Forty-Eight

“What’s wrong, Grizzly? Why did you stop?” I asked, caressing his beard and bringing him to me.
“Nothing, let’s get ourselves settled, and we finish this later. I’ll get the fire going for you. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”
*‘Bad timing, Dad! Bad timing! I know you’re in his head!'* I chastised him.
*‘Ewe, Alex. You’re my daughter! I don’t need to know what you guys are doing!’* Then we fell into an awkward silence, as I meant to scold him only in my head, and both of us realized we heard each other.
*‘Dad, why am I hearing from you inside my head?’* I asked, dreading the answer.
*‘You tell me, pumpkin. Somehow your powers are growing. I just don’t know why. Now I trust you to let me talk to Vlad alone.’* And with that, I was by myself again.
“Fine, fix the fire, and I’ll put the groceries away.” Finding my breath, I tied my hair in a ponytail and got busy putting all the stuff in the fridge. Dad used to come here every two weeks, so the pantry was stashed.
A few minutes later, the insistent buzzing pulled me out of my thoughts. I knew who it was, Shane. But I didn’t want to talk to him at that minute. I wanted to know what those two were talking about. I know dad trusted me, but why couldn’t I listen to it? Was it wrong if I was the subject of the discussion? I didn’t think so. I concentrated on my new powers, trying to find a link to their heads and eavesdrop on them.
Little by little I made my way, and I got the echoes of dad’s last words. ‘Brace yourself for trouble, I got a name, Lucard Udar, sounds brotherly to you, old friend?’ Before my shitty phone blared again and I heard a loud thud coming from the living room, sending my efforts down the drain.
I grabbed the phone and answered angrily, “Shane, not now! I’ll get back to you in a few.”
“What’s going on, Alex! Where are you? I can’t trace you.” His frustrated voice told me he must have tried a lot and got nowhere with it.
“I know, I made sure I’m untraceable, even with the cellphone, so don’t waste your time.” A few cussing came from the other end of the call, to my surprise. Shane was always so collected. “I have to go, sorry.” I disconnected, rushing out of the kitchen to find Vlad in his butt on the floor, pale as a sheet of paper, staring at the fire as if the blazes were ghosts haunting him.
Since we found each other, I’ve never seen him so out of his bearings. He didn’t answer me when I called, so I went to him and dropped my phone, kneeling between his legs and sitting on my calf. I put my hands on both sides of his face, and it startled me how cold he was. My phone started buzzing again to make things worse. I’m gonna kill Shane! He was being a punk, like dad said. I just let it be.
“Vlad, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?” I turned him to face me, and he was just there. “I know you were talking to Anton. What did he do to you? I’m gonna kill you, dad!” I said with gritted teeth.
*‘No, you’re not, pumpkin.’* And with a mocking laughter he left.
I stared at Vlad, lacing my finger in his hair. Putting it away from his face, he fixed his eyes on mine. Gosh, it should be forbidden for men to have such long and full eyelashes like his. Mine weren’t even closer. Sometimes I had to resort to the fake ones to get a bit of volume.
“Say something, Grizzly.” I placed a kiss on his lips, trying to take him out of that torpor. They were so cold. Vlad’s eyes flickered gold when once more the crappy phone rang and Shane’s face showed up on the screen. I gripped it and turned it off. Should have done that earlier. Shit.
“Why is his face showing on that gadget?” The low growl to which he spoke gave me chills. And not the good kind.
I raised my chin, staring into his eyes. “I had asked a favor from him, and after yesterday, he just wants to know if I’m alright.”
“Why wouldn’t you be, Liz?” The sharp hiss got me by surprise and I flinched. He grabbed my neck in a scant of a second, holding me in place, thinking I was about to flee from him.
“Do I need to remind you, your outrageous behavior from yesterday?” I put all my coolness and contempt in my tone. Now it wasn’t only flicks of fire in his forest greens, they changed into the beautiful shade of molten gold. He got pissed at me.
“Don’t make me tell you a second time. Stay the hell away from him! I’ll be the one dealing with whatever mess you got yourself into.” He put some pressure on my throat, and besides arousing me to the point of shame, it also made me see red when his words seeped into my ears. Arrogant bastard.
“Not even in your wildest dreams, Grizzly. You don’t have a say in this!” I gritted out, and heard his swift intake of breath, maybe trying to calm himself down.
“Once, a beautiful lady tried to teach me that the same situation could have different approaches, but I didn’t listen to her,” he whispered to me, and there was such pain in his voice. How could I feel it? Waves of energy came out of him, distressed ones. “I wanted revenge for my family and my land, and I lost her.” He finished, squeezing his eyes shut, as if just talking about it agonized him, with his tight grip still on my neck.
“Do you regret it?”
“No, I don’t regret the things I’ve done, because it was the right thing to do, but I regret not listening to you, I mean her.” The grief coming from him was so real, almost palpable, so he kept his eyes shut, maybe trying to avoid seeing his memories, but that was the problem. You couldn’t avoid something if it was inside you.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you’re making the same mistakes I’ve made! Every one of them. And I know the shitty outcome. I’m drowning in a sea of fear. You don’t listen to me, you don’t do what I ask you to do!” His eyes snapped open, and my heart suffered a little death when his demon stared at me with hunger and cruelty.
“Fear is not a word one can find in your dictionary.” I murmured, averting my gaze.
“You are mistaken, dragă. Since you came into my life, fear got into my dictionary with its full meaning. You are my only weakness, Liz, I’ve told you that already.”
“No, you listen to me!” I struggled to get myself free, but his hold on me got stronger. I grabbed his hand from my neck in sudden movement and punched him in the neck, leaping away. No, I didn’t punch him hard, just enough to surprise and divert him. “You don’t know what my life has been!” I yelled at him, and I didn’t have the time to blink, as he was already on me again.
“It’s the second time you hit me! I won’t tolerate this kind of disrespect from you. It’s the last time!” He bared his white, gleaming canines so close to my face. The powerful waves of his rage assailed me, churning my stomach. But not even that made me stop.
“I’ve got information on my father and I’m gonna deliver my justice onto him, and everyone who dared to make my life such an ordeal to bear. I don’t care what she told you!” I was beyond enraged at that moment. Anger and sorrow invaded me, and I was hungry for revenge. I wanted them to feel every bit of pain I’ve felt and still did.
“Alexandra!” He gave me a hard shake. I blinked several times, and out of the blue I fell into a convulsive cry.
“They hurt me so much, Vlad!” Then I was in his warm embrace.
“I know, love. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there to defend you. Everything about this time is different, Liz.” There was fear and guilt in his voice. I was so secure in his arms, I wished we could stay like that forever, but it wasn’t possible. “Liz, I had just come back from a battle, and you found me in the chapel. I asked you if you believed there’s a place where all the damned souls were sent to.”
“Yes, Vlad, but I also believe in salvation if you truly repent from your sins. God doesn’t punish anyone. He loves us and saddens with our sins.” I didn’t let him finish answering him right away. The words just slipped out of my lips as they’ve always belonged there. The same way I felt with him now, he felt with Alizandra back then. We were each other’s sanctuary in the middle of our burdens.
“How do you know?” He was all confused.
“I’m getting more and more of her memories back, Vlad. Please, I beg you, don’t make me choose between you and what I have to do. Don’t let it come to this point, Grizzly, your Alizandra is in the past. She’s not myself this time being. I won’t let go and if you want me in your life, don’t ask me to choose. Otherwise, you will be out of my life with a snap of my fingers.”