I don't know why I expect any different of myself. But I'm still very sorry that this took me a whole month to update. For some reason this chapter was very difficult for me to write. I can't count how many times it was completely rewritten because I couldn't get it right. A big thanks to the wonderful Fundamental Blue for Beta-ing this chapter. As always I hope you enjoy and look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Evan felt like she could breath a little easier as she watched the cars pull out of the driveway. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with them. Alyssa was her sister, the only constant in her life. And by proxy, the vampires and Sookie had become like family to her.
But she could use a break from the constant string of new stressors. She was very much looking forward to a peaceful bubble bath in the huge bathtub they had. So as soon as the vehicles were out of sight she grabbed the portable speakers she had found in the kitchen and made her way up the stairs.
Music pumped through the house as she watched warm water and bubbles fill up the tub. Evan soon found herself surrounded by blissfully warm water and lavender scented bubbles. It was like she could actually feel the stress melting away. The knots that had been forming between her shoulder blades eased and she tilted her head back against the cool rim of the tub with a happy sigh.
By the time Evan pulled herself out of the water, it had gone cold and her fingers and toes had turned to prunes. She wrapped herself in one of the impossibly fluffy towels from the linen closet and secured her wet hair to the back of her head with a clip. She grabbed a glass of cold water from the kitchen and sipped at it while she searched for a clean pair of pajamas. She really needed to do laundry, she realized. It was one of those things that tended to get pushed to the side in the face of problems like her sister seemed to be encountering lately. Evan had just pulled a baggy t-shirt over her head when someone cleared their throat. She felt her heart hammer against her ribs as she spun quickly to face the source of the sound.
Anthony was standing in the doorway, a sheepish expression on his face. "My profound apologies Evan. I did not mean to interrupt you like this."
Evan blushed beet red and hastily pulled on a pair of shorts. "You couldn't have knocked or something like a normal person?" She demanded.
Anthony looked away, although it was much too late to make any real difference "It didn't occur to me that anyone would be…indecent. You are the only one here?"
Evan huffed indignantly, "obviously. Everyone went to Fangtasia, if you're looking for my sister."
Anthony pushed a hand through his hair, clearly feeling flustered "not particularly. I just thought I would stop in and take the opportunity to get to know Alyssa's companions. Bael mentioned how attached Alyssa is to them."
She wasn't sure what to think of Anthony. Here he was, just showing up on their doorstep to help her sister master her abilities and now he was randomly appearing in the house for a social call? Maybe, she considered, he was just lonely? Or maybe he was just trying to be friendly. Anyone could tell that the vampires were wary of Anthony and it wasn't like Bael and Godric had been very receptive of each other. Evan mentally nodded to herself. That had to be it. He just wanted to get on Godric's good side so there would be less cause for friction in the little pseudo-family they had going.
"Well like I said, they're at Fangtasia tonight. I'm just going to lay about and watch netflix," Evan explained after a moment.
Anthony perked up at the mention. "Netflix? I have heard of this. Would you….would you show it to me? If you aren't opposed to my company."
Evan sighed, her peaceful night of solitude quickly disappearing. She was tempted to tell him that she did want to just spend the night by herself. But he had such a hopeful look in his eyes, like a puppy about to get a treat. And really, who didn't know what netflix was? "No, it's fine. Come on. I'm going to make some popcorn first."
So Evan found herself curled up on one end of the couch, her sisters half demon cousin sitting on the other end, a bowl of popcorn between them. She quickly explained the concept of netflix to him before setting it up to watch one of her favorite shows, Pretty Little Liars. Anthony seemed baffled by her choice in content, though she wasn't sure if it was because he didn't know what was going on in that episode or if it had more to do with disliking to concept of the show altogether. She brushed it off though. He had wanted to watch netflix with her so he was going to have to put up with her choices.
He asked questions about the show every few minutes and she tried to keep herself from being irritated by them. If he would just keep quiet and watch, half of his questions would have been answered. It was one of those pet peeves that slowly ate away at a good mood. She forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths and reminded herself that he wasn't being intentionally annoying. If she kept telling herself as much maybe she would stop being irritated.
"Is this a show you and Alyssa both enjoy?" Anthony question as Evan put on another episode.
She shook her head with a laugh. "Aly hates this show. Teen dramas aren't her thing at all. She's more a crime dramas, superhero kind of girl. Absolutely loves Gotham."
At Anthony's blank stare she launched into a quick explanation of Gotham, batman, and the marvel versus DC debate. Anthony seemed very confused by the whole thing. Evan shrugged when she realized she wasn't getting any closer to explaining the whole thing to him and suggested he ask Alyssa about it instead. Evan had probably left him with more questions than answers and Alyssa was usually more than happy to launch into the finer points of superheroes.
Anthony was quiet for sometime before he spoke again. "You and your sister are very close, yes? Closer than most siblings, it seems."
Evan nodded easily in response, "we've been all each other has had for as long as I can remember. It's always been us against the world. I guess you're right. Most people aren't that close with their siblings at our age."
Anthony hummed in reply and turned back to the show. His next question addressed the episode and Evan was more than happy to turn her attention back to her favorite show. He would occasionally steer the conversation back to Alyssa but they were simple questions; what did Alyssa like to do? Where had they grown up? What was her thoughts on one event or another? Evan answered as easily as if he were asking for her opinions rather than her sisters. She could usually see where he had gotten the questions from, something would happen in the show and it would prompt a question from Anthony.
"You've been asking lots of questions about Aly and I but I still hardly know anything about you," Evan observed after a particularly long string of questions.
Anthony shrugged and made a sweeping gesture with his hands in invitation. "Ask me anything" he offered.
Evan thought it over for a moment "what was your childhood like?"
Anthony's face twitched up in the corners. "Unconventional." He summarized at Evan's searching look, then continued, "I was born in Sheol, which is a place I do not have the words to describe accurately. It has a harsh sort of beauty, this world seems hazy and out of focus in comparison.
"I spent the first several years of my life there, underfoot of the great demons my mother surrounded herself with. She is not particularly powerful- like Alyssa's father- but she is cunning and has a way about convincing people of her will." Anthony's expression was strange as he spoke about his mother, almost as if he was in pain at the thought of her. It was a look Evan couldn't decipher. She thought to ask him about it. Why did his mother make him so uncomfortable? What had she done? But he had barrelled ahead and her chance was gone.
"When I was perhaps ten or so, mother sent me to meet my father. I do not blend in easily but there are demons who can work a sort of...cloaking. Mother found one and had them disguise me so I could move amongst humans undeterred. My father had since started a family with a delicate looking young woman. She did not take kindly to her husband's bastard son living amongst her own children. But Father would hear nothing of it. I stayed there until I was an adult and then returned to Sheol."
Evan took a moment to process the information swirling through her head. She had so many questions bouncing around she hardly knew where to start. Mostly, she wanted to know about Sheol. What did it look like? How different was it than the world around her? And then, what was the time he had grown up in like? He had been able to watch the world change so much over his years. The sheer amount of knowledge he must have flummoxed her.
Anthony allowed her to ask several questions and she listened with rapt attention as he described what the world had been like two hundred years ago.
A stifled yawn cut her off mid question and Anthony chuckled at her. "Perhaps it would be best to continue our discussion another day?" He offered.
Evan pouted in disappointment. Despite how strange he had seemed and how much she had been looking forward to a night to herself, she had enjoyed his company. With a huff, she shut netflix off and stood from the couch to stretch. A long yawn as the credits rolled on the episode had Evan shutting netflix off. She stood from the couch to stretch before turning to Anthony.
"I enjoyed getting better acquainted with you, Evan. I will have to return another night in order to speak with the vampires so I do not keep you awake unduly." Anthony stood from the couch and executed an elegant, if half hearted bow before turning on his heel and walking out of the room. Mid-step he disappeared with a faint 'pop'.
It was unnerving to say the least. Evan didn't know if she could ever get used to the sudden disappearance that demons seemed to be so fond of. She wondered idly if Alyssa would pick up the habit from spending time with her father and cousin.
With a sigh Evan gathered her things from around the room and headed up to her bedroom. She would have to tell her sister about Anthony's visit. She still wasn't sure what to make of the man.
Anthony could feel the presence of demons in the forest outside of the vampires nest as soon as he stepped out of the house. He scowled towards the trees and stalked towards where he could sense the nearest demon. He scowled at the demon in front of him, the other demons converging around him. It made his stomach twist painfully to be surrounded by them but he refused to let it show.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"We have come to see your progress," one of the demons behind him spoke, his voice like the lashing of a whip. Anthony shook off the chills that threatened to run down his spine and give away his unease.
"The vampires will smell that you were here." He argued, spinning to face the one he thought had spoken. "You should have waited until I summoned you."
"Do not tell us what to do, mutt." A demon to his left snarled, flashing sharp fangs at him.
Anthony flinched back against his will.
"I'm just saying, if they know there's other demons around, they'll get suspicious. They already mistrust me. I need to get close to the humans first if there's any chance of this working." There was a snort to Anthony's right that had him spinning to face the demon.
"I still say we just grab her now and hold her until the new moon." His idea was quickly shot down.
"We've been over this Rathiel, she needs to be stronger if it's going to work. She needs to be prepared, and to have more of her vampires blood," another argued.
"Just drain her vampire and force feed it to her." One shrugged as if he was discussing the weather.
They went on like that, bantering back and forth as they surrounded Anthony. He might as well have not been there. Anthony would have rathered it in fact. But there was no escaping the circle around him. They would sense any attempt to use his powers and could easily crush him. They had done it several times in the past. So Anthony did his best to look quiet and unassuming, hoping they really would just forget he was ever there.
"We've argued this a thousand times. The half breed bitch has to be willing and her powers are too weak as they are. We will stick to the plan." The commanding voice came from behind him and Anthony flinched away from the speaker. Garrett was cruel even for a demon. He wanted as little to do with him as possible.
The other demons muttered unhappily but none spoke against him. Anthony thought he was finally in the clear when a clawed hand wrapped around his throat and yanked him back. He nearly fell against the figure behind him and was forced to flail helplessly to regain his footing. Sharp claws pressed into the soft skin of his neck, drawing blood.
"Now Anthony." The voice of the demon behind him, Reemus, snarled in his ear "I know you fancy yourself a hero. But don't forget where you came from in the face of a pretty girl. This is very important, and I won't have you fucking things up like you usually do."
Anthony nodded hastily- as much as he could while trying not to injure himself further, "yes, yes, of course Reemus. I swear I won't screw up this time."
He was shoved easily away a moment later. Anthony immediately brought a hand to his throat to assess the damage. Three long gashes circled his neck. Not deep enough to cause any real damage. But it hurt and blood flowed easily down his neck and onto his shirt.
"See that you don't." Garrett warned, his voice ominous.
A moment later there was the familiar 'pop' of demons teleporting. When Anthony looked up he was completely alone in the forest. He worried briefly about what he was going to tell the vampires if they asked about all the strange demon smells around their nest. They would be suspicious no doubt.
He shook his head, the sun would be coming up soon and that would mean the vampires returning to their nest. He wasn't ready to come up with an explanation yet nor would he be able to explain the blood covering his front.
With that thought in mind he quickly teleported himself to the abandoned house on the other side of town he was staying in.