Outside Chinook, Library of the Manor and the Manor Grounds, Mid October
Whatever it was that Annik was expecting him to say, this was most definitely not it. Jesus, Annik thought, he looks like he's expecting me to yell and scream at him. He doesn't look old enough to have met her mother. Not unless he was only a toddler at the time. He only looks a couple of years older than me. Sure, mom didn't look her age. So much so that most people thought they were sisters, not mother and daughter. But still, he would have to be decades older then he is for him to have met mom and me not know. No wonder he had no problems with her not looking her age. Hey, maybe he knew her from a job she worked. It's not like mom went anywhere other then work.
"You worked at the same place she did?" Please let that be the case Annik thought to herself, suddenly afraid. Though she would have been hard pressed to explain why.
"No," Nic said, shaking his head.
"What do you mean than. How could you have met my mother." Annik could feel the fear rising, heard it in her voice too.
"When I was younger, back in the old country. Before we both moved here. I met your mother"
"Even if you are the same age as my mom, you would have been what? Two? Three? How could you remember anything from that age." Annik didn't want to remember that she had memories from being that age.
Annik's mind went on a tumble through everything that she'd heard so far. Either Nic was a crazy person or he was at least her mother's age. Oh My God Annik thought. Her mind just didn't want to deal with either option. Sure, her mom hadn't looked her age. And yeah, they had the same accent so were probably from the same country. It was also possible that looking younger then you were could be a family thing, after all her mom had looked younger and so did she. This had to be a ploy but for what Annik had no clue, at least none that she wanted to think about. Shaking her head Annik was about to say more on the subject when Nic's raised hand stopped her.
"Please, just let me say this and then you can have your turn. Okay?" Nic looked at her expectantly, clearly waiting for her agreement before continuing. At her nod he went on. "I'm a lot older than I look. For that matter so was your mother."
Annik thought about her mother and had to agree. Her mother had definitely looked younger then she was. Was Nic really her mothers age? Annik wondered about so much as she looked at him.
"I'm just gonna come out and say it." Nic's voice was flat, dejected.
Clearly he didn't think that Annik was going to like whatever it was that he was about to say. Nic waited until he had Annik's complete attention before continuing. He looks defeated, like he has already lost the most important thing in the world.
"We're not Human. Me, your mom," Nic caught and held Annik's eyes. "You."
For a minute Annik was stunned. Had he really just said what she thought he had? Had he really just said that She wasn't Human? That he wasn't? What the hell did he think they were? little green man from mars or some such? Clearly he didn't expect her to believe him. Well duh. of course he didn't think she would believe him, no one would. Did Nic believe what he had just said. Well fuck, she thought, suddenly very afraid, I'm stuck in the middle of no where with a crazy man. Possibly more than one crazy person if everyone else here believes this fantasy too.
This time it was Annik that got up and paced around the room. Jumped up and fled around the room was more like it. She had to put some distance between herself and Niculai. He was crazy and you were supposed to avoid crazy people weren't you? Damn it all she had really liked Niculai and his sister Sabrina, why did they have to be so out of touch with reality. Was she really his sister? Could she trust anything he said? What any of them said? Annik refused to think about how attracted to him she was. Nope, just not going there. Not at all.
Annik stopped her pacing and spun around to face Niculai, suddenly afraid of turning her back to him. She was afraid of what he might do. So she stumbled as far away from him as she could get without turning her back to the guy, wondering if it would be safer to stay in the room with him or to leave. After all there was also the smelly guy out there somewhere that seemed to want her as well. Annik felt like she was on an episode of the twilight zone or in a Clive Barker movie. No wait there hadn't been anything like enough bloodshed for one of his movies. And that was just based on the commercials. Gods what had her life become.
"Annik, look at me," Nic said in a quiet voice. When she didn't respond he tried again. "Annik, please look at me."
It took awhile for Annik to be able to look directly at him. She was afraid of what he would do if she did. But eventually she was able to force her eyes to look at him fully. As soon as she did Nic Smiled at her, showing a set of fangs only to vanish and then reappear about about two feet in front of her. Not moved really fast across the entire library that could have served a medium sized gym. No, he just disappeared from point A, poof. And then reappeared at point B. And unfortunately for Annik's peace of mind point B happened to be almost within touching distance for her and definitely within it for him.
Annik did the only thing that she could. She opened her mouth and screamed the roof down. Before she had finished her operatic attempt to find the high notes she was back pedaling away from Nic. By the time she was done screaming Annik was in full tilt boogie away from Nic and his magic trick. Heading for the door like a monster was after her. oh wait there was a monster and he terrified her. Behind her Annik could hear Nic calling her name but no way was she stopping. She was outa here.
The next thing that Annik was consciously aware of she was running down the driveway from the mansion. She wasn't worried about Wiket or getting back to her apartment. She wasn't thinking of getting her things, not even her mother's book. Not even the fact that she didn't know where she was registered. All she knew was that she had run. Run as far and as fast as she could so she could get away.
Heart hammering in her chest. Breath sawing in her lungs. The gravel under her feet that threatened to turn her ankle. None of it registered to her. It took her only moments to leave the graveled parking area and break into the dense woodlands that surrounded it. Suddenly all that was around her was forest. She didn't slow down, she ran flat out as fast as she could. It was as if she had a set of eye on her feet, making sure she didn't fall or hit anything because she couldn't see anything around her. Her fear was so great that she could have been on flat open ground or in the middle of the ocean and she wouldn't have noticed.
All Annik could see was Nic appearing in front of her out of nothing. Her brain was locked on that memory like it had been super glued in place. With unseeing eyes she ran on, tears blurred the world around her. Her thoughts ran in circles, desperately trying to find footing in something, anything that was happening. This was impossible, it couldn't be happening. People didn't disappear and reappear like that. This had to be what her mother was running from. Or was she running from the stinky man. Was her father why they were running, was he like Nic? Over and over again her mind jumped from thought to thought. Skipping from one to the next. Not staying on any one thought long enough for it to truly register. Only stopping for briefest moment on a thought. Just a quick check in before it sunk again to make room for the next.
The reality of monsters. No call them what they were, vampires, really existing was more than her brain could take in. So it just ran in circles and gibbered at her like a monkey. She was desperate to wake up, for this all to be dream. Because if she wasn't then reality was changed forever. Monsters weren't real they only existed in books, t.v. or movies.They couldn't be real, this had to be a dream.
The fear that Annik felt was all pervasive. Leaving no part of her untouched, no part unaffected. It was more than she could take in, deal with. So like her thoughts Annik just ran. Not consciously heading anywhere other than away. Away from Nic, away from the mansion, away from a reality that she could no longer comprehend. A reality that no longer had a basis in, well reality. Annik's brain was out on vacation and it took the rest of her with it. Leaving her body to do the last thing it had been told to do. It ran with no real direction from any higher source.
Annik didn't see Nic materialize in front of her. She bounced off his chest and would have fallen if he hadn't caught her arm and kept her from the ground. Annik cowered from him, panting. All she could do was pant. She couldn't see, couldn't think, she couldn't even run any more. All she could do was pant. An animal run to ground. No more gas in her tank. For a long while Annik had no thoughts, she just was. Eventually she came back online so to speak. The first thing that Annik was aware of, was that she was outside. Why was she outside? The last thing that she remembered was being in the wonderful library with... Annik's brain stopped that thought right there. It wasn't ready to jump into the vampires are real pool just yet. The next thing that Annik noticed was that she was cold. Why was she in the woods at night with no coat on?
Again what had happened in the library came back to her. Bobbing to the surface like a buoy. Up and down, in and out of focus. This time her mind reached out and grabbed it. Took the memory and looked at it. The reality of what had happened in the library. What Nic had said, and done came back as clear as day and sharp as a knife. That was when Annik realized that Nic was right in front of her, holding her arm. His grip was firm yes, but neither hard nor cruel. He was almost caring in how he held her. As soon as Annik looked at the hand that had kept her from falling, Nic released his hold. Raising his hand placatingly Nic stepped back a couple of paces. Clearly not wanting to startle her or trigger another marathon run. Something that Annik only understood subconsciously. Which made sense since she didn't understand much of anything on a conscious level. Not yet any way.
Annik just looked at Nic for a log while. Not able to speak, barely able to think beyond knowing that she was standing in the wood. When had she run off the driveway? At least she knew why she had run in general and for a moment considered staring the jack rabbit imitation again. But no, Nic had more than proven the running was no good. He wouldn't even have to run after me Annik thought to herself wryly. He'd just have to poof to in front of me and we'd be right back to where we are now. So why bother with the running. It's not like I can get away. Annik backed away a little farther from Niculai. Wanting to have more room in case he did something. She had no clue what it might be, but just in case. Not that it'll help any she reminded herself. I mean come on, the guy can go across a huge room in the blink of an eye. Like a couple of feet are going to make a difference? Hell, a couple of miles probably wouldn't make a difference.
"You're a vampire aren't you?" Annik's voice was quavering. But like she could help that? the rest of her was quavering too.
There she'd said it. What she feared was true. The worst that could happen was he'd say yes. Oh wait, that wasn't the worst hat could happen was it. He could kill her, drinking all of her blood. Dooming her to rise from her grave and do the same thing to someone else. That was the worst thing that could happen. Annik couldn't believe that this was actually happening to her. Had someone at worked slipped her some acid? Was this all a bad trip? Not that Annik knew how any drugs worked but acid made you hallucinate didn't it. So this could all be a hallucination. But even as she sad it Annik knew that this was really happening.
"No," Nic said firmly. He started to pace back and forth in front of Annik. Left to right and then back again. Always keeping the distance that Annik herself had established. "We aren't vampires. Not like your thinking. We're just another race that wants to live in peace." Nic stopped pacing and faced her. His voice as he spoke was full of concern, for her.
For a second Annik told herself to not be impressed by the concern in his voice. He was just upset that she had found out his secret. Oh wait, he had told her on purpose, she hadn't figured out anything. Then she remembered being scared witless by him and his disappearing trick. Anger warred with the fear and briefly won.
"Why did you tell me anything at all. Was there a reason that you dropped this particular bombshell on me? Or is this how you amuse yourself. Is your sister having a good laugh back at the mansion right now?" Annik was annoyed that her voice was becoming more and more strident with each word. She had wanted to sound strong and in control. Not like she'd just had the crap scared out of her. Which okay, she had. But still, it was the principle of the thing. And even more annoying she was starting to shiver as well. Just great.
"Please Annik. You're cold. Can we go back inside where it's warm. I promise, I will explain everything as soon as we are inside the house."
The pleading look on his face and tone in his voice surprised Annik. Why was he asking her anything. He could just make her go with him couldn't he? What the hell is going on here. Annik's body voted go to inside by shivering violently enough to almost make her loose her footing. As soon as Niculai had mentioned that she was cold Annik noticed the shivering. The fact that she could see her breath and was outside without a coat just confirmed the cold. Still cold was better than terrified as far as Annik was concerned. Still she wasn't sure she wanted to go back inside the house even if Wiket liked it there. Wait, what the...
"Did you just call that pile of stones you live in a house?"
Annik knew that she had other things to think about, worry about. But that comment had been so incongruous to the reality of that mansion that she'd had to say something. There was a quick lift on one side of Nic's mouth. Barely more than a twitch, but Annik saw it.
"Yeah, I did." Nic said dead panning it. "Will you come with me?" Nic held out his hand. not pushing for her to take it. Just offering it if she wanted or needed it. Annik however had no desire to touch Nic's hand or anything else. She didn't want to go with him but it was far to cold in western Washing in mid October to be outside for very long without a coat during the day much less the night. Crossing her arms across her chest Annik made it clear that wasn't going to take his hand.
"Yeah, I'll come with you. It's not like I really have a choice." Annik looked Nic square in the face for the first time since her head long flight from the mansion. "Do I"
