Jane needs to take some anger management classes.
The tiny blonde comes barging in not long after Sophia falls asleep, Alec and Felix behind. Her eyes scan the room before landing on the bedroom door, and she looks at him before deciding to continue on her path anyways.
He quickly puts himself between her and the door, a hand held aloft in warning. "Don't even think about it."
"Your liability," she spits out the latter word with venom lacing every syllable, "completely ruined our mission."
"She led us straight to the perpetrator," he retorts. "Thanks to her, I can now track that thing and we can finish up as soon as possible." Letting his anger abate, Demetri adopts a cooler, crueler tone. "Was it not your job to successfully keep her out of the forest until Felix sent for you? What would the masters think if they hear of their beloved Jane failing at such a menial task? One that even a rookie should have been able to do?"
If it were possible for vampires to blush, he suspects Jane's face would have been flooded with red at this point. Her eyes lock with his once again, and his knees buckle under him as white-hot pain wracks through his body. This isn't the first time it's happening, however, and he manages to not make a sound, gritting his teeth.
"Enough!" Just after Felix's voice booms through the room, the pain stops as Jane is yanked away by her brother. Demetri gets to his feet, massaging his throat. "Jane, you are expected to follow your commander's lead. And your failure to do so cannot be overlooked, no matter the position you enjoy in the Guard. And Demetri," the man turns to him, "you cannot ignore the fact that the human jeopardized a big chunk of our mission by doing what she did. Alec, Jane, we are going to leave this place right now and let Demetri set things right." The tension is palpable as he and Jane glare daggers at the other, Alec's eyes darting between the two to check for the need to intervene.
"You all will not be held accountable for his decisions," Felix shoots a pointed look at him as he says this, "but you will also not do anything that goes against them. I expect this to be honoured by all of you." He looks around the room, daring any one of them to challenge him. "Am I clear?"
"Your suggestion has been acknowledged, Felix," Demetri replies with a curt smile. "Now, I believe you three should be taking your leave."
Alec gives him an affirming nod, gently guiding his sister with a hand on her back, muttering assurances. Felix lingers back a little, and when the twins are out, walks over.
"Your choices could have bad consequences," he speaks at a level low enough for the two outside to not hear. "Even if she is your mate, I expect you to exercise a higher level of caution."
"I do not know if she is my mate," he snaps irritably - why are all vampire-human relationships assumed to be romantic? "But I will heed your words."
"Well, if she isn't your mate, you better take greater care of her. Jane might just snap her neck otherwise."
"You keep that tiny hellion in check, and I'll make sure Sophia toes the line." WIth a nod, Felix leaves, and Demetri is free to contemplate just exactly how he will explain the events to Sophia without having to resort to extreme measures in the end.
He knows she will not believe anything if he spills the truth without any evidence, so he has to make sure that the information he gives out makes sense to her. And that he doesn't tell her too much either.
Because he really, really doesn't want to kill her.
Almost 20 hours later when she wakes, Sophia drags him to a drugstore, gets two drug tests and watches a flimsy strip of porous paper turn to ashes in his mouth. "What - what the actual fuck? How did you do that? What the hell?" She bends down and picks up the burnt paper, staring at the ashes as though they might tell her what she wants to know.
"I told you."
"But the food that day -"
"I quietly threw it up later - my body cannot digest anything." There's the expected sputtering and loss of words, but apart from that she's taking this strange turn of events rather well.
"What about liquids?"
"Most liquids get burnt off rather easily by the venom. They don't impact my system in any way."
"Your body - I - I need to touch your arm, if you're okay with that." Even in the midst of all of this, she has the courtesy to ask for his consent - what an odd creature. He takes a few steps closer, extending his arm in a completely non-threatening, friendly way. She gingerly places her fingers a few inches below his wrist, pressing down on the area - to look for the give and bounce of live flesh, he rightly assumes. "Holy shit." Her eyes stare at the spot, slowly turning her head to look up at him. "Is it like this everywhere?"
"Everywhere except here," he taps his lips. "These are a lot more pliant, physiological reasons unknown."
She drops her hand, rubbing her fingers on her t-shirt. "Would it be okay, if I, uh, you know -"
"Touched my lips?" He smiles, amused at the request; touching his lips for academic purposes is something no one has ever said to him since his birth - and he has heard plenty of strange things in the millennium-plus he has been on this earth. "Go ahead." But it looks like she is not convinced with the sincerity of his words, so he nods, stepping closer, and she slowly raises a hand.
Her fingers provide a pleasant warmth to his icy skin, slowly skimming over the curve of his mouth, her eyes alight with wonder and curiosity. "They're way softer than your arm. It's just so strange," she sighs, "and human." Her fingers slowly press along the side of his face before she drops her hand. "Your face is just as hard as your arm - I'm trying to find a better analogy for this to better explain my thoughts; okay, so it's kind of like that you're a statue, and someone tried to breathe life into you, and to do that they kissed you, except now that's the only part that feels human and the rest of you is still a statue." She scoffs a little, looking away. "And now I sound like a crazy person."
She's taking all this a little too well than he thought - he expected scepticism and fear and him trying to make sure she doesn't talk to someone about this. All he's seeing is just plain curiosity about who he is. "Do you still think your mind isn't playing tricks on you?"
Sophia seems to consider this. "No - I don't think it's the concussion."
"What do you think I am, then?"
"Honestly?" She looks around. "I don't fucking know. What I do know is that you headbutted that monster wolf - which I still don't understand what that is - ran god knows how far in two minutes or so, and your body is made of something that's as cold and hard as marble, and that you have venom in your body that's on the same level of corrosive as sulphuric acid. Also, you can kill me and not break a sweat."
"Does that not make you want to run away from me?"
She scoffs again, this time looking him in the eye. "Believe me, a decent-sized part of my brain is screaming at me to do just that right now."
"So why aren't you doing that? Afraid I'll catch and kill you?"
"Oh, you can definitely do that," she says with a matter-of-fact tone. But her face softens, and she slips her hands in her pockets, shuffling her feet. "I don't think you want to. Maybe I am an utter dumbass for believing that and will probably die a gory gruesome death in like ten or so minutes because I'm dumb as shit, but I think you genuinely don't want to kill me."
"Care to take a guess as to what I am?"
"Like I said, I don't know, Demetri. I really don't."
"Look at my eyes." She's a smart girl - he wants her to figure this out, and then he'll see just how trusting she is. "What colour do you think they are?"
"Blood red - like the actual colour of blood, that shade of red."
"If I have no blood of my own in my body, where do you think this fresh, blood like colour in my irises comes from?" He wants herto join the dots.
"...You said you have venom in your system."
He can see the realisation slowly dawning on her face. "Yes."
"How sharp are your teeth?"
"Sharp enough to break through layers of human skin with ease." He hears her heartbeat pick up and can see that on her face, the blood moving away from her limbs towards her heart - this is what fear looks like biologically in a human.
"Your basal temperature is too low for any warm-blooded mammal."
"Yes."
"...what's your exact body temperature?"
"25 degrees Celsius."
"The temperature of a dead body," she whispers, backing away from him, fingers combing her hair.
"The only reason I have blood red eyes is because I need that blood for sustenance." There is a long, tense pause - he can smell the adrenaline, smell the fear radiating off her body in waves. It would be a downright shame if murder is how this brief friendship ends. When she finally looks at him, some of that fear is gone, replaced by incredulity..
"How are you real?" She says each word with emphasis. "Your kind is the stuff of fairytales."
"Guess you live in a world where fairytales are real," he shrugs.
"So that - that wolf thing, that's a werewolf?" He nods. "And you're," she shakes her head before she says it, "a vampire?"
"You're taking all of this way better than I anticipated." Sophia is pacing around the room, taking deep breaths.
"I need to sleep on this - I'm not going to tell anybody!" She says, to assuage him he thinks, "it's just that it's a lot to process."
"If it makes you feel safer, do you want me to leave while you think this over?"
She seems to consider the offer. "How do you know I won't leave and tell someone?" That's not a tough one to answer.
"Because first, no one will believe you and will call the nearest psychiatric facility," he picks up his coat from the rack, popping the collar as he dons the dark fabric. "And second, I possess a rather useful gift that helps me track down individuals with extreme accuracy and precision, so running would just be drawing out the inevitable."
She doesn't seem to buy that, however. "Oh, come on; the truth was enough fantasy for a day."
"You believe everything else but refuse to believe I have a gift?" Well, looks like a demonstration is in order. "Want to know where your mussed-up hair friend is right now? He's just getting ready to leave, and he's on his way to the Tavern Inn. Want to check?"
She picks up her phone, snorting in dismissal as she calls her friend. "Hey, what's up? I was just checking in -hmm - where to? - hmm - okay, cool; see you later, bye." That look of dismissal has given way to disbelief. "Okay, that scares and intrigues me just as much as the whole vampire shindig."
"You have my number; get back to me as soon as you are ready." He was going to make the trip anyways - after all, a hungry man has to hunt.
His meal is quite filling - tangy and slightly sweet, the blood of that man was quite nice. What he did for a vocation? Not quite that good - honestly, we're doing humanity a service, ridding them of all these unsavoury characters. He makes quick work of the body, making sure he has made the burial job inconspicuous enough to not be noticed for months, perhaps years if no one seriously looks for him.
Sophia has not yet left a message or a call, and he wonders if the woman is second-guessing her decision. Checking upon her location doesn't exactly indicate that, because she's still at his residence. If she's there out of fear or out of trust, he might never know.
He's informed Felix to meet up with him here in the middle of the woods; they will go over the next steps in their assignment, and he will inform him of the latest development on his end.
"So?" The tall man materialises from a blur, sitting down on a fallen tree trunk in front of him.
"She knows the truth now." Felix's eyes widened. "She's taking it rather well."
"You mean she hasn't fled yet." Demetri shakes his head in affirmation. "Was it necessary?" Was it?
"Well, she took a drug test to check if I hadn't drugged her, then made me take one and saw the paper strip on my tongue turn to ash. And the rest came together, courtesy tonight's events."
"You think she won't go running off telling anyone?"
"I felt the girl's fear, Felix, and yet she stood her ground because she believes I made the choice to not kill her. She has no intention of betraying me anytime soon." At that, the Roman cracks a smile.
"Seems like you found yourself a loyal companion, Demetri. Still plan to include her in hunting the beast down? I'd say she's had enough action."
"She was never intended to be part of the hunt, and I intend to keep it that way. Sophia will only serve an informant's purpose, nothing else - I refuse to put her in harm's path again." He's not wasting all the effort he's put in saving her life by letting her be mauled by a wolf. However, his friend doesn't necessarily see it in that context, and gives him an impish grin.
"Someone is very fond of their new friend."
"I've saved her life twice as of now," Demetri grumbles, "I'm not letting all that hard work go to waste. Especially not because of some large stinky dog."
"Whatever floats your boat," Felix shrugs, still smiling. "I'll get back to Jane and Alec, you get back to your human. And Demetri?"
"Yes?"
"When all of this is over, you will be leaving her behind." He doesn't answer Felix on this. The thought hurts him more than it should, and while he knows this part is inevitable, right now he doesn't want to think about it.
When he returns, he finds that she meant the 'sleep on it' part literally.
She's fast asleep on the couch, knees folded up to her chest, hands under her head. It's not the best place to fall asleep, and the position she's in will give her a terrible backache, so he picks her up for the third time in forty eight hours and deposits her carefully on the bed, taking his leave quickly after.
Humans - fragile bodies, indestructible souls.