Downtown Chinook, Undying Residence, Mid October
While Annik and Niculai were going to the Library, Gregori was looking at the three wastes of space of Undying that were tied onto tables in Mikhail's playroom. When Gregori had first arrived at the rundown Victorian he had been certain that Mikhail was going to put him on one of those tables. Thankfully Gregori was able and more than willing to lay the blame at the proper doorsteps. He had absolutely no intention to pay the price for someone else's fuck up. And this way he got to exact some payback as well, something he truly enjoyed doing. It was nice to enjoy your work, Gregori decided. It definitely increased job satisfaction to no end.
Gregori didn't find them in the basement of the old Victorian style house that was the home base for the Undying Society. At least not in the official basement that was shown on the blueprints that went with the deed to the rundown house. They were in a room that was part of the tunnels that ran under a good part of Chinook. Tunnels that had been started by the original residents of the city. Tunnels that the majority of people who now lived here had no clue about. They had been forgotten long ago, now only remembered by a few historians. Well, and the Undying of course.And even those that did know about them had no clue of how extensive the really were. After all why inform the hairless monkeys about something that made it easier to take them over.
The tunnels had been used for many things over the many decades that they had existed. For everything from escape tunnels in case there was a native uprising to smuggling of both goods and people. The one consistent to their use was that it was always clandestine. Usually because what they were used for was illegal. But also because a secret escape tunnel is no good if everyone knows it's there. By the Prohibition era the tunnels had been mostly forgotten but even then a few were still used. Booze had to get into Chinook proper from the docks some how. Not even the historians who remembered that they existed had any clue how to get into them. So they were safe to use for any purpose. And had the added benefit of no one could hear the screams of those on the tables.
The Undying Society had known about the tunnels almost from the founding of the city. Some of them had even been added by Anvidai who needed to be able to get to safety in an emergency. Mind you the Anvidai weren't concerned about any natives attacking them. No they were concerned that the Undying would find and kill them. In fact the very house that Mikhail lived in had once been owned by the Anvidai. That was why the tunnel access was hidden and hidden well. If it was one thing that those Anvidai could do it was hide things. God knew they had enough experience at it, they had to hide their very existence after all.
Mikhail had been livid at the failure and had immediately called the three who had not done their job to his residence. They had not enjoyed the interview, Gregori was sure of that. And since they had caused his failure, Gregori was also good with that. For the last hour or so they had been paying the price for their failure in a very visceral way. The only question was whether or not the Beloved Lady was going to be called in or would Mikhail let the three continue to exist. While the Beloved would make them wish they could die before she called them back to her. And wouldn't that be enjoyable to watch. It would also remove three more killers from the roster and currently the Beloved wasn't inducting any new members. Keeping them alive, as it were, would give its own pleasure and could go on for such a long time. Mikhail however was going to make that choice. Gregori was good with either decision. Either way it would be fun after all, just in different ways.
Gregori didn't know why the Beloved had stopped inducting new members. But he sure wasn't going to ask her reasons. Those who questioned the Beloved tended to wish for their end for a very, very long time. Gregori would rather take the place of the three failures then question the Beloveds reasons for doing anything. If she wanted you to know something she would tell you and that was just how it was. Much like poking a tiger when you were in its cage, questioning the Beloved was just something that you didn't do.
Mikhail hadn't yet decided the fate of the three strapped down on the tables suffering for their crimes. And Gregori was more than willing to wait for an answer. There was so much that he still wanted to do to them and it wasn't like they would die from his play. They couldn't die, unless the Beloved called them home. Or they were stabbed in the heart by something either made from the wood from an Ash tree or treated with the oil from said tree. Those were the only two ways that a member of the Undying Society could die. Not that they were really alive in the first place but they were definitely still kicking. And that was good enough for him.
Gregori was wondered if Mikhail knew the reasons for the no new inductions. He was the Beloved's second in command after all. Gregori wasn't going to ask him either though. Even though asking Mikhail questions didn't immediately get you onto one of those tables. Didn't mean he was going to ask any questions about the Beloved. Mikhail might not be as dangerous to annoy as the Beloved but that didn't mean he wanted to piss the guy off. It was like choosing to tease a hyena instead of a tiger. Both are dangerous to annoy and fatal to get on the bad side of. Asking anything about the Beloved was a great way to get on the males bad side. So Gregori was going to keep his questions about the motives of the Beloved to himself. Discretion was the better part of valor after all, or at least so Gregori had heard. Valorous behavior wasn't really in his repertoire and he had no interest in adding it.
While he watched the failures scream and writhe on the tables Gregori decided that tomorrow, the day after at the latest Gregori was going to have to start his search for the girl all over again. There was no way that those Ashen War-Kin busybodies was going to allow her to go back to her apartment ever again. But he would still have someone watch it just in case. He was going to have to keep an eye on that night club, the Foundry as well, but he didn't really hold out any hope of her showing up there either. No the odds were that he was going to have to start the search from scratch, not a prospect that he was looking forward to.
Gregori was well aware that luck was the only reason that he had found her in the first place. He wasn't holding his breath that it would happen twice. After all lightning might actually strike twice in the same place, no matter what the saying said But you couldn't count on it happening. That was why he was not only going to cover the existing known locations but start his full search all over again.
He had a long, hard slog ahead of him and he wasn't looking forward to it. He had to go and try to get the book from her apartment as well. Assuming of course they hadn't taken it with them. Something he had no confidence about. Thanks to being there when the two entered, Gregori now knew exactly which unit they had lived in. Tomorrow night after all the good little boys and girls were asleep he was breaking in and getting that book back. All the more reason to get my play in while I can Gregori decided as he went back to work on the three who had failed him so badly.
Outside of Chinook, Library of the Manor, Mid October
Annik couldn't believe that she'd come back to the mansion that Nic lived in. They were standing just inside the library door. A place that Annik would joyfully spend more time in, under just about any other circumstances. That she had let him carry her anywhere much less back here was even more surprising to her. How could she have let that happen. It was beyond crazy, letting someone who had proved they were a vampire take her anywhere. But even with everything that she had learned, Annik just couldn't make herself believe Nic was going to hurt her. No clue why she felt that way, but there it was.
The terror that had sent Annik running into the night was still there too. As was her attraction to the man, which was annoying. Fear made sense to her. Who wouldn't be afraid of being in the presence of an actual vampire. For Christ's sake the things were only supposed to exist in horror flicks and old fairy tales. So terror was a logical response to the situation. Attraction however seemed more than a little crazy to Annik. Sure according to the stories everyone thought that Dracula and such were stunningly handsome and charismatic. And yeah, as a rule movies showed them as tragic heroes or some such nonsense. But you weren't supposed to be attracted to the thing that wants to eat you. At least not to Annik's thinking you weren't. What the hell was going on with her mind.
Sudden suspicion filled Annik, making her blood run cold. What if her feelings weren't real. What if Niculai is making her fell this way. Is he doing something to my mind? How can I trust anything that I think or feel is real. Did he really rescue me or was it all staged for my benefit. She had to ask, to find out if what she was feeling was real or was Nic messing with her mind. Although, if he was messing with her mind, could she trust anything he said? Even with those thoughts bouncing around in her mind, part of Annik still trusted Nic. Annik narrowed her eyes, giving him a hard look while she asked.
"Are you doing something to me?" Annik hated the quaver in her voice that made her sound and feel weak. Annik firmed her voice before continuing, "Are you messing with my feeling? my thoughts? Are you doing this to me?"
When Annik had first spoken Nic had looked stunned at her question. As if doing so had never crossed his mind. In the next moment Nic was deflating, shrinking into himself like he was suddenly carrying the whole mansion on his back. Shoulders slumped, he was caved into himself. It was strange to see someone so strong being so beaten down, so defeated that he wouldn't look her in the eye.
"No," Nic said. "I'm not doing anything to you." Nic glanced up briefly before looking back at the floor at his feet. "Everything that you are feeling is real. We can't change or manipulate emotions. None of the Anvidai can do that." Nic shook his head like he was arguing with himself. "I know you won't believe but it's true.' Nic looked back up at Annik, his eyes full of sincerity, "And I'm sorry."
Annik was stunned at his apology. what the hell was he sorry for? That he wasn't Human? That she was in this situation? None of that was his fault. It's not like he asked to be... For a moment her mind pulled a blank. What had he called his race? Whatever it was there was no need to be sorry for it. At least if she took him at his word, and she did. Annik had no clue why, but she did believe him, about being sorry and about him not manipulating her emotions.
"Why?," she had to ask. "Why are you apologizing to me?"
Annik's desire to comfort and reassure him confused her. He was either lying to her, which should piss her off, or telling the truth, which should terrify her. Well she was scared but not with the mind numbing terror that had sent her screaming out of the mansion earlier. And to be honest she was pissed but had yet figured out what exactly she was pissed about. Might just be because she had been so frightened earlier. Something that would anger anyone more than a little. It was the trust of him and the sympathy for him that she just didn't get. Just how long did Stockholm syndrome take to get rocking.
Rather than answering her question Nic just turned, sweeping an arm towards the chairs they had been sitting in earlier.
"Come sit back down by the fire. Where it's warm."
Matching actions to words, Nic stalked with the smooth grace of a predator back to the fireplace. He waited next to the wing-back chair he had been sitting in before, hands clasped in front of him, head lowered, refusing to meet her eyes. Nic looked to Annik as if he would wait for an eternity for her to make up her mind. Would she trust him? Would she be willing to sit that close to him. The decision was going to be hers and he would merely wait until she made it. No matter how long it took
Annik just looked at him for what seemed to her to be years, but was probably only minutes. Then she followed Nic across the whole of the library until she was standing next to the chair she had used. Than she was back to just looking at him. Weighing whether or not she should trust him. Annik knew that for some reason all of her instincts were telling her that she could, should trust Nic. And it wasn't like she really had a choice about it did she. If this was all a dream then there was no harm in going with the flow. If it was reality than she needed Nic to tell her what was going on. With those last thoughts echoing in her mind Annik sat down.
The speed with which Nic sat down as soon as she did told Annik more than words that he had been waiting for her to sit first. Like he'd been trained in manners by Emily Post herself or something. For long minutes Nic didn't say anything, he just sat looking at the fire like it was going to tell him what to say. Annik started to wonder if there were any more shoes ready to drop. How much more could she take for God's sake. Would the roller coaster that her life had become ever stop? Or at the very least, slow down for her to catch her breath?
Eventually NIc cleared his throat, Preparing to speak. "I'm not sure how to tell you all of this."
What the hell was he going to say next Annik wondered as Nic ran his right hand through his hair over and over again. He's clearly upset by whatever it is, Annik thought to herself. She just didn't know if he was afraid of what he was going to tell her or by her reaction to it. Bracing herself for more bad news. Suddenly afraid of whatever it was because obviously it was worse than what he had already told her. What could be worse than finding out the hot guy you lusted after was apparently a vampire from the Twilight saga for heaven's sake. Well at least he doesn't sparkle. Annik never did believe that part, vampires just shouldn't sparkle in her opinion. Not that she had ever met any. Well, before now at least.
"I told you earlier that I knew your mother. Well, if she was who I think she was then I rescued her as an infant." Nic's chest inflated with a deep breath, bracing himself for what he was going to say next. "I rescued Ingretta from the Nazi's in nineteen forties."
Nic's gaze suddenly jumped to Annik's face. Eyes sharp and probing clearly waiting for her reaction. For her part Annik was stunned. Not just by hearing that her mother had been much older than she had thought. It wasn't like everyone thought that her mother had been younger than she actually was. It was just a shock to realize that she had been on that list. and that her mother had let her believe the lie.It wasn't just one thing that had shocked her or made Annik believe what he was saying.
Not by Nic saying that he had rescued the woman when she had been an infant. Not even by the news that he was old enough to have fought against Nazi's for God's sake. All of that was enough to stun anyone and would have stunned her too. No, what had stopped her thoughts like they had landed in super glue was hearing her mothers name. Annik knew that she hadn't told him her mothers name. And she doubted that it had been anywhere in the book that, Annik now realized, Nic had carefully placed on the side table next to his chair before he had followed her out of the mansion.
How could he have rescued anyone from the Nazi's? He was way to young to have done that. Hell doing so would make him like ninety or something. And looking young for your age was one thing but no one looked to be in their twenties when they were at least ninety. That kind of thing just wasn't possible. Nor could she believe that her mother had been old enough to have been an infant during World War Two. Oh hell no! She knew he was just messing with her he had to be. And how cruel was that. But there was the whole vampire thing to consider. Still she had to think it was otherwise.
"You mean Neo-Nazi's, right?"
Annik hope that he did because if what he had said was true than he really wasn't Human at all. Was he? He really would be some kind of undying monster. A vampire that for some reason wanted her to believe both she and her mother where vampires as well.
"No," Nic said, his voice flat, almost emotionless.
As if he was afraid that what he had to tell her would make her run again. Or maybe he was nervous that she would hate him for what he was telling her.
"No, I mean the original group. The Nazi's that were defeated in World War Two. I told you I was older than I looked? Well, so was your mother."
Stunned by the revelation Annik at first looked to see if he was joking. But why he would joke about something like that. What would his reasons be for a joke like that. It was all too bizarre for words, too unbelievable to be really happening. Annik had to swallow hard before she could speak, a couple of times. And even then her voice didn't sound like her own. But rather like someone else was speaking from a long way away.
"How old was my mother when she died. If she was who you think she was. How did you meet her, rescue her."
Annik was well aware that she still hadn't confirmed that her mothers name was Ingretta to the man. How could she? she was still hoping that Nic was wrong. That it was a different Ingretta that he had known, had rescued so many decades before. She remembered how young her mother had looked all of Annik's life, never seeming to age. Annik herself needed to keep her ID on her at all times because no one believed that she was almost twenty-five years old. How could she have kept something like this from me. Sure she didn't talk about her past. But you would have thought that, oh by the way you're not Human, would have come up at least once. Did I even know my mother? Does anyone ever know their parents? Annik wondered while she waited. Hoping that the answers that came back to her were ones that she could live with. Older than I look my ass.
Annik wasn't sure what she felt. She was angry, of course. Confused, sure, and definitely shocked. What she did know was that she had no desire to run. There was no fear coursing through her veins. No need to get away taking over her brain or her body. No there was no desire to get away from Nic or what he was telling her. She was also sure that she wasn't angry at him or hate him for what he had told her. No matter how unbelievable it all was. He had been alive in nineteen forty? What The Hell!
As Nic told her the whole story of her mother's rescue so very long ago, Annik was poleaxed. Absolutely and complete blown away by the unfolding revelations about her mother. How could any of this be true. It was all too weird for words. He had to be making it all up. Than Annik remembered how Nic had teleported across the room and the flash of fangs that she had seen. About how he had appeared out of no where in the woods when she had run from him and the mansion he called home. Annik remembered how her mother had kept so many secrets from her including what she really was. Then she remembered the stories her mother had told her from that stupid book for all of her life. And how at least one monster from them had come to a very aromatic life. it was true. everything in her mother's tales, everything that Nic was telling her. It was all horrifyingly true. Dimly Annik realized that the whole room was spinning. Or was she the one pulling the tilt-a-whirl action. Hard to tell and suddenly Annik didn't have the energy to care which it was. It was all to terrifyingly true. that was her last thought as darkness swallowed her whole.
