Magdalena Chesterfield
Interest: Charles. Enoch. Ethan. (alphabetically)
Round Status: All previous rounds done. This one WIP.
Shamelessly stealing Bambi's idea & adding up an outline: updated
Tuesday
x morning at Wyatt's, discussing the regular topics, blackmail and such
x will stumble upon Ethan on my way out because this bromance is giving me life and I have to mention it
x the day continues being super busy, because Enoch shows up in the evening, with his progressive ideas and all
Wednesday
x she might spend her morning with Enoch, should she decide to relocate for a while, during which time she will also practice all forms of self-control in order not to end Non-Lisette once and for all
x Charles and Magda will have dinner on Wednesday night, hopefully coming to terms with this new concept he has for her, which she will probably not be enthusiastic about, go figure
Thursday
x visiting charity event on Thursday evening, for a short while as a stop on her way there
x accepting Ethan's invite to join him at Dominion later in the evening
Friday
x depending on the previous night, she might be waking up with Ethan
x assuming she lives with Enoch & Non-Lisette, she's gonna make it home for a short family reunion as well, before...
x ...attending the weirdest party ever in the evening, and experiencing death (possibly as a form of rehearsal for the future)
...i feel like i forgot something.
Outfit
Chapter XIII. I'm The Bad Guy. Duh.
It was early in the morning, pinks and purples taking over the sky which was grey only moments ago, painting a very pretty picture before me. The soft light looked very lovely in the apartment, as I moved from one side to the other, shortly peaking through the window.
There are a couple of bikes still sitting across the street and I’m pretty sure the reason for this is the same as the reason for the lovely mail I’ve been getting and why I’m paying a very large amount of money to get my building walls cleaned.
Realizing how much of our relationship I’ve spent getting high, it was no wonder I might have let it slip in front of the worst person to spill your secrets to. And it came back to bite me in the ass, as expected.
I guess you end up accumulating a load of karma along the way when you have time to do so. And it’s really starting to keep track of all of it, and who knows what.
Conjuring the words to put this whole ordeal into comprehensive sentences seemed to be an impossible task, but I was looking at a letter from my mother, an official letter from the Council near some amusing hate mail, some fan mail, and some endearing invite by Wyatt Fairchild.
At least I was certain there was still loyalty in blackmail.
Wyatt greeted me in the tamest way possible, considering we spent the majority of our last encounter being everything but, only in the light of recent events, no one seemed to have been interested in doing their regular routine.
You see, those routines probably got them where they were. Fucked.
Strangely, I felt less alone.
“Thank you, Ralph,” he said to the servant, nodding. –“That would be all for now,”
“Very well, sir,” he said, as I sipped on this hard liquor drink I was brought.
“I propose a toast,” Wyatt says, gently raising his glass upwards. –“To the change in your situation, and to—”
“The absolution of this thing you’re holding against me,” I cut him, but he simply chuckled, amused.
“…you mean another one of things I am very cordially keeping secret on your behalf?”
“You know what?” I looked at him, too tired to do much about this conversation. –“Whatever suits you, Wyatt,”
“So, I wanted to share this drink with you to tell you’re done, for now,”
“Done with?”
“You and I have settled our accounts for now,” he said.
“For now?”
“You still disappointed me by not acquiring all I needed,”
“And what was it, exactly?” I asked, looking through him. –“Not the DNA, but the reason you needed it in the first place?”
“I doubt this is a matter you should worry yourself with,”
“Oh, but please, worry me,” I say seriously. Wyatt was not as serious.
“You should be more worried about disappointing me if we’re honest,” he says, and I chuckled spontaneously.
“If we’re being honest, you went through a huge array of emotions the last time we met, and none of those screamed disappointment,”
“Which is why I’m letting go of this little thing you were supposed to do,” his smugness really could fill up the room. –“But I have to say,” he continued. –“I did not see this little twist coming,” he continued.
“This is why it’s called twist, Wyatt – no one usually does.”
The air seemed lighter between us now, but the question still lingered softly in the back of my mind, even between the laughter we exchanged – and I couldn’t push it back no matter how hard I tried.
“So, you are really not going to tell me about the DNA?”
“Do you always linger on your failure, Magdalena?”
“I thought I’d make this one exception,” I replied, seeing this will lead nowhere – he was getting caught up in words, cycling trivialities. I decided it was my time to leave, stepping out of the room and into the hallway, heading out of the house.
I found a faint hint of his smell before I reached the door, but Ethan was certainly there: I heard some rumors but to be honest, gossip was the last thing on my mind at this time.
Yet, here we are.
Wyatt Fairchild truly kept the prince of the low-level vampires in his home, making me even more curious about why he did all he did. Perhaps I would visit Luz once this whole thing blows over.
“Tell me, whose presence is more shocking here?” I stepped into the solarium, looking at Ethan Charmichael leisurely laying in a huge wicker chair, book in his hand. He took one look at me, closing the leather-bound book onto his chest and gave me another head to toe glance.
“Yours, considering we’re in the sun,” he noted, and I lifted my left hand up, taking off my gloves, showing him a glimpse of the silver ring Lisette left me.
“Creative times ask for creative solutions,” I flashed a smirk, Ethan smiling back.
“I’m not sure creative is the word you’re looking for,” he continued. For whatever reason, I stood there, considering what he was thinking. About me, of all things.
“I think saying fucked-up doesn’t have the feeling I want to give,”
“Which is?” he tilted his head, lazily.
“I’m not sure,” I replied, after a small pause. I wasn’t.
He sits up, messing the back of his hair a little bit, resting his arms on his knees for a second, tossing the book to the side before he got up.
“Why don’t we stop with throwing smug words around?” he suggested, and I nodded in reply, not doing much. He walked towards the window of the solarium, glancing outside in the streets. –“You actually came alone?”
“I’m still exiled,”
“Not for long, by the looks of it,” he turned back towards me. –“You’re not bothered by the threats, so how much of what was said was true then?”
“All of it,” I owned up to this for the first time since it happened, probably. When you spend enough time being immortal, you tend to forget all the sins you’ve made until they either come bit you in the ass or keep you from sleeping at night.
I slept well, most of the time.
He leaned onto the ledge, pushing his hands into the pantsuit, in silence.
“You’re awfully honest with someone like me,”
“It seems to be the best policy lately,” I replied. –“Every little thing I wanted to hide came out in the open,” I lied: not everything. But, he did not need to know this, did he? –“What’s the worst that can happen?”
“I could take this revenge into my own hands,”
“I’ve survived worse,”
“Yes, we heard,” he seems to be slowing down, not moving an inch as the sun shone right above him, playing with shadows on the black and white tiles under him. –“Maybe we haven’t met properly,” he smiled – but it seemed to be an amused smile and he turned to the window again, furrowing his brows a little bit at the sign of sun hitting his face.
“I thought we were done throwing smug words,”
“Oh, believe me, this is my personality,” he chuckles.
I stood there a split second more, before putting my glove back on, digging my jacket pocket for the keys to my bike.
“I’ve enjoyed the company, but—” I shrugged, smiling lightly.
“Magdalena,” he calls out as I turned. –“What are you doing on Thursday?”
“Shit, let me check my calendar, all these social engagements seem to be getting the best of me,” I replied in a very sarcastic manner, making Ethan smirk softly.
“How about you join me at the Dominion in the evening?”
“I’ll make some time in my schedule,” I replied, getting out, right that moment, trying not to smirk openly before I did.
Chapter XIV. Forgive Me Pretty Baby, But I Always Take A Long Way Home
It’s been ages since I drew funds from my investment account, but the fact I have been threatened for a couple of days now made it seem like a good idea. And as if this day could not get any stranger, after nightfall there comes a knock on my door.
Had I not had a couple of drinks I would have been somewhat worried. Had I not, I wouldn’t have been so quick to open Enoch Samuelson.
“It’s a good thing there isn’t something horribly wrong going on,” the sarcasm dripped out her every word, as I let him into her apartment – the guards I hired either worked, or really did nothing, I couldn’t tell – and Enoch seems to be unamused by this situation – and I could understand it, to some extent, but the second I locked the doors it appeared as if his humor gets somewhat better.
“That was all the protection you had?”
“Was?” I asked, looking at him confused. –“I hope you—”
“Certainly not,” he spits out, disgusted. –“But you should not be playing a sitting duck here,” Enoch notes, walking towards the window, taking a short peek through the curtains and the blinds, turning his focus back onto me.
He followed me into the kitchen.
“I’m fine,” I replied, drawing the sides of my silk robe closer together – his glance draws down from my face and through the silky fabric, quickly getting back up. I tried containing a smile, walking to pick my glass up, turning my attention to him once I reached it, throwing myself onto the sofa, gently taking another sip of the wine. –“Want some?”
“You’re not taking this seriously,” he said, I shrugged. I was. Who could not – a very public fact from another lifetime just changed the way everyone seemed to look at me and strangely enough, not for the worse in the most part – I took another sip of wine.
“I’m taking it seriously,” I replied, silently. –“I just don’t want to go into a complete lockdown because old news broke out,”
“You have a target on your back, something like that should make you think,” Enoch insisted, keeping his cool, and at the same time it looked to me he was not really being cool.
There was a moment of silence, I leaned jumped up and sat on the island.
“You’ll go and pack some things and come with me,” he says as if he was stating a fact. I scoffed.
“You have a random habit of collecting women at their time of need?”
“Is this an admission of the fact you are in need of help, at least?”
“Absolutely not,” I disagreed, and honestly meant it. –“I’m not planning on spending one moment in the same house with whatever that thing is,”
“You won’t even know she’s there,” he replied. –“It’s for your own safety, Magdalena.”
“I’m not sure why you’re keeping her there,” I mussed, giving it a little chuckle. Enoch was like a statue, suit, and cold glare. Not the reaction I have expected if I’m honest.
After a moment, I smiled at him.
“You’re a natural-born killer, Enoch, this role of saddened lover suites you as much as Lis was suited for a nunnery,”
“Well, in light of these recent events I might say the same for you,” he said, making me chuckle.
“So, what you’re saying is Lis had a type?” I slipped into this mockingly grave tone. –“Dark, handsome, homicidal stranger?”
He closed the distance between us before I could say anything more.
“Perhaps I’m not making myself clear here, Magdalena,” Enoch spoke under his breath, seemingly angry, making me shiver. –“I’ve shown you a great deal of patience, but I do have to say it’s running thin now, so pack your things before I do something I will most likely end up regretting in a short while.”
I blinked, feeling my entire body tense up. He stood close, towering over me, and my hand starts to come up instinctively, but he moves the same second, stepping back and into the kitchen.
“Go, get your things,” he says, composing himself again. –“Please,” which has nothing to do with the word he just said – the way it rolls of his lips sounds like a demand he is willing to make only once. I nodded, in silence, leaving the glass on the counter before I stepped out of the room.
We arrived at Samuelson manor around midnight, without much fuss, and the staff was there to give me a welcome, carrying my things into the room prepared for my arrival.
I stepped into the hallway that night, leaning from my own door after hearing movement outside. One of the doors on the other side closed as I opened mine, moonlight lighting the dark hallway, barely enough to see much, yet I can almost sense her existence in my vicinity, yet not sense Lis, not really.
I closed myself into the room, determined to sleep tonight. I get to make impulsive choices tomorrow.
It is, indeed, another day.
Chapter XV. Just Say You Want Me, That’s All It Takes
I woke up early – not that I got much sleep – I’m not sure which one of them stayed up all night pacing, walking around this house, but I have to say I didn’t expect it to be Lisette.
She would not be losing sleep over a couple of lives ruined.
I wasn’t sure about Enoch, but what I was sure is I might have acted utterly horrible towards him last night. His intention was good. And although the road to hell is normally paved with those, I doubted that was his preferred route.
So, I get dressed, I get downstairs, half of me wanting to meet her on my way down. Not sure why. Machoism? Perhaps, there’s always time to try new things.
I walked into the kitchen first, again, part of me hoping to find her here – I’m not sure if Gemini has to feed, but it was a worthy effort. The girl there looked at me, nodding as a greeting, and leaving the kitchen immediately. This space… I did not connect it to Enoch. It felt much warmer than I would have expected, but my expectations were not really aligned to reality lately.
“Ma’am,” timid voice makes me turn around, handing me an envelope on a silver tray. –“For you,” she pipes.
And it makes no sense – who knew I was here.
I recognized my family stationery easily; we were not the most humble of the bunch.
“Excuse me?” I stopped the girl before she went out of the room. –“Is Enoch still here?”
“Master is at the library on the first story,” she says – the same timid expression I was encountering recently was getting to my nerves, honestly.
I made it upstairs reading the letter, finishing what it said shortly just before entering the study.
“May I?”
He looks up, nodding shortly, and I enter.
Now, this was his room – or what I imagined it would look like: there’s art on the walls, but the kind you would not like to share with just everyone, and there’s some artifacts on the shelves, and I imagined the books must have been ancient as well: the whole place reeked of history, of art, of travel. You did not need to guess what the owner of this room liked – it told you the story easily if you knew where to look.
I made it to the chair in front of him, sitting down in silence. He looked down onto the letter in my hand, looking back up.
“I took the liberty to notify your family you were staying here, under my protection,”
“Apparently, the hell has frozen over,” I let the letter rest on the table. –“They are willing to take me back.”
“What you did—”
“Happened someone else ago,” I said.
“Chesterfields are an old family,” he stops with the writing he’s been doing, leaning back in his chair. –“Upholding traditions might be expected from some, but I am certain it was demanded from you,”
“It doesn’t really justify what happened,”
“I never meant it as a means of justification,” he said shortly.
“Did you assume I was still the same person when you heard?” I said, after a short pause – it hit me that the little spark I caught in his eyes might have been this new idea of me he had – and perhaps it was based on something that happened so long ago this person no longer existed.
“People change, but no one changes their nature completely,” he continues. –“You told me, last night, I was a natural-born killer,”
“About that—”
“No, let me finish,” he leans back in his chair, setting his elbows onto the armrests. –“You’re one too, as it seems, the difference is that I’m willing to openly live with who I am.”
He might have been right – he was, partly, right, at least – you need a certain kind of courage to live as yourself.
“I spent years of my life in love with a mortal, with a very vicious mortal, and I toyed with different schemes to turn her, and I broke some laws to keep her happy,” I speak softly. –“So, tell me, do you think I am still the same person who cares about the clans, the traditions?” I scoffed, unintentionally.
He said nothing.
“What this thought me is that this life is far too short to worry about anything else besides the things you really want, and people you really love.”
I apologized for last night, before leaving the room.
Things seemed to be looking up: my family wished to have me back, I found new protection within my own clan - and somehow, it felt just the same as when I felt the world was coming to an end.
Chapter XVI. The Blood We Bleed Is The Blood We Owe
I would lie to you if I said I did not wear the silk slip for dinner with Charles with the intention of him taking it off – the idea of mindless, very good sex seemed like it could solve all the issues I might be having now.
There was no one but the two of us in the restaurant, top of the building, only the stars above. New place, I couldn’t remember the name, I couldn’t remember its connection with Charles – all I could think about is his tongue slipping into my mouth at a point, and what comes next.
I great him with a kiss on the lips, shamelessly setting the tone for the evening, following him to the edge, watching the view from the top.
“Is this place yours?”
“No,” he replies, shaking his head slowly, as if he’s immersed in some thought or something, staring into the night. –“But it’s one of my favorite places here,”
“I can see why,” I said, overlooking the city – it was a stunning view. A couple of glasses of wine later, and things took a more diverting direction – we both enjoyed these moments, and with Charles, things seemed to have been even better: it felt like all the senses were heightened, and shame did not exist in this place.
And now I knew why.
After dinner, we ended up in a hotel room, near the restaurant, spending some more time together. He was on his back, head leaning on the soft pillows, and I prompted myself up on elbows, casually resting my head on his arm before he spoke.
“So, the news—”
“All true,” I said, lifting my gaze to meet his. –“When I was first turned, I was a little bit wilder, I have to admit,” I said. –“I would escalate in a short moment, over trivialities, and I thought it was my duty to kill,” I mussed.
“You seem to be open about it,” he said, and I smiled.
“What’s the point of hiding? The secret is out,” I said, biting my lip a little bit. –“Besides, I found out a little bit something about you too,”
“Oh?” his brows dart up, mellow expression still gracing that face, and I smiled. –“So, circling around rumors was a strategy, or you were waiting for someone to discover something?”
“Stumble upon the truth?” he chuckles. –“From time to time,” he reaches for my face, pushing some stray hairs back –“some people were close, but nothing worth entertaining,”
“Well, once you’ve heard enough theories, I guess not everything entertains you,”
“When you live long enough, I guess you do,” he smiles and I could agree, nothing more really. –“But the topic here is you,”
“Well, this whole thing settled down in some strange ways,” I turn to my back, settling onto his arm, watching at the ceiling. –“My family reached out to me, they’ve urged the council meeting to meet sooner,”
“Don’t worry about that,” Charles smiles. –“You’ll be free of all of this before that happens,” he says shortly, and I turned back towards him. He smiles again.
I sat up, holding the sheet up, but he reaches for my hand, kissing the fingers softly, sitting up as well.
“What?” I chuckled, -“You’re planning on making the council reach a more forgiving verdict?”
“Not at all,” Charles smiles, hand on my chin, pulling me in for a kiss. He gave out a lazy moan, I figured he was sleepier than I was – and smiled. –“But you can’t face the Vampire Council when you’re no longer one,” he smiles, leaning back onto the pillows.
I looked at him, replying that last bit in my mind.
“What?”
“I said,” he lifts up only to pull me closer – I almost fell onto his chest – and he kisses me between the words, softly, heading lower and towards my collar bone. –“You cannot face Vampire Council if you are no longer a vampire.”
I froze.
He stopped, looking up, hands on my shoulders and he looks at me more carefully.
“What?” I pushed back, sitting up normally.
“I told you I could get you out of this,” he says, and I—
My heart dropped, sank into the bottom of my stomach. I blinked, I felt the heat rushing into my head, I felt like I was in the middle of a very bad dream. As if someone had just punched all of the air out of my lungs.
“What did you do?”
“You will become a human again,” he says, reaching for my hand, as I pulled back on the bed. –“You get to live, normally, and you get to do it on your own terms, re-invent yourself—”
The air turned thicker, sounds turned into a continuous buzzing in my ears. I wished that I was dying right now.
“Magdalena,” he says, as I stumbled off the bed – tripping over my shoes as I picked the dress from the ground.
I felt like my brain would just explode.
Chapter XVII. Let’s Face The Music & Dance
It might have been a little bit sad – there was the equal amount of water in my wine, the food would be a questionable name for what has happened on these trays, and one look at those servants made me believe there was a very strange compulsion under work here – it made the whole ordeal even sadder because I could not blame Fiona for fighting for your family. Mine might have briefly forgotten me, but at the end of the day, sometimes family is the only thing you have left.
It was sad.
But again, I could have been projecting.
I watch these little gofers run around. Mindless. Weak, beyond repair. And I’ve been in some bad situations, but this might have been the worst possible outcome of this situation.
This truly made me sick to my stomach, making me want to move, not think. I walked about the house, wondering if it was for sale – if I end up becoming mortal here, this is the location I would like to find myself at: no one would be able to find me, harm me here.
And then I find myself face to face with Lisette.
Portrait, but still.
I chuckled. The timing was perfect, one of her great talents, besides making sure she is center stage alive or dead. Perhaps being mortal could be fun, it certainly seemed to be for her.
“The wine bottles seem to be quite extraordinary vintages,” I hear a voice behind me, turning around. Nathan Kingsley was a diplomat at the Unseelie Court and the reason I bothered myself with this particular mortal was that back when I was exploring my options for a short moment, I believed he would be of most use. He liked Lisette; he had no scruples.
I smile, turning only lightly over my shoulder.
“Am I going to have to fight you for them?”
“Maybe,” I replied. –“I’ve had a couple of glasses of these way back when they were still quite new,” I said, a little bit under the normal volume, making him approach. –“It wasn’t as good then, but red ones do need time to develop,”
“Isn’t that the case with everything worth trying?”
“You truly shouldn’t order oysters by that logic,” he chuckled to the joke. –“Anything else worth grabbing at this place?”
“I highly doubt the good opiates from the personal stashes will be offered tonight,”
“Such a pity,” I smiled.
“But, again, this evening is strange, who knows what might happen.”
“Here’s to hoping,” I said, clinking my glass onto his. Mrs. St. James waved at him, and he murmured some apology before leaving, just the second Ethan stepped into the room. The suit, tie, the whole ordeal – but instead of showing up with his new buddy, there were two women at each side of him, entering the room like they all took some notes from every movie book of entrances – the trio did unhook only a second later, and I chuckled at the scene, turning back to exploring the wine.
I took another look – Ethan did look good today. Well, not only today, but today might have been a good night for him. I threw him a tiny smile, raising my glass towards him, waiting for him to approach.
“Didn’t expect to find you here,”
“I could say the same,” I smiled, looking over his shoulder, prompting him to turn around as well. –“You brought snacks?”
“I figured you need to replenish before we meet later.”
I laughed a little, amused with this display of confidence – whatever happened in the last day or so, he seemed to have been doing better. I glanced down, handing him my glass, as I fixed his bow tie a little bit, nodding my head when I was done.
“Welcome,” I said.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m curious and bored,” I said, crossing my hands on my chest, giving it a playful little shrug. He leans in, above my shoulder, looking at the portrait, then glancing at me again.
“Magdalena,” he chuckled after the whole things start to make sense. –“Did you take something?”
I grinned, shaking my head.
“I might have roamed through an old stash I found in my apartment,” I shrugged and took some more of that watered-down wine.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he smiled. –“We do have plans later, remember?”
“How could I forget,” I said, charmingly, as he patted his suit jacket, reaching into the inner pocket to give me a key – a very old-fashioned, golden key on a red velvet rope, and smiles.
“Show them the key, they’ll know where to take you,” he said, glancing around before he looked at me once again. There’s a tiny curl in the corner of his lip, a playful wink and he’s out the door.
I took the key into my purse, closing it, wondering how far down the dungeons will this little thing take me.
xx
I walked into the Dominion only a couple hours later, with the drugs slowly wearing off, but my mind was still in the right mood, somewhere between knowing and unwilling to admit anything to myself. Upon seeing the key, a very pretty girl took me down the stairs, behind the velvet rope, opening the door to a dim-lighted room, looking much like the regular VIP room of most strip joints I’ve seen, but somehow nicer. She smiled back as she held the door for me, and I stepped into something that was ongoing already – Ethan sat on the semi-circle bench, sitting deep in the thick velvet, with two girls doing their best to entertain him with the dance.
He smiles as we locked eyes, raising his hand to ask me to join him.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show up,”
“So, you started the party without me?”
“Don’t you see we’re having a mourning party?” he asked, and I laughed a little, taking a sip of whatever he was having. –“Everyone is taking off all the things colored black.”
“People fall for you, I’m just still unsure how,” I shook my head.
“Stick around,” he smiled. –“You’ll find out soon enough.”
The music played, loud and there seems to be something going on between the girls – the energy seemed just right, intriguing and I feel his hand on the small of my back as we watched the show. I turned around, Ethan leaning in a little bit.
“This is a mourning party,” he smiles, getting closer.
“So I’ve been told,” I lowered my lashes.
“Your jacket is black,” he noted, leaning back into the soft fabric, as I stood out, taking my time getting out of the jacket, stepping out of my shoes too, dancing towards him. I pushed his kneed towards the other one with my foot, sitting on top of him, leaning for a kiss. Ethan kissed me back, hands resting on the small of my back.
“Was that all?”
“I’m afraid so,” I replied, swaying a little with the music, gently reaching for his jaw, kissing the soft spot between it and the neck, I can feel him smile back at me. –“What?”
“Are you sure your panties aren’t black?” he grinned, making me chuckle.
“I’m not wearing any,” I replied, pulling back as he wanted another kiss, chuckling as he backed down and I leaned for another. Our lips hit, and I smiled again as his hands reached my thighs.
“You need to show me those moves a bit more,” he declared, hand on the back of my head, turning it lightly to expose my neck, nuzzling on it before I pulled back a little.
“No, baby,” I shook my head, biting on my own lip for a second. –“You’ll do a little dance for me,” and he grinned, lifting me up to put me down into the booth, making me laugh.
He joined the girl, there’s a whole shit in energy happening for quite a few moments, I enjoyed it more than I believed I would. And then, as I believed things would continue this pace for a little bit more, before I could react, his fangs are out, stuck deep in her neck – with the other one screaming and running outside – he drew more blood from the one next to him, letting her body hit the ground.
“Don’t worry, someone’s gonna take care of that.”
He smiled, that very wild glimmer in his eyes seemingly heightened – and I felt like I was hypnotized. He took a step over her, making his way over to me, reaching for my neck. I took his hand before he could touch it, licking the rest of the blood from his fingers, looking up at him. I smile once again, before things get really serious, soft moans breaking on both sides, a very delicate game playing out effortlessly through the night.
xx
This time he woke up before me – and the idea of being in a room was baffling – somewhere between all of this, we did end up deeper in this club.
He flashed a smile as I looked towards him, lightly lifting up in the bed. I messed my hair, feeling it stuck to my head, and looked around for my things.
“Here,” he says, touching the shirt, as I extended my hand for him to toss it. He smiled, putting it back down onto whatever sex device the wooden construction was, smiling.
I smirked, getting out of the bed to reach my shirt.
“One of those sights that never fail you,” he said as I walked to fetch the jeans – I chuckled, trying to hide it. –“Let’s go get grab some coffee,”
“Please,”
“Yeah, you’ve said that a lot last night,”
“You can be such a frat boy,” I rolled my eyes, leading the way, feeling my pockets to find the ring and the sunglasses – one of those was there, and I turned just in time for him to toss me the silver ring. A little bit later, we sat at a small table in the street, black coffee and cigarettes. And silence, for a moment or two, but the pleasant kind.
“I didn’t think you’d come last night,”
“I did not expect you to invite me,” I mused. –“My reputation is shit, you must really like me for me, huh?” I teased.
“Maybe,” he replied. –“Maybe I was bored,”
“Always a good reason,” I nodded, twirling the spoon in the cup, adding more sugar into the sweet americano.
“What’s on your mind?”
“Those living with Wyatt Fairchild have the benefit of complaining first,” I smiled, trying to keep the topic from reaching me.
Ethan chuckles, shrugging his shoulders a little, adjusting his Wayfarers a bit.
“Wyatt is an interesting guy,” he’s on point, concise. –“He’s a not a bad guy here, from my standing,” and it made me smile. –“I feel there’s a story here,”
“No story,” I smirked. –“Blackmail is a telenovela, basically,” I continued.
“You’re surprising me,” he continued. –“What did Wyatt have on you to keep you under his control?”
“I fucked it up badly,” I said. –“You know, to sum it up,”
“Yeah, the Council usually means you have,” he’s disarmingly honest. –“But you’re no closer to tell me what’s your secret,”
“Did you miss the broadcast?”
“No, but there seems to be more,”
Well, that was the normal case.
“That’s all over now, anyway,” I said, sipping on the americano. –“In a couple of weeks, I will have to find a way to become myself again, nothing else should come to focus,”
“You sound like I’m reading a fucking novel,” he rolled his eyes. –“Can you repeat this, in simple English?”
“In two weeks, I will have to go in front of the court to discuss all the missteps I took,” I said. –“And I won’t have to do that,” I continued, leaning in just a tiny bit.
“The Council is not really a structure that should bring out the optimism, how did you get them to lay down?” Ethan shrugged.
“I won’t need it, because I won’t be a vampire anymore,”
His shocked expression was amusing in a way, but he did seem pretty surprised about it.
“It’s what happens when you make deals with tall, dark strangers,” I threw in a smile into the story, sipping a bit more out of the coffee.
“Wait, you wanted it?”
I shook my head.
“I wanted out of this mess,” I say shortly. –“I wanted to survive the trial,”
“Obviously,”
“And now I get to go way back to the start,”
“You’re taking this better than I would have,” he leans back in the chair, taking a smoke. –“I would have killed the person in question,”
“That would set me back to the very thing I wanted to avoid, the trial,” I say, shrugging. –“Besides, it’s not his fault for asking, it was mine, for being quick to jump to a solution.”
It was, really. Ethan looked at me, and I bite my tongue. I would have to be turned again – one way or another – and perhaps he would not be opposed to it, yet this all sounded like I was using him for this one purpose.
What you learn in a mess like this is that people who have the potential to stay in your life are scarce. You need to hold onto them.
“I won’t cry and say I don’t deserve this,” I took another smoke. –“I probably do. But I don’t want it.”
“So, what are you planning on doing?”
“I’m not sure, not yet,” I said.
“Jesus, don’t tell me you want to remain human,” he looked shocked, or somewhat disgusted, and I shake my head.
“Of course not,” I reply instantly.
“Then I would be coming up with a better plan than just saying you’re not sure yet.”
“I’ll find a way, don’t you worry about that,” I said. –“I will be turned again, one way or another, but there’s no way in hell I will live out the rest of my life—”
“Very short one,”
“—as a human."
Chapter XVIII. I Still Remember That Girl
I wanted a shower before I got back to Enoch – if I was going back there at all – and I stepped into my apartment, stepping into the living room to find him there, next to the window, turning when he heard me.
“Enoch,” I managed before noticing something new on his face.
“You don’t do this,” he spat. –“I welcome you into my home, and I give you all the protection you might need, and you vanish on a Wednesday with no clue whereas you’d come back,”
“I—”
“You don’t get to do that, not in my house, not under my protection,”
“As you can tell, I can take care of myself well,” I hissed, annoyed with this attitude, his brows dart up, he scoffed, amused.
“As clears as a day,” he shook his head. –“You must really have everything under control, Chesterfield beyond the protection of their own clan, using artefacts to walk around, breaking more laws waiting for the trial,” he growled, clearly angry. –“Oh, yes, this all sounds like a good decision by a very smart woman,”
“Those who created powerful beings that fucked up our lives additionally should really not throw accusations around,” I spat back, charging a couple of steps closer.
“Grown up people deal with their bad decisions by doing something about it, they don’t go around trying to ignore what happened.”
I chuckled, unable to remain angry anymore.
“I did just that, Enoch, and sadly, it really got me nowhere, you know? I’m back where I started, maybe not even there,”
“I offered you my protec—”
“I don’t need you to protect me!” I cut him short. –“I didn’t need something from you when I would seek you out, I wanted… well, you.”
I couldn’t tell what his thoughts were, but I stood there, exhaling deeply.
“Get it into your head that I never wanted something from you,” I said, calmly now. –“Your company was enjoyable and enough for me, no hidden agendas, nothing.”
“And I took you in partly because I wanted to figure out what I wanted from you,” he speaks suddenly. –“It might have been friendship, it might have been lust, but I wanted your company as well,”
“You should have said something,” I say, feeling a little bit stupid about all the yelling I did a moment ago.
We stood there in silence, no one budged.
“What happened on Wednesday?”
“I feel like I owe you to know everything now,” I said, biting my lip a little. –“I was offered some help, a month ago,”
“Regarding your trial,”
“Regarding my punishment,” I managed. –“Let’s be honest, this would have ended with my death, some other things would have gone out into the public and it was no trial I was trying to avoid,”
“You were offered help,”
“I jumped to the chance to say yes to it, because Lis was back, with all the knowledge about all the things I’ve done, and there was no other way out,”
“What did you do?”
“I just said yes, the offer was a matter of a simple answer – do you want to avoid this trial, or not,” I shrugged, crossing my arms on my chest. –“And in a couple of months, there will be no trial, because I will no longer be a subject to the council.”
He looked confused – honestly – who wouldn’t – and I gave it another small shrug, owning up to the same shit twice in the same day.
“In a matter of days, whether I want it or not, I’ll be human again.”
He seemed shocked, and I had no idea what to do. How to react. Honestly, neither did I. But here we were, standing, things out in the open and I couldn’t imagine what would happen next.
Chapter XIX. Wish You Were The One To Get Away
So, I’m replaying the movie in my mind, and trying to figure out who stared this downward spiral.
As if it matters. I have nothing to gain out of it. Yet...
And even now, I cannot forget that one night we sat down in a small trattoria, in the heart of Florence, and just sitting there, she said the words that made me go into code red immediately.
We did not know better, I guess.
It was a lovely feeling. That was a lovely night, and she spoke so lovingly, she lied in the nicest possible way. That’s when I started getting all kinds of ideas. Good, and bad alike.
It was lovely. It was lovely because even the bad ones seemed so good.
But reality hits you when you realize you don’t want it.
I spoke to Luz before we entered the house – promised we would keep our eyes open, hoping to get out of this closer to figuring out what went down with Lisette and help getting rid of the Gemini once and for all.
The sudden sense of joy and anticipation washed over me the moment I walked into the house: I walked around the house, and suddenly felt aroused – the whole ordeal felt like a strange dream – there was no reason to feel these things, why was it happening?
I stopped my mind from rushing, realizing I know why it’s happening, but the confusion in my mind still ran wild – and I stumbled, feeling someone taking my hand, helping me sit down, and I snapped at them for no reason, annoyed with the fact they touched me and I looked up at them, suddenly scared for my life.
I pulled back a little, gasping for breath, trying to catch it, trying to breathe in, as something liquid found its way down my throat and into my stomach, feeling this burn in the pit of my gut.
It felt familiar and I felt grateful – and I had no way to determine which one is me, and which was Lis.
I felt confused before the pain started, making me bend in pain, crawl down the sofa in fear, excruciating feeling before I fell into this abyss.
Nothing happened after it.
Last edited by Zaralee (16/05/2020 at 09:36)
