Refuge of Delayed Souls

Part 23 - Nature

Present Day

Elizabeth sat bolt upright. Her heart was racing and she fought blindly to focus her eyes. Grispheran was sitting nonchalantly in the passenger seat beside her. His presence unnerved her to such a degree that she struggled to regain any semblance of composure.

“You frightened the Living daylights out of me, you bloody idiot! What the hell are you playing at?” As she recovered from the shock of his sudden appearance and physical contact, she began to boil with anger and her green eyes flashed.

He laughed softly. “Tut tut, Bess! There's no need to shout -– you'll wake the Living. You wouldn’t want to draw attention to us now would you? Or is that what you want? Attention?” He moved closer, lowering his eyes to her mouth for a fraction of a second and then raised them to meet her own.

Elizabeth looked into their black watery depths and felt herself drifting. There was something so physically attractive about him and yet at the same time her instinct warned her against him.

“Just what is it you want?” she asked, anchoring herself by looking away and concentrating on the light and noise travelling towards them from the wine bar over his shoulder.

“Oh, you know exactly what I want, Bess. Why don’t you stop pretending otherwise.” He leaned forward to whisper this seductively into her ear, and then gently bit the pearl teardrop of her earring. Elizabeth half closed her eyes as a sensuous thrill washed over her and Grispheran traced his mouth down the length of her neck and towards her collarbone. Elizabeth couldn’t help but be carried away in the moment just briefly until the siren of a passing ambulance brought her back to her senses.

“I’ve absolutely no idea what you are talking about!” She pulled away, clutching her car keys like a crucifix. "Are you going to sit here plaguing me all night?" she asked, staring out through the windscreen in order to avoid looking directly into his eyes. She then stated more calmly, "I for one have better things to do with my time.”

“Whenever you're ready, Bess,” he replied confidently and vanished.

Elizabeth was visibly shaken and tried to compose herself. The encounter with Grispheran following hot on the heels of the terrifying experience with Linus had taken its toll on her. She took a few moments to calm herself and then asked aloud, “Do you always have to be so bloody dramatic?”

"It's not in my nature to be otherwise."