by Arizona Tape
“You smell like someone else,” she said dryly, but I could hear this was causing her great displeasure.
“Her name is Heather,” I simply answered, not feeling like beating around the bush or playing games. This was why I was here and maybe if she knew there was someone else, she would stop looking at me like a feline stalking her prey.
“Good for you,” my dark-haired ex added nonchalantly, but her sarcasm wasn’t lost on me. Not that I blamed her.
When things ended, there was so much ambiguity. Most of our relationship was shrouded in that. There were so many things left undefined and unspoken, in the end, it felt like we were both wandering around in a haze of mist trying to figure out where we both were. Not after long, we didn’t even know if we were or weren’t a thing and yet, we kept going. We kept rocking the boat, paddling, no clue to where we were going or if we were even going in the same direction. Were lost at sea and surely, we were sinking. It made us both so miserable that after many years of uncertainty and pain, I abandoned ship. Hoping that the little boat would carry her to wherever she wanted to go.
It never crossed my mind she might have preferred to drown with me than sail on to better shores without me. It was just something I couldn’t believe. After all we went through, there just didn’t seem any other option left.
So I left her and never looked back, wishing she would be okay and trusting in her abilities to survive. I knew in my heart she’d make it on her own. I just never knew for sure if that was what she truly wanted. After all this time, I wasn’t even sure if I saved her or myself. Maybe I did a little bit of both.
But nothing I told myself, could shut up the whisper in the back of my head, reminding me of a promise I made to her a long time ago. I convinced myself she would be okay without me. I convinced myself I’d be okay without her. And miraculously, we were. But still, a part of me got lost at sea and I never found it again.
And as I stood in front of her, after all these years, I realised she took that little part of me with her. From the look in her eyes, I could tell she took good care of it. Everything about her was so familiar and yet she felt like a stranger. It pained me more than I liked to admit.
I shook away those long lost thoughts and reminded myself why things went like they did.
“I need your help, Johanna,” I spoke sincerely, hoping that after everything, she still cared enough for me to help.
“So this really is a business call,” she sighed, her face calm and composed again, every hint of anger or displeasure erased. She truly was a master of disguise.
Another pang shot through me as that same little voice reminded me that in the past, she didn’t have to hide around me, but I quickly waved it away. It was what it was.
“Can I trust you?” I breathed.
“I’m insulted you even need to ask,” she scowled, a flash of disappointment passing over her whole being.
“You’re right, sorry. I have a… delicate problem. I need you to check me out.”
She pulled up a perfectly shaped eyebrow and I quickly rephrased my sentence. “Medical check out. I need a full work-up. There’s something wrong with my body and I need you to find out what it is, but I can’t tell you what you’re looking for, why I need you to keep this under the radar, or what is going on. Are you my woman or do I need to find someone else?”
“I’m always your woman and as far as I can tell, your body looks fine,” she grinned with a flirty undertone that should have concerned me, yet it didn’t. It just felt nice. “Except for that one blue eye of yours. You should really try to hide it better,” she added casually.
My mouth fell open and I stared at her in shock. I had been here for five minutes and even with this bad lightning, she spotted what was going on. She really knew me inside out and could read me like an open book. But then again, after hundred years, it really was no surprise. We spend long enough reading each other’s lines and fighting over the meanings.
I changed a lot, but the person I became, was built on who I was with her. I’d have been insulted if she didn’t remember the person I used to be around her. I ignored the part of me that rejoiced and pushed down the surprise.
“That’s why you’re the best,” I grinned as I got over my astonishment. She truly was one of the best in her field. The only reason she worked independently was that flustered all her colleagues to the point disastrous mistakes were made.
She approached me and as she pushed my chin up with one slender finger, she peered deep into my eyes. “Aria, Aria. What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?”
Challengingly, I stared back at her, forcing myself not to bow under her stare and as time passed, our staring match got intenser and intenser. I couldn’t give in to her again. I needed to resist her, for my sake, for her sake, and for Heather’s sake.
So we just stared.
For a moment, I feared she would kiss me. But she let go of my chin and drew her eyes away. She must have found her answer in my eyes. She let out a soft sigh and shook her head as she rubbed her neck. She turned towards me with a worried look on her face. A light crease on her forehead showed the last ten years hadn’t passed her without leaving a mark.
“I guess some things never change. Who is this girl?”
“She’s really important and I need to know if I’m okay. That’s all I can tell you for now,” I phrased carefully, hoping she wouldn’t dig deeper. If she did, I might just throw it all on the table.
“So am I correct to assume this is about that human girl?”
I froze under her words and with widened eyes, I stared at the woman in front of me. How in the world…
She chuckled lightly and shook her head again. “Your silence says enough. I figured as much.”
“H-How…?” I spluttered, gasping for air as panic flashed through my head. Was it that obvious? Did I say something wrong? Was there a leak somewhere? Was Heather in danger? Did I put Heather in danger?
What was going on!
Oh gods, no. I needed to get out of here. I needed to go see Heather, make sure she was okay. I needed to leave right now.
“Please, I’m one of the most respected scientists of this generation. Of course I’m part of the elite team. I worked on the original HH case. When our examination got cancelled and your father got suspended a couple of months later, it became very clear to me. I spoke with him and he confirmed my suspicions. You found the human and he was adamant she escaped somehow, but that it was all his fault. A big fat lie, of course. I know you. You let her go. So am I right to assume that this ‘Heather’ of yours is both the lost human and your lover?”
I scanned around, checking if there wasn’t anyone else that could hear this information. My whole body was jittery and I felt like running out of here, just to make sure Heather was safe.
Johanna knocked on the walls and grinned. “Relax. Nobody knows except for a small group. You didn’t do anything wrong. Also, we’re alone and everything here is soundproof. We’re completely isolated. If you scream, nobody will hear you. But you remember that, don’t you?” she winked, clicking her tongue.
I looked in her eyes, begging silently that she was telling me the truth. When I found the reassurance I needed, I relaxed and my muscles unclenched.
Heather was still safe. Nothing leaked. Yet. Relax.
“I always hated how smart you were,” I sighed, letting the tension escape.
She chuckled. “I know you did. Now, get your butt over here so I can start ‘checking you out’, Aria.”
“Fine. And stop calling me Aria. My name is Adrianna,” I groaned, hoping she’d drop the old nickname, but her grin told me she wouldn’t. The smile on my lips told her I didn’t mind after all.
“You know I’ll never stop calling you Aria,” she stated, a glint of nostalgia passing over her face.
“I know.”
Briefly, she touched my arm and for a split second, we were 100 years back in time. Everything we were and everything we wer
e supposed to be, flashed through my body like a wild tornado through a warm monsoon. It left me bewildered and bewitched for the shortest of moments. I could tell from the look in her dark purple eyes that she was right here with me, back in the past in our favourite moment. It was warm and comfortable and so familiar it struck my heart in the most excruciating way.
She removed her hand and with the blink of an eye, we were right back in the moment that was now.
“Time to get to work,” she spoke softly, her voice slightly more broken than before we touched and I knew the break hadn’t just been in her voice.
“Aye-aye, doctor,” I saluted, hoping to change the weird atmosphere hanging in between us. I elicited a rare and soft smile from her lips instead of the permanent smirk she always held.
She was a bomb with her cheeky grin and her seductive eyes, but when a true smile graced her face, she looked nothing shy of hauntingly beautiful. Every time her true smile came out, I could tell it’d been a long time since she last smiled and how she was painfully aware of that fact.
“Shut up and lay down.” The smile was gone as quickly as it came and with her signature smirk, she pushed me down on the cold bench. She was never good at showing what was behind her mask, yet I knew exactly what she held hidden. Of all the people she met, she graced me with the key to her heart and I found a special and once in a lifetime treasure that surpassed everything and anything else in pure value.
Up till now.
As the image of Heather flashed through my mind, I couldn’t help but feel guilty. Feelings I pushed so deep down I believed them to be gone, resurfaced just from being in her presence. And even though she didn’t need to worry about a thing, it put me in a tough spot.
The love I held for both these women clashed inside my chest and it felt like a betrayal, yet for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out who exactly I was betraying here.
“Let’s find out what is wrong with you. Although I could think of a few things from the top of my head,” she muttered.
I shot back up. “Hey, I heard that!” I exclaimed in mock offence.
She pushed me back down by my shoulders and grinned. “I said it out loud, didn’t I? Now shut up and let me do my job or I will stab you with this syringe.”
“Uggh, why did I even come here,” I sighed, rolling my eyes in exasperation.
“Because regardless of what you say or what happens between us, I’ll always be one of the few people you really trust,” she answered calmly, her voice assured and her argument logical.
I hated those arguments. I hated how she was always right.
“Now you shut up or I will stab you with your own syringe,” I growled. She hit the nail on the head. Again.
Johanna threw her head back and as she chuckled out loud, her crystal laughter filled the room. She briefly touched the dimple on the inside of my upper arm.
“I missed you. It really is good to see you again, Aria.”
“Right back at you, J,” I admitted, a pang of guilt shooting through me as another image of Heather flashed through my head. I loved Heather. There was no denying it and if I could, I’d spend the rest of her or my life with her.
But J was just something else. There was much history and we always had this undeniable chemistry. We’d been partners in crime for so long, nothing could ever change the connection we shared. Even now, we had this spark, this attraction. But compared to how grand and majestic we used to be, it barely even cast a shadow on the wall. The heat and passion we shared easily burned down the biggest of forests, but in the end, it only left ashes behind. As much as I loved that we had that connection, there was nothing left for her to ignite.
My heart and everything I had, belonged to Heather now.
Chapter 19: Lab Results
I groaned softly as I suppressed the urge to bang my head repeatedly against the wall until my brain stopped working. I couldn’t believe I was here. Again. Back in what I could only describe as a nightmare.
Why did I ever think it was a good idea to put J and Heather in the same room?
We were only one pool of mud away from a full on bitch fight. They weren’t impolite, no, on the contrary. They were both so polite, I had no doubt the corners of their mouths hurt from smiling so broadly. But underneath the polite words and the sweet sentences, there was an undeniable sharpness that could’ve cut all the tension hanging in the room.
Not that I blamed any of them.
J and I never officially broke up. We just took breaks, but one way or another, we gravitated back. I knew it, she knew it. The end never meant the end. But this time it did.
And here I was, ten years later, asking for a major favour while shoving my new lover in her face. If she’d done that to me and I didn’t have Heather, I would probably have been just as catty. Maybe even more.
But there was a Heather. Not just a Heather. The Heather. Although she didn’t enjoy having an article in front of her name. She said nobody did that but I could have sworn I read in a history books that some people enjoyed that.
But that was beside the point.
Heather and I hadn’t really talked much about my dating past. But I couldn’t avoid J. Not as a topic and not in person. After testing me, she insisted on seeing Heather and conducting some research on her as well. Although I trusted her judgement as a doctor, I wondered if it was the scientist or my ex who wanted to see Heather.
As they met, it became very clear it was my ex that wanted to examine Heather. The way they acted towards each other was just so weird. Heather was threatened by J and our past, but J definitely felt threatened by my blondie as well.
I only barely survived their first encounter and now we were back for more. Because I had no choice. We had no choice.
In the two weeks that passed, we had more difficulties with running from her world to mine. I managed to avoid biting Heather again, but once in a while, every other sound apart from her heartbeat would disappear and it would drive me crazy. It took me a lot of self-control and discipline to stop myself from attacking her and just taking her for myself.
I became so wary and cautious, I barely even touched or kissed her. It took our toll on us.
I shook my head and sighed. After everything we went through, after all my attempts to catch her, now I needed to push her away.
As I grew hungrier, I grew physically weaker. If that wasn’t hard enough on us, she had to meet my drop dead gorgeous, stunningly beautiful, and smart-as-a-whip ex. Who did everything she could to make Heather uncomfortable. After all the non-spoken threats, I was surprised Heather held her own.
She must really love me.
At least they didn’t get along. The idea of J and Heather flirting just made me nauseous to my core. That would have been even more unbearable. I quickly shook that idea away.
It hadn’t taken J long to finish all her tests and only a week later, we were back in the lab, waiting for the test results.
At least, that was why we were supposed to be here. J and Heather had taken it as a new opportunity to exchange more rude comments and J was even snippier than usual. She was practically breathing fire.
The results must be worse than expected. I could just hear the accusing tone in J’s voice as she directed her angry words at Heather.
I was in trouble. J found something that had to do with Heather and it wasn’t good. She was frustrated and she was unleashing it on my girlfriend.
“Ladies! Can we cease fire for just a moment and can you tell me what is going on?” I yelled, grabbing both their attention.
Heather quietly apologised as J just glared at me, probably angry that I addressed them both in the same sentence.
“J, can you please tell me what got you so on edge? What did you find out?”
She threw one last nasty look at Heather, before pulling out a form with ‘classified’ over it. Like that would stop people from looking at it. Not.
“It’s not good news,” she muttered, wrinkles appearing around her eyes
that made her look older. Even older than she actually was.
“I figured. Give it to me straight,” I blew out, shaking my head and putting my game face on. I needed to be strong now.
J pulled up her perfectly shaped eyebrow and there was a slight tug on the corner of her mouth. I could tell from that slight smirk what kind of remark she wanted to make.
“Nevermind that, just tell me what is going on,” I waved her unspoken joke away as I didn’t have the energy to deal with that.
“Alright then… Well. Guess there’s no reason to sugarcoat it. You’re sick.”
“Okay. I figured… What kind of sick?” I asked calmly, taking in a deep breath. I knew there was something wrong with me, hearing her confirm it was just a relief by now. At least it meant I wasn’t imagining things and going coo-coo crazy.
“There’s no word for it. It’s unprecedented because well, the source of the virus wasn’t available before you came in contact with… That,” she answered, sneering out the last word towards Heather.
“Me? What did I do?” Heather defended herself.
“When you two had… The sex. You infected her with your human bacteria and viruses,” J snarled, throwing dirty looks at Heather.
I nodded. “So…?”
“You two have very different immune systems. Usually, that’s a good thing. But not in this case. Heather,” J growled, pulling a face.
“J, don’t.”
“Fine. Basically, you’re infected. It’s attacking the key points in your system and it’s lowering your muscles endurance. You’re losing control over your heightened sense and it will probably attack your vitals next. Your temperature will raise, your muscles will break down. In time, it’ll go for your brain.”
I turned speechless and looked at Heather. I could see the disbelief and denial in her eyes as if she didn’t want to take J’s word for it, but we both knew this was true. It explained everything.
I swallowed loudly and directed my attention back to J. “So what about the hunger?”