Flicker

by Arreyn Grey

  “I promise, she won't sleep for two days this time,” Alex laughed from behind her. Elise didn't shy away when he rested a hand on the small of her back, steadying her as she crossed the threshold into the foyer. 'Drained' didn't even begin to cover the way she felt; a slightly hysterical giggle escaped her as she thought that she might very well prove Alex wrong and sleep for the rest of the weekend.

  Alex's hand was still on her back, and as her parents went into the kitchen he guided her toward the stairs. Pausing at the bottom, he put his hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him; despite her exhaustion, the tenderness in his eyes made her catch her breath. “Can you make it?” He asked, only partly joking.

  Elise smiled up at him drowsily. “I think I'll be all right from here.” She paused, reaching out tentatively to grip his hand with both of hers, and met his eyes. “Thank you, you know,” she said, her gaze level and her voice somber, for the moment entirely awake. “You were an ass and all that, digging up the past, but you redeemed yourself. So I want to make sure you know I'm grateful-- you gave me the tools to do what I did today, and I haven't forgotten that.”

  Alex bent down slowly, carefully, to kiss her forehead. “Good night, little girl,” he whispered. She could feel his eyes on her as she trudged up the stairs, and knew he didn't leave until she had fallen into bed.

  “I got your email,” Alexander opened neutrally, not bothering with pleasantries.

  “That bad, huh?” Gregory's voice was amused. Alexander sighed; he'd thought he sounded neutral, anyway.

  “She's incredibly strong,” he said by way of explanation. “What have you found out? I could really use anything you've got right about now.” Alexander counted it a certainty that Gregory had been able to research omnivores-- information, even of that rarity, was his lifeblood. He was rather surprised, therefore, at Gregory's response.

  “To be honest, there isn't much.”

  Alexander's eyebrows climbed. “Oh?” He asked politely, knowing perfectly well he hadn't misunderstood but hoping for a moment that he had.

  “Really, Alexander, there's nothing. I mean, when you think about it, it makes sense-- statistically speaking, omnivores seem to be anomalies of the rarest kind; the likelihood of one being born is astronomical. And with the Court practicing for so long... well, it's not like they keep training manuals lying around.” Alexander had never heard Gregory sound so defeated.

  “So there isn't much, or there's nothing at all?” Alexander pressed, stunned. He was clinging to a residual hope that Gregory had found something to give him direction, because as much as he knew about training latent members of their kind, despite-- or perhaps because of-- Elise's natural proclivity, he felt rather out of his depth. Due, he suspected, t0 the herbivore side of her energy, much of her power was alien to him. Alexander had been hoping that Gregory would turn up something that could educate him on how to help her blend what he could teach her with what she might have to discover for herself.

  “I mean,” Gregory said slowly. “There were some legends... oral traditions, really, I wouldn't put much stock in them. But they are of Russian origin... the only transcripts are a good two or three centuries removed from the incidents they describe, so really, they're probably worse than useless.”

  “I want them,” Alexander replied without hesitation. He heard Gregory sigh.

  “Of course you do.”

  Elise wasn't sure she hid her relief very well when Alex suggested, on Wednesday evening nearly two weeks later, that they take a break from her training and go to dinner like a normal couple. Things had been hit or miss for her lately-- her initial learning curve had given way to a frustrating struggle as she worked to master more difficult techniques. The problem, she suspected, was less in Alex's ability to teach her-- he had been infinitely patient, after all, and had come up with all sorts of gentle suggestions that had frequently helped-- but with her lack of focus. More often than not now, she would harness her energy, begin to bend it to her will, and then find her mind suddenly pulled in an entirely different direction. As someone who had become accustomed to complete control over herself, the change was disconcerting in the extreme.

  So it was with a huge sigh of gratitude that Elise greeted Alex's idea of a normal date. It did occur to her, however, as they walked up to the main street, that she thought of herself and Alex very readily as a couple. She was a little surprised, but pleasantly so-- she had anticipated at least a few emotional breakdowns before she'd be able to get used to the idea of having a boyfriend, but they had eased into the concept, never actually talking about it, and Elise was glad that her mind just jumped to the conclusion. Subconscious acceptance was so much easier than conscious decision. She laughed a little at the thought process and, when Alex looked at her curiously, just shook her head.

  “So did you have a place in mind, or are you just counting on my knowledge of the town to guide you?” Elise asked, gently teasing, as they walked.

  “Oh, I was thinking of taking you to the Yoko sushi bar-- it is your favorite, right?” Alex smirked at her as she took a second to try to recall if she'd actually told him that.

  “You cheater!” She cried, whacking him lightly on the arm. “You're supposed to find stuff like that out the hard way!”

  “Oh, it was hard, believe me,” he replied in a tone of great wounded dignity. “Your shield is getting very impressive-- it took some careful timing on my part to find out anything.”

  Elise stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed at her.

  Once they were seated and the smiling waitress had taken their order, Elise turned to Alex, preparing to voice a question that had taken longer to sink in than most of her other queries, but was one that had been burning at the back of her mind almost since the first day he'd told her the truth about himself.

  “Alex,” she began. “Why don't you let yourself age? I mean, in nine hundred years, you haven't gotten tired of... being here? Or at least, tired of being a teenager?” She asked, cocking her head to look up at him.

  “Why don't you wear pants?” He countered. “In three years, you haven't gotten tired of wearing skirts? Or at least, tired of wearing floor-length ones?” Elise snorted.

  “Answer for answer?” She proposed, and at his nod, continued. “The whole outfit,” she gestured to encompass her attire. “Started, like I told you, as a way to keep everyone away from me. Once they got used to me being weird, no one wanted anything to do with me. But it was always sort of more than that, too-- I changed how I looked because I didn't want to be... that girl anymore. I wanted to be someone else.”

  “This is what you came up with?” Alex asked, raising his eyebrows.

  Elise shrugged again, resting her elbows on the white linen tablecloth. “When I started thinking about who I wanted to be, it occurred to me that when I was a little girl, I always loved looking at the drawings in my books about princesses. Don't you dare laugh at me,” she injected fiercely, but his expression was kind. Elise sighed longingly. “They all just looked so elegant and unreachable, above everyone else. So I started sort of modeling my wardrobe after those images, and this is what happened. I guess... I mean, it took me a while to figure it out, but I feel more comfortable, more like myself, than I ever did dressing like normal people.”

  Alex was smiling at her. “Have I mentioned lately that you're amazing?” He asked.

  She reached across the table to shove him gently. “Yeah, yeah, enough with the flattery,” she said firmly, doggedly keeping him on topic. “You owe me an answer. And it'd better be a good one.”

  He sighed, too, his amusement draining away. "Humans, latents, live every day with the knowledge of your own inescapable mortality,” he said. “You accept death because you have no choice. I have to allow my own death- I have to choose a slow suicide in order to be... natural. I'm a coward, Elise, because in all my long years I haven't made the choice. I have maintained because I can't- you can't- ever go back. I'm a coward because I wasn’t ready to l
ose my youth, to choose to die." He turned away, his face suddenly twisted with an alien sorrow that Elise struggled to comprehend. She could understand, in theory, but in this moment he seemed so far removed from her. She hated the distance that years put between them, the seemingly unbridgeable gap of more time and experience than she could wrap her mind around. Instinctively, she reached out, laying her hand over his where it rested on the table.

  “I'm sorry,” she said softly, not sure if she was apologizing for asking or for not being there with him centuries ago. Perhaps a little of both.

  Alex smiled at her, traces of the sadness still in his eyes, and slid his hand out from beneath hers. She couldn't stop a slight frown from creasing her brow at his rejection, then she realized that he'd only moved because the waitress was approaching with their food. He must have sensed her coming from behind him; Elise felt a flush spread across her cheeks at the thought that she must have been so wrapped up in him that she didn't even see the woman walking toward them. Elise glanced at Alex's face as she quickly leaned back with a murmured, “Thank you,” allowing the waitress to put their plates on the table. At least her embarrassment had served a purpose-- Alex looked like he was carefully suppressing a smile.

  He watched the laughing couple exit the restaurant from his parked car across the street. With all the traffic out enjoying the autumn evening, they wouldn't see him, but he was careful to keep his presence masked so Alexander wouldn't sense him, either.

  Compared to what he'd witnessed in the woods, this could have been a new girl entirely-- the past several weeks had wrought a dramatic change in her. She walked confidently, her chin up, and she didn't flinch when Alexander casually touched her back. With her sunny smile and ringing laughter, she was a far cry from the disheveled, half-frozen wreck Alexander had tracked in the forest. And yet, he would have recognized her anywhere.

  Untrained omnivore. The words still echoed deliciously in his mind, and he chuckled at them once more. Alexander had begun training her, certainly, but she was still raw, malleable. He grinned, watching the pair walk around the corner and out of sight, and licked his lips in anticipation.

  He'd waited, and watched, and been so very patient. The last three and a half weeks had been devoted to making preparations. Now it was time to make his move.

  “Concentrate, now,” Alex whispered. The tightly furled yellow rosebud, one of the last of the fall bloom, lay in the palm of her hand; she focused, teasing tenderly at the ever-present knot in her chest. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply and pulled some of the tingling fire from the spot; as she exhaled, she shooed it gently down her arm. Her wrist and fingers began to ache, and she opened her eyes as she felt a tickling itch on her palm. The rose was slowly blossoming-- she watched with wide-eyed delight as its delicate petals spread open. Beyond the physical sensation, she could feel herself echoing the flower's joy as it reveled in its short, beautiful life.

  Elise let out a ringing peal of laughter. “I did it!” She cried, glancing away from the full bloom in her hand to smile up at Alex.

  He stood beside her bench, beaming down at her, and stroked a hand softly through her hair. “Well done, little girl.”

  A hint of doubt edged at her pride, however, making her frown. “That was easy,” she said, her brow furrowing as she bit her lip. “Should it have been that easy?”

  Alex chuckled as he sat beside her on the stone bench. “Just like healing, this was encouraging nature” he explained patiently. “The flower wanted to bloom-- you just helped it along. There was nothing opposing you. Now, if you want to try, for example, to stop something that's moving, or to move something sitting still, it will be more difficult-- you will be directly opposing the laws of physics. And it goes without saying that if you try anything involving a living person, their mind will fight your influence.”

  “Somehow, that does make me feel better,” she grinned, shyly allowing her knee to rest against his. “I would've felt like an idiot for never figuring this out myself, if it was so simple all the time.”

  They both jumped as they heard gravel crunch behind them. Alex whirled away from her, coming to his feet in a blur to face the noise. Elise thought she caught a sudden flash of fear and fury from him, but then she couldn't feel anything. She looked up at him: he was standing rigidly, his fists clenching so tightly his knuckles were white, staring down the path with an expression of horror.

  Elise turned in her seat to look in the direction of his gaze. There, striding between the rosebushes, was a man. He looked young, not too many years older than Elise, though judging by Alex's reaction his youthful appearance was probably deceptive-- and the two of them most likely had a history. The man's smooth black hair was long, bound back away from his face, and his beard was neatly trimmed. His light brown skin looked very attractive next to the gray suit he wore. He came towards them with his hands held out in a welcoming gesture, but the smile on his face didn't reach his cold, dark eyes. Elise rose to her feet slowly, placing her flower gently on the bench and smoothing her skirts as the man came close enough to speak.

  “Alexander, how good to see you after so many years!” His dry, menacing voice carried an accent that brought to mind the burning desert sand. Alex didn't say anything, and the man's smile vanished as if it had never been. “Aren't you going to say hello? Or at least introduce me to your lovely little friend?” Elise felt a shudder go up her spine as the young man spared her an icy glance, and instinctively shied away from him.

  “No, I am not,” Alex growled, his own accent infusing in his low voice. “In fact, you are never going to so much as look at her again.”

  Despite his close proximity, she couldn't sense anything at all from Alex; she could tell he was shielding hard and took that as her cue to do the same. It took her only a few moments to gather the edges of herself, pulling her power closed like a cloak to hide her. But once it was done, Elise felt adrift. Glancing up at Alex's face for some clue to his thoughts, she nearly gasped in shock: his features were transformed by an expression of complete, utter loathing. Even her own colorful experiences with hatred paled in comparison.

  While she was concentrating, the other man-- who Elise had no doubt was another vampire-- had taken a step closer. He was almost exactly the same height as Alex, and his shoulders were just a bit broader. “Now, you know that's just a tease,” he crooned, Alex's abhorrence mirrored on his own face.

  The young man suddenly looked at her, looming over her as he pointedly ignored Alex's warning; Alex grabbed her wrist, pulling her behind him. Elise didn't even have to stop herself from fighting his bruising grip-- something about this newcomer frightened her deep in her bones. “Walk away,” Alex snarled, holding Elise behind him as he leaned forward aggressively. “Right now.” The two glared at each other for a few seconds, and it occurred to Elise that if she lowered her shields, she would probably feel some sort of battle of wills going on between them. She wasn't about to do any such thing.

  Suddenly, the other vampire reeled back, his dark skin showing a slight sheen of sweat. “For such protectiveness, she must be something very special,” he hissed venomously. Elise drew back, shrinking behind Alex in the face of this new man's towering rage. Alex didn't reply, just glared a threat as he stood firmly between his adversary and Elise. The man's lip curled in contempt, but with one final glance at Elise, he turned his back and stalked away.

  Alex didn't move until the man had vanished from sight around a curve of hedges. Then very abruptly, he spun on his heel and started walking quickly down the hill in the opposite direction.

  “Who was that?” Elise demanded, shaking as Alex pulled her along. When he didn't answer, she tentatively lowered her shields, reaching for him.

  Instantly, she stumbled, overwhelmed by the sheer fury radiating from him. He glanced down at her through narrowed eyes, and she quailed under his gaze; his rapid, long-legged stride never wavered, and his crushing grasp on her wrist forced her to a near-run in order to keep pace. Desper
ately, she gripped her skirts with her free hand to keep from tripping on the gravel path.

  They reached his car, and he opened her door for her, all but throwing her inside. She shrank into her seat, hurriedly buckling the seat belt in place as he slid behind the wheel, graceful as a tiger, and the car took off. Alex accelerated quickly, until they were taking the road's curves at breakneck speed. Elise glanced at the speedometer and winced, biting her lip and closing her eyes with a whimper as they flew across a small bridge.

  “Oh, stop cowering, you'll be fine,” Alex snapped.

  “Speak to me in that tone of voice again and you won't be fine,” Elise shot back before she could think better of it. Her fear seemed to have evaporated in a wash of anger-- she realized belatedly that he had probably opened up a bit to her, and she was feeding off his rage. Well, tough, she thought callously. He was going to calm down before he wrapped the car around a tree. When he glared over at her, she returned his gaze deadpan. “Oh, stop,” she told him disdainfully. “That's not going to work on me right now. Why don't you take a deep breath, drive at something remotely resembling the speed limit, and tell me what that was all about.”

  Alex drew in a slow breath that shook as he let it out. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, but Elise watched the needle on the speedometer inch back down. She waited quietly until he was ready to speak, concentrating instead on willing herself to be calm-- and by extension, calming him as well.

  After a few minutes of silence, Alex began. “That was Rashid,” he spat the name, but checked himself and continued briskly and with somewhat more composure. “I met him during the crusades-- we fought on opposite sides of a war we both managed to survive. We hated each other then, and time has only served to deepen the feeling. He has done whatever he could to sabotage me over the years, and I have done the same to him. You are not safe with him here.”