(A/N): Another special chapter- I've decided to do special chapters every other day, between my sisters birthday (the 20th), and her and her fiance's joint birthday/engagement party, on the 25th. Because the 25th is already a publishing date, that special chapter will be on the 26th instead. That chapter hasn't been written yet, but the one for the 24th has.
Evie
January 15th, 1966
The world reappeared, and I swayed on my feet. I stumbled a bit, and Jerremyah put his other arm out, bracing me before I could get too far.
"Th-thanks." He nodded, acknowledging my gratitude, and I straightened up, trying to take in my new surroundings.
We were standing before the rear side of a two storied stone building, that had clearly seen better days. All of the windows were boarded over, and it looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time. As I glanced around, I saw that, while the immediate area seemed to have once been laid with gravel, with a paved pathway running down the middle of it, both the gravel and the pavers were losing the fight against the abundant, unruly weeds that had cropped up.
We were standing on said paved path, and on the end away from the building, behind us, there was a small rectangle of said pavers, that had apparently once been used as some sort of patio. There was a wrought iron table that was half peeling, faded green paint, and half rust, and a few outdoor chairs of various styles, in a state of disarray. One was on its side, another on its back, and one was ten feet further away than any of the others- I could also see that there was at least one that had been thrown into the encroaching forest at the edge of the 'yard', but I had no idea how long it had been there, or why that had been chosen as its final resting place.
The rear door to the building looked solid, if a little unloved, and besides the knob, there were four other, varied locks- two above, two below. These locks all looked new- or, at least, newer than this building was used to.
"Wow, that's a lot of locks." Jerremyah grimaced.
"Yeah. Nuria's... careful." By his tone, I could tell he wanted to say, 'paranoid', but was worried about her hearing him. He was right to be worried, because a second later, the locks started clicking open. I counted, and there was definitely more than five- seven, if I was hearing correctly. There was a second of silence, and then that- now familiar- strong voice came through the door.
"Password?" Beside me, Jerremyah sighed heavily.
"Seriously?" He asked- rhetorically, I assumed- as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Incorrect password. The machine gun turrets will activate in three seconds." The what?! Clearly, the panicked noise I made got Jerremyah's attention, because he patted me on the shoulder- probably in an attempt to be comforting.
"Relax, she's just joking- if she actually had turrets, she would have tested them on me long before now." That... that wasn't all that reassuring.
"Would you like to try again? What's the password?" Jerremyah scowled.
"I would rather stand out here all night, than attempt to guess at whatever self-aggrandizing bullshit you want to hear me say." Well, maybe as a vampire he could stand out here all night, but I couldn't.
"Um... 'please'?" There was a beat of silence, and then, there was a click as the doorknob started to turn. I barely had time to see Jerremyah roll his eyes exasperatedly, before the door swung open.
There, in the opening, stood Nuria- and she was even more... more, than I had been able to see through the fire. Even in the dark, without any lights, I could see that she was, indeed, striking. She was right... 'beautiful' wasn't quite the right word- beautiful, to me at least, inferred a kind of softness, and Nuria was anything but soft. She was all sharp lines and angles, and it worked for her. God, it worked for her.
"Hello, Evie." I swallowed thickly- her voice was even more powerful in person.
"H-hi." Jerremyah huffed out a laugh from beside me, startling me slightly.
"Can we come in now?" Nuria eyed him, and arched a sculpted eyebrow.
"She's allowed in. You-" He threw his head back, and groaned into the open sky.
"Come on, Nuri!" He whined, and with his face still pointed at the sky, I was the only one around to witness her tiny, fond smirk. As he lowered his head, it disappeared- as if she wanted to keep it a secret from him. "Lisbet's in there- are you really going to keep me from my mate?" She might like the time away, right now. Nuria shrugged, and crossed her arms over her chest.
"She's more than welcome to come out and join you." Jerremyah rolled his eyes again.
"I do technically still live here- I have every right to be allowed in." Nuria just stared at him pointedly.
"But you're not going to try to get past me, are you?" It wasn't a question- she knew he wasn't game enough to try it. Whether that was because he respected her, or feared her, I wasn't sure.
"Of course not, sire. But you won't deny me entry, will you?" His voice turned silky, sly- Nuria wasn't buying it, but she did seem amused by his attempt to manipulate her- then again, maybe he knew what her reaction would be, and he wasn't trying to manipulate her. It was hard to tell, with Jerremyah.
"I suppose not- you have some things to explain, anyway." Jerremyah didn't look like he was looking forward to doing so, and Nuria gave me one last glance before stepping back, to allow us entry.
Jerremyah entered first, stopping just a few feet inside the dark room on the other side of the door, and as I skirted past Nuria, I felt the weight of her eyes on me the whole time. As soon as we were all inside, Nuria closed the door behind us- and I could hear her locking up once more.
"Um... does anyone have a light?" There were a few shafts of moonlight filtering in through the gaps in the boarded up windows, but they didn't do much to soften the oppressive darkness.
"I didn't figure you for the type, Evie- thought you were a good girl." What? Oh. Oh, for fu-
"To light up the room, Jerremyah." I ground out, and I heard a metallic click, right before light flared from behind me. In front of me, I could now see Jerremyah much better- including the metal lighter he was holding, about to ignite. It had a few scrapes, but was clean, and clearly well cared for- it looked at least a few decades old, but I had a feeling his apparent attachment to it was more to do with the engraving adorning its side, than anything else. It read, 'Lisbet + Jerremyah Yates Forever'- obviously, it must be dear to him for that reason.
"Oh. Well. That works too. I always forget Lumos- it's not like I need it... ever, really." He turned his attention away from Nuria, over my shoulder, to me. "We can see in the dark, by the way- if you couldn't tell." Oh. I guess that explains why there hadn't been any lights on when we arrived, and neither of them seemed very worried about it.
"Uh, no... no, I couldn't tell. Should... should I have been able to?" He shrugged.
"I don't know- you humans are odd, sometimes." Right. That... didn't help. I glanced at Nuria over my shoulder, to see her holding her wand pointed upwards, the tip of it glowing with white light. Her wand looked similar to the others I had seen, and seemed to be midway between Jerremyah and Lisbet's in length.
Behind her, I could see the locks on the door- the knob, the four others that I could see from the outside, and the two extra I had heard her unlock, but hadn't been able to see. One above the other locks, and one below- two slide bolts, with padlocks attached. As I watched, she reached out with her free hand, and lowered not only one drop bar, but two, on opposing sides. These two must have already been raised when we got here, if I didn't hear her lift them. Clearly, she saw me looking, because she gestured back to them.
"You like? They're strong- they wouldn't hold off a vampire for long, but Hunters, and nosy humans, yes. Well, for a long time, anyway. Witches and Wizards will get through a lot quicker than one of you muggles would, but that's what the wards are for." 'Muggles'? By the way she said, 'one of you muggles', clearly it had something to do with me- guessing by the way she compared muggles to 'witches and wizards', it most likely meant someone who didn't have magic.
"Are you expecting someone to try to get through your defenses any time soon?" Nuria rolled her eyes at Jerremyah over my shoulder- clearly, he was once again making his disapproval of her... vigilance, known.
"By the time you expect to be attacked, it's too late to prepare your defenses. I'd much rather have Jerremyah call me paranoid, than have him give my eulogy." Jerremyah didn't even have the decency to appear chagrined.
"It'd be epic, I promise." Clearly, he meant her theoretical sendoff. "You are paranoid. Seven locks, two door bars, and god knows how many wards you have around this place- every time I apparate in, I feel it prickle my skin-" Really? I hadn't felt anything... then again, maybe that's because I didn't have magic. "-and I don't doubt you've got even more around that damn vault." Nuria shrugged.
"Been around a looong time- got a lot of enemies." Um... exactly how long? Jerremyah and Lisbet had been together over three hundred years, and since Jerremyah had turned Lisbet, he must be older than her- and Nuria was once again older than him. But exactly how much older?
"And I'm sure that had nothing to do with your charming personality." My eyebrows furrowed.
"Why would her being charming make her enemies?" Jerremyah blinked, then stared at me, before his eyes narrowed slightly.
"I- you- I can't believe this." Believe what?
"We should get inside- meet up with Minsi, and that mate of yours." It was barely noticeable in the dim light, but Jerremyah's eyes lit up- clearly, even though they had only been apart for a few minutes, he was excited to get to see her again.
"Right, yeah- let's." With that, he turned and walked away, out of the room and into the hallway. I looked back to Nuria, but she gestured for me to go in front, so I did so- using the light from her wand, and the sight of Jerremyah's back in his cream jumper, to make my way through the place.
The room we had come in on must have been some kind of storage room once upon a time, the walls lined with shelves covered in boxes, and like everything I had seen so far- and I suspected, everything in the building- was blanketed in a thick layer of dust. The hallway had a few rooms going off of it, most of the doors were closed, but as we passed one with a door knocked off of its hinges, I saw that the room was home to various rows of what I was guessing were safety deposit boxes.
At the end of the hall, there was a set of open double doors, through which I could see a larger room, that must have been the main floor of the bank. Off to one side, there was a long counter with glass over it, that could only have been where the banks tellers had once served customers. I didn't have time to take in much else though, because Jerremyah turned, and instead of heading into the main room, he entered the door behind it.
This room was empty, aside from an already opened folding security gate, that guarded the top of a set of stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, after a short distance, there was another set of double doors- and it was here, that things started to change.
Unlike everything else, the doors were clean, and looked almost new. The dust stopped at the edge of the stairs, as if held at bay by some magical force- maybe it was, I don't know. The only thing familiar about this door was the three locks, on each door. The knob, and one above, one below.
Jerremyah reached the door, just as I reached flat ground, but when he tried to turn the knob and push the door open, it simply didn't. He was only just barely quick enough to avoid slamming face first into the door.
"Oh, for fucks sake..." Jerremyah hissed, and I heard Nuria's low chuckle from behind me. It sent a shiver down my spine- and not from fear.
"If we were a raiding party, you'd be glad that your mate was so well protected." Jerremyah let out a long series of expletives, and I heard a rough laugh from behind the door.
"I was gonna ask who it was, but I guess I have my answer." It was a woman's voice, but clearly not Lisbet. It was sort of hoarse, throaty- earthy. This must be Minsi.
"Mins- let me in." Minsi laughed again.
"I don't take orders from you, pretty boy." Jerremyah turned to roll his eyes at me, and I mouthed 'pretty boy?' at him, incredulously- he just shrugged, looking somewhat smug. "Nuria, you out there?" Jerremyah turned to her, glaring at her much more clearly smug expression.
"Yes, Minsi. I'm here." She finally stepped down beside us, onto flat ground, and I realised, for the first time, that she was only a few inches taller than me- she was probably an inch or so shorter than Lisbet, just judging by how tall she was next to Jerremyah. It felt odd to me that she was so small next to him- she seemed like she should have been a lot bigger, physically, to match the power of her personality. "Let us in." And then, she reached past me, to knock on the door, in a very particular pattern. One two, one two three, one, one, one.
A second later, we could hear the sound of locks clicking open- and then, the sound of another door bar lifting- followed by a second. The double doors swung open, revealing a woman well into her sixties, with hair that was more gray than black, at this point.
Another unusual thing- for this building anyway- was that in this room, the lights were on. Honestly, at this point, it hurt my eyes a little bit. Unlike Nuria's darker, richer skin-tone, Minsi's was lighter- not pale, exactly, but definitely light toned. She had dark circles under her eyes, but other than that, and a few smile lines and some crows feet, she looked pretty good for her age. As her eyes landed on me, I saw that they were hazel- or, more accurately, I think, green with gold flecks. She looked kind, but like she wouldn't take any nonsense- it was a wonder she could stand being around Jerremyah, considering he was so full of the stuff.
"Ah, hello dear- you must be Evie." Oh? Clearly, Nuria had had the time to fill her in, before we came here.
"Where's Lisbet?" Jerremyah was terse, short, and Minsi shot him a sharp look.
"Boy, I may only look like your elder, but you keep pushing me, I'm gonna start pushing back- and you aren't the only one with fangs and claws." Huh? Was Minsi a vampire too? She didn't look it, but then again, neither did Jerremyah- Lisbet, yes, Nuria... I don't know if I would have guessed vampire, but definitely some other worldly entity of unimaginable power. So, was Minsi a vampire, or... something else?
"Yeah, yeah, big bad wolf, I get it- where's my mate?" Wolf? Was that a literal wolf, or...?
"I'm here," Lisbet said as she entered the room, from a doorway further back. "I was just getting one of the guest rooms set up for dear Evie, here." When he saw her, his face lit up, and Lisbet's expression wasn't the only one that softened at the sight. Oh, to have someone look at me like that...
"Good idea." He breathed, then blinked. "Wait, I thought Nuria-" Lisbet cut him off, shooting Nuria a pointed look, to which she, surprisingly, looked a bit sheepish.
"Nuria set up a bed. It seems she has forgotten that humans need certain... creature comforts. Minsi had most of what I needed, though, so it's all taken care of, now." Well, that was a relief. Wait, what 'creature comforts' did humans need that vampires didn't?
"Oh, I don't need much- a pillow and a blanket, I'll make do." Lisbet and Jerremyah shared a look.
"'Making do' isn't good enough. We basically kidnapped you- the least we can do is make sure you're comfortable. Well... as close to comfortable as we can get with non perishables and limited running water, anyway." Oh. You know, I was getting kind of hungry, and the last thing I'd had to drink was the vodka cranberry that Lisbet had bought me.
"...I could eat." The corner of Lisbet's mouth quirked up.
"Minsi- what have you got?" Minsi pursed her lips.
"I've got a lot of things- not willing to share all of it though, sorry dear." I blinked.
"Wait, I don't want to take food away from you- I can- I can pay, or... something!" Minsi laughed.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it, dear. Nuria's got more money than she knows what to do with- the issue is getting her out of the house in order to go grocery shopping. Still, Lisbet owes me a few favors- and where Lisbet goes, Jerremyah follows- even if where she's going is a Sainsbury's, or a Tesco." Well... yes, I didn't doubt that was true. "You sweet talk me enough, I might even be convinced to give you my sticky toffee pudding. Canned, of course- Nuria isn't exactly the type to allow frequent expeditions, and I'm a bit weird about not wanting to share space in a fridge with blood bags." Er... yeah, I could see why one might be a bit... weird, about that.
"That's- Okay, thank you." She seemed to be trying to restrain a smile.
"What are you feeling- 'Hearty Beef Stew'? 'Minestrone Soup'? 'Baked Beans'? Or maybe something smaller? I've got biscuits, or some crisps? To drink, there's tea- of course- a few cans of pop- I'm not a big pop fiend, so you can take what you want, but they're room temp- just like the bottled water. What's your preference?" I- that was a lot of choices.
"Um... could I have... the beef stew? And- just water, water is fine." Minsi nodded, flashed me a quick smile, and left the room- in the opposite direction that Lisbet had appeared from.
"Now, while we wait..." Nuria said, leaning against the wall next to the entrance. "You want to tell me what the fuck that was, earlier?" Jerremyah winced, and when he glanced at Lisbet- more out of habit than anything else, I was guessing- she shook her head.
"Oh no, Lover, you're on your own. You brought that on yourself when you kept me quiet. Well, Sweetheart, you got what you wanted- my lips are sealed." Jerremyah seemed upset by this- not, I think, because he wanted her help, but because he felt bad for forcing her to stay quiet. Maybe my scolding had helped influence that, but... maybe not.
"We'll... talk about that later." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'll, apologise, later." He seemed genuine about this, and as I watched, I saw her entire being soften, ever so slightly. I'm sure, he would apologise for bodily keeping her quiet, but not for much else- and especially not for doing whatever he felt he had to, in order to protect her.
"Right. Well. If you two are done with your Lover's Spat, I'd appreciate answers." Nuria sniped, and Jerremyah sighed heavily, before turning to face her, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I didn't want to tell you over the floo call, but... I wasn't quite telling the truth, earlier- when I said no one was injured." Nuria straightened, immediately coming to attention- and visually inspecting all three of us for signs or injuries.
"Y'need-?" Jerremyah cut her off, shaking his head.
"We took care of it. Evie-" He paused. "I splinched Evie, in the rush to escape." Huh. Odd that he felt the need to rephrase it- to take responsibility, for what had clearly been an accident. "A Hunter managed to scrape me on the way out- nothing serious. No... unpleasant additives, or anything. Just a little blood- I didn't want to worry you." Nuria's eyes narrowed.
"Really?" She didn't sound convinced. "Is that so?" Uh oh. "Because it doesn't just smell like a little blood- you stink of it." He paled.
"Nuri-" She cut him off.
"You want to know what I think?" He squirmed slightly under her sharp gaze, and she pushed forward without any input from him. "I think, you got hurt a lot more than you're letting on. I think you got hurt bad- and you didn't want me to know, because you know, you fucked up." Oof... she was really laying into him.
"...Nuria-" She held up a hand, cutting me off.
"You were careless- I taught you better than that. But I won't scold you for it- I know that nothing I say will ever have as much of an effect on you... as your mate being in harms way." Jerremyah swallowed thickly, lowering his head. "She gave you away, by the way." His head shot back up, eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at Lisbet- who looked just as shocked as he did. "She came in reeking of fear- the kind I've only ever smelt on a vampire when their mate was in mortal- immortal- peril- not to mention fury, and despair." Jerremyah blinked, at the word 'despair', and Lisbet looked away.
"So... you knew?" Nuria turned to look at me. "Before Jerremyah and I even got here, you knew he was lying?" She cocked an eyebrow at me.
"Before you got here? Ghalia, he wasn't exactly convincing over the floo." Good point. "Wasn't sure how bad, or who was hit, though, until Lisbet arrived." Wow...
"That's so freaking wicked." I gushed, and Nuria blinked- showing a brief second of honest surprise.
"I- What?" I shrugged.
"That's so- I mean- you can tell things you should have no way of knowing, just by- by scent? That's so- that's so- absolutely bloody brilliant!" She stared at me for a minute, and everything was silent, before Lisbet huffed out a laugh.
"I told you- she's something... a little bit special." 'I told you'? She told Nuria I was 'special'? When? It must have been before we got here, when I was talking to Jerremyah, alone.
"I... I'll assume that's a good thing." Lisbet smiled at me- it was a bit tight, but I had a feeling that it wasn't that way because of anything I'd done.
"A very good thing." Oh. Well, good. Very good, I guess.
"Alright, here we go- one beef stew, warmed, and a bottle of water." Minsi chimed in as she entered the room, and she handed me the bowl of food and the bottle. "And here's your spoon." I accepted it from her a bit awkwardly, with my hands already full.
"Thanks you so much, Minsi. Really, this-" She waved me off.
"It's quite alright, honey. Honestly, it's good to feed someone- and it's not like I can feed these three. Even if I was willing to offer them my own vintage red, well- our species aren't exactly the most compatible." Oh?
"Earlier, Jerremyah mentioned something about you being a... 'Big bad wolf'? What's that about?" Minsi blinked, then barked out a laugh.
"Oh, and she's observant, too. Well, honey... you've met the vampire element of the supernatural community in these three, but me...? I'm a werewolf." Jerremyah grinned- uh oh.
"An 'old dog', if you will." Minsi rolled her eyes at him- clearly not offended.
"This, 'old dog', has forgotten more 'tricks', than you've ever learned... pretty boy."
(A/N): Nuria: *opens door*
Evie: 'Excuse me? Sorry, Mommy- sorry, Mommy- sorry-'