Dylan knew that voice anywhere; she could pick it out of a loud crowd in a bar or on the streets. His voice. She knew it like he was an old friend they just happened to bump into at the little café. Nick began to stand and Dylan's hand flew out, landing on his arm as she sent a reassuring look to him that it was alright to stay, that he was needed here. And he was, Dylan couldn't be alone with this frightening mountain of a man.
"You must go. I must speak with her, alone." Once more Gavril sent a strong compulsion, but Dylan's eyes were glued to Nick's, and she prevented the compulsion from even hitting him. They stared as the two battled for control over Nick. Well Dylan wouldn't call it control, actually she fought for his freedom from Gavril's control.
"Go" Gavril put a hand on Nick's shoulder, gaining control now. Nick stood and Dylan stood quickly, trying to keep him from Gavril's grasp.
"Nick, don't." Her eyes now showed fear, she was frantic to keep him with her.
"You will take your hands off this man, sívamet, or I will not be responsible for whatever happens to him." Gavril's voice spoke coldly, and Dylan looked up at him, fear shining bright in her eyes.
"You will do nothing to this man. You will leave us now, and never find me again." Dylan tried to hit him with a strong compulsion, but it merely washed over his strong barrier. She saw the hurt in his eyes briefly chased by laughter.
"You will not fear me, sívamet, I will not harm you. I am no enemy, my only purpose to see to your happiness and destroy the enemy of my kind. Compulsion will get you nowhere, dear one." He spoke to her in the way of his people, and watched with confusion as she flinched as if she had been struck.
Dylan hastily slid her hand in Nick's, and urged him forward. She built a strong barrier in both of their minds, that way they would be safe from the ancient's control. "Nick we should be-"
In a blur of motion, Gavril separated the two and spun Dylan into his arms, turning the full power of his glare onto Nick. He smashed though the simple barrier she hastily placed in his mind, and quickly took control of the situation. "You will allow us to leave now. Dylan is tired and she needs her rest which is not to be interrupted." Gavril spoke both out loud and telepathically as the man stepped aside to allow them passage.
As the two of them exited the little café, Gavril scooped Dylan up, transforming them into mist to travel quickly. He knew very well her fear of him, and to help ease some of that pointless fear he would keep to his word. He would take her back to her room, but not to rest. The two of them had much talking to do, and he needed to make sure they would be uninterrupted.
Turning back into a solid form, Gavril set her down on her feet. Immediately he felt her small hands thump at his chest. "Get away from me!" Her voice was shrill, desperate. Gavril dropped his arms surrounding her with a frown, and watched as she paced her way across the room. The two of them were standing in the living room of her quaint suite. There was an open doorway which lead to the bedroom and bathroom. The living room was furnished with two lavish couches and a plushy armchair. There was another doorway that lead off to a small kitchen. All the living arrangements were temporary, and Gavril did not envy her for always having to travel from place to place.
"Your fear for me is unnecessary, little one, I will not harm you." Gavril's voice was smooth as he spoke the truth. He watched her reaction carefully, trying to make sense of her unexplainable fear of him. Her head snapped when he spoke, and she watched him with wide eyes for a minute before speaking.
"You are lying. Your kind is cruel, evil and deceitful. You harm everything you pass, leaving destruction and death in your wake." Gavril reacted as if he had been struck, feeling her words deep in his sole.
Shaking his head, he took a step forward but stopped when she put equal space between them. "You know I speak the truth, päläfertiil. I do not harm those who are good. My fight is with the creatures of evil, the vampires, not the innocent."
"You have hurt many who do not deserve it, slaughtered blindly. I have seen much pain caused by your species desperate need for survival." Dylan's hands were shaking, actually shaking, so she held her hands behind her back, desperately trying to keep her calm.
"Look into my memories, join with me. You will see this is not true. You will see we are good, not evil. That we hunt the evil, and that we are protectors of the innocent." Gavril held his hand out, urging her to take it. Instead, she took another step backwards, now bumping into one of the doorways of her suite. "Do not fear me, csitri, I mean no harm. You hear the truth in my words. Please." The way he said please made her heart skip. It was desperation mixed with softness, and it encouraged her to take two small steps forward. Dylan watched him closely, studying his face for answers.
The space between them disappeared and Dylan found herself close enough to him that she could take in his intoxicating scent. No longer able to keep eye contact, Dylan watched his hand. His hand was so strong, and next to him, her's looked so small and fragile. Dylan wasn't a small woman, by any means. She trained regularly and kept in great shape for the battles she frequently fought. Somehow he managed to tower over her, and make her look like a small and sweet woman. "Take it, I will not hurt you. Let me show you." Reluctantly, Dylan slipped her small hand in his, and was immediately hit with memories.
Each memory was different, starting off from when he was young, the told a story of his youth. They showed the evil he fought so often, just like her. Dylan felt the constant battle he raged, both against the evil of the vampire and the evil of the beast in his sole. She saw the evil he fought against deep inside, the one that threatened to turn him every waking second. Then, Dylan saw something that frightened her even more. She saw the way he saw her, the way she brought color and emotion back to his world. She saw what happened after she fled their first meeting; how the vampire brought him to his knees and almost destroyed him because he couldn't control his emotions. She felt the pain so deep from those wounds, and from losing her when he had just found her. There was fear too, for many decades he held out against it and the raging beast inside him. For many decades he thought she was dead, and that his search for her was in vain. Then, a ray of hope finally shed on him. The very night he had planned to end his painful existence, she came into his life again.
As the memories of the rush of emotions hit her like a brick wall, she jerked back and stumbled a few steps away. She looked up at him, trembling and with tears in her eyes. She could see the pain in his face which was quickly chased with worry then written blank. He made no move to comfort her, knowing she wouldn't want his contact.
Dylan turned, whipping her eyes. "I-" She took a shaky breath in, not sure what to say. Who could she tell him that he was wrong? That she wasn't, couldn't, save him? The nightmares he'd lived through, she'd seen them all. He opened himself completely to her, and now she was just going to shoot him down. But Dylan herself had lived through too many nightmares to be anyone's light. Her existence was doomed. Doomed to always live in the darkness, always make the tough choice. All the lives she saved on a regular basis, she had to live in that dark world.
"I'm not who you think I am. I'm sorry. I can't save you. I'm just as doomed as you." She looked up at him, tears shimmering in her eyes. She didn't know him at all, but at the same time she did. And for some weird, unexplainable reason, she wanted to save him.
Gavril crossed the distance between them, gently grabbing her arms just above her elbows. "You are not so damaged. You have seen many horrors, I can see it plainly on your face, but you are not broken. We will be each other's lights. We will heal each other." He tugged her into a hug, holding her tenderly to try and calm her. Seeing tears in her eyes made his heart skip, and not in a good way.
They stood like that, holding onto each other, for quite a while. Gavril comforted Dylan' wild and racing thoughts and Dylan carefully composed herself, not allowing herself to cry in front of him. Dylan never cried, and if she ever did, it was alone. No one had ever seen her cry.
Their small bonding moment was interrupted by Dylan's phone, which sounded like it was practically screaming in the silence of the room. Breaking apart the hug, Dylan crossed the room to see the caller. "Ignore it, csitri, what we must discuss is of greater importance."
Dylan picked up her phone and saw that her team member Jessica was calling. After two rings the called dropped, a red flag for Dylan. She looked up at Gavril with a frown as she redialed the number. After calling twice, the call going to voicemail each time, Dylan crossed the room. "That's not normal. She always answers. We have to. It's our job." Their job was too important not to answer calls. Dylan called Nick next, to see if he had heard from her. When he said no, that sent another little red flag. Nick promised to call the other team members and Dylan tried calling her back again.
Nearly ten minutes passed and no one had heard a word from Jessica. Dylan sat on her bed while Gavril searched the city in the form of a hawk. She knew how unlikely it would be for him to spot her in a city this large. If Jessica wasn't answering, something was wrong. Dylan strummed her fingers as her laptop slowly booted up. Each team member had their phone on them 24/7, so Dylan would try to use a tracking program to find her. Jessica needed them, and now.
It felt like forever before she was finally able to pull a trace on her cell phone. It showed her somewhere just out of the city limits, and the signal was faint. Dylan let Gavril know the location as she rushed out of the room. Nick and Samuel, another team member, waited for her in the lobby, and hurried her into their stereotypical black S.U.V outside the hotel. Marilee, who also happened to be Jessica's best friend, sat behind the wheel. Dylan took shot gun while the two men sat in the back seat.
Marilee drove like an insane woman through the streets as the sirens screamed for cars to move out of their way. No one spoke a word, all on edge as they weaved in and out of traffic. Looking up in a mirror, Dylan frowned and turned in her seat. "We're being followed. The gray creeper van." She was surprised anyone would be able to keep up with Marilee's insane driving.
It was late at night, so the streets were mostly empty of cars, and any that were still out heeded the warning of their siren. "Gavril, have you found her?" She sent a silent prayer for good news after calling out.
"There is evil here. It reeks in the air, and nature itself is dying off from it. Do not come." His warning was followed by a thick brick wall, shutting off all communications between them. Dylan swore under her breath, now more on edge than ever. Her team was well trained for attack, but for human attack.
Throwing a glance behind her, she noticed the van was still hot on their trail, despite Marilee's expertise evading tactics. "Damn it." She cursed loudly this time. As she turned to face forward again, she noticed the headlights shining on them from the right. Before she could look, she heard a set of tires screech followed by the sound of metal scraping on metal. Someone had t-boned them. The S.U.V flipped twice, going over the guard rail of the freeway and falling onto the highway below them with the passenger side up. Dylan's vision filled with red, black fading in on the sides. As she began to lose consciousness, she saw a gnarly hand with long claws reach for her.
A/N: Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to get the next chapter up. I had a really hard time writing it plus I'm in the middle of transitioning into a new job while still working my current full time job. It's my first supervisor job so it's been a little stressful. Plus trying apartment hunting has made everything crazy.
This chapter is mostly dialect between Gavril and Dylan, they really needed to talk finally. Next chapter will be really interesting, promise! Love! And please review guys, it helps so much!
~Thanks!