I see there is no changing your mind so I'll leave you to your drinks as it's clearly more interesting than me." I got up and left a few dollars on the table for the waitress. I planned on coming back here and getting in good graces with the wait staff was always a smart idea. I was disappointed, it was written on my face as I approached his friend at the bar. "Your friend wasn't interested." I walked out the door and onto the streets. I felt like I needed to hunt, but not for nourishment. "Get a grip Char."
"Did you break a nail sugar?" A familiar voice from the past reached out and drew me in.
I stopped dead in my tracks and looked down a darkened alleyway. My eyes focused in on the ruby hues as they peered at me. "Major?" I frowned at my error. That life was long gone, much like the South had fallen with the human Civil War. "Jasper." I smirked and motioned for him to come out of his hiding and he stepped out of the darkness and fell into step with me easily. "You look like shit Jasper."
"Well its good to see you too, Miss Charlotte and may I say how the city has done wonders for your charm and grace as a lady." He chuckled as he kept his eyes down. His long unkempt locks of hair shielded any onlookers from noticing his eyes as we slowly walked along.
"I'm no lady and you damn well know it." I hooked my arm around his as I slowly lead us back to my place. "Took you long enough to find me. Where there any other survivors?"
Jasper shook his head no. "We got a lot to catch up on and I have a story for you, but not here. I'm guessing you have a safe place for us to talk?"
His feet hit the sidewalk in pace with mine as I nodded yes. His boots were worn and his jeans and shirt smelled like the South; heat infused with the summer scents of blooming flowers and green. It was hard to see him looking down and out like this, but his spirit wasn't as faded. "I'm taking you to my place and we'll get you cleaned up and we can talk. And no, I didn't break my nail, I was shot down."
"I should make you go first then?" Jasper teased. "Or did you want to go finish the guy off? I can wait."
"There's nothing to tell. He didn't even ask me for my name, said he was too broken. I might find him again and at least enjoy him despite of it." I knew I was filling up with feelings Jasper was picking up on by how as he pulled me closer to him.
"Pity eating was never your thing Char, but what's got you there in the first place?" Jasper asked as we turned a corner and made our way down the last block.
"He had pretty eyes, the bluest I've ever seen." I recalled them and sighed. "I think I saw something in them but I guess I was wrong." I saw the sorrow and loneliness I sometimes felt looking back at me, but that was the last thing I wanted to tell Jasper because I didn't want this little reunion of ours to revolve around that.
"That's a bucket of horseshit if I ever heard it. You were never wrong with what you guessed about folks, so he must have some issues. Do you want me to stalk his ass for you, I'm not busy these days."
I shook my head no and fell silent in my thoughts.
I started up the steps to my place, fishing the keys from out of my pocket and in a few seconds, we were behind a closed door. Jasper looked around as I got a set of towels ready for him in the bathroom and pointed him towards the shower. As soon as his filthy things landed outside, I had them in the washer. We had never beenthe shy types about our nudity, thank God.
"There's soap in there if you remember what its used for." I heard him snort and start whistling a long forgotten tune from the days when we were in between battles. The water eventually stopped and out he came dripping wet with nothing but a towel around his waist. "I'd offer you some refreshments, but I've got nothing handy at the moment that would arouse suspicion with the humans, I don't get guests, ever."
Jasper took up a spot in front of a shaded window and started talking as I settled myself down to listen. If it was worth him telling it, then there was something there that needed to be heard.
"I saw you taking off Char, I was glad you did because it went from bad to worse. I was able to keep the enemy at bay, but then I saw Maria's head on a stake and the bottom fell out. She and I were never a thing you know?" He turned to look back at me on the couch and I nodded.
I knew she was only using him for his gift and brains on the battlefield so her demise would have affected him I hoped. I think she tolerated me because I thought on the same level as Jasper and was a good sounding board for his ideas, taking note of pertinent things that more often than not led us to victory. I was useful to her, hence I lived.
Jaspers tone grew serious as his voice fell to a whisper. "Well what you missed, and thank the stars that you did, was the third army that hit the field."
I sat up slightly. "Third army Jasper? There was only us, I'm sure of it." I frowned at my failure to be less than informed. I had made a mistake and wasn't pleased with this failure even if it was a very old one.
"When I say third army, I mean less than ten, but the damage they did in the span of five minutes, you could have sworn there were more. They didn't care who they slaughtered or what side they were on; they just kept going. I was able to get to cover and watch them. If they got close, I'd lace them with enough doubt and uncertainty that they turned away not being the wiser as to why they suddenly felt it." Jasper shook his head.
I knew it was hard for Jasper to remember that part of his life, just as it was difficult for me, so I just waited for him to take the time he needed to recompose himself.
"With you gone away, and to safety, I decided that there was nothing or no one left I needed to fight for, so I watched and listened to them as they interrogated a few of the enemy survivors. They called themselves the Volturi and some of them that were present were talented. I dare say even more so than myself." Another pause. "I don't think they saw me, or you escaping, but I didn't want to take the chance of either of us being captured so I waited for my chance to get away. The little witch they had with them, I saw pretty clearly what she could do, felt it too. Pure pain. Real pain, more than I could bring about in someone and there was no way I'd lead that to you, you were a good one. So I kept myself away from you just incase they had figured me out and were following me to any survivors. It took until now to know that they weren't and that's why I decided to come to you now. You were a damn hard one to track down, you know." Jasper sighed. "They are bad - worse than Maria, Char, and may I suggest that you never set foot inside of Italy, ever."
I nodded at Jasper and rose to pat him on the back. "I'm just glad you made it through that Jasper. It took a few years but I came to realize that all that fighting was for nothing. Just look out there, the humans would have discovered us eventually with their building and settling; and then what would have we have gained? No Jasper, I'm glad we got out of there when we did." I backed off and went to toss his things into the a few seconds, I heard Jasper hard on my heels and standing at the door watching me be all domestic.
"So tell me then Char, is that all it takes to get your heart go pitter patter these days, a pretty set of eyes?" I heard Jasper laugh softly.
"Oh lord, Jasper, really? I've seen my fair share of pretty boys, yourself included, and no, it would take the heavens to open up and the almighty himself to get a pulse going through me." I sorted through a pile of clean clothes and found biggest shirt I owned and a pair of sweatpants. "Sorry, this is all I've got."
Jasper took one look at them and shook his head. "I'm good waitin'."
I stuck my tongue out at him. "Fine. Makes no difference to me if you strut around here as your mama made ya." I brought the stack of clean clothes back to my room and put them away.
Jasper wandered back into the living room and took up his watch again at the window, I could hear the water from his still wet hair dripping every so often onto the floor. "So you haven't seen anyone since then Char?"
"There's been two in all; on separate occasions. They were passing through and I didn't recognize them, didn't bother making contact either." I walked back into the room, setting myself down. "I didn't see the need in saying hello to them either. I considered it when the second one came, about fifteen years later after the first one, but she didn't stick around and I was already settled here. I didn't need or want a stranger thinking they could pop into my place whenever they felt like it. Besides, what was to stop them from blowing my cover or taking what I've worked to build myself here." I stopped and looked up to find Jasper's eyes fixed on me. "You're welcome anytime, but I'll bust your chops if you mess stuff up."
Jasper made a mock face of horror at me, waving his hands by his face. "Oh I'm scared Charlotte. What do you say we go out tonight and wrestle up some grub and fine some drunks to scare till they piss themselves?"
Jaspers mischievous mood was contagious in the worst kind of way and I could feel him drawing me in, convincing me to his plans of a fun night out. "We can do that but only if we stick to a certain part of the city where we can get away with it."
"Deal." Jasper clapped his hands together and I laughed at the fun we were going to have.