Where's that Vampire Too? ✔️

Chapter 36 - She didn't get her hands dirty

Bahman walked in to find Alexa asleep on the sofa with an empty takeaway bucket next to her. She was curled up in a ball like she had skipped childlike, she was puppylike.He'd never really felt sorry for her before, she crashed into his life like a force of nature, but she was younger than him, seen her share of bloodshed, and lost people. He saw a lot of his younger self in her without her father ever coming back she needed family, just like did. He could see tracks of the tears she had wept as she had struggled to sleep. Sarah floated in, and he saw it now, Sarah with her ghostly presence must be a constant reminder of Alexa's failure to save her friend. "I think we should let her sleep there. She doesn't need to see me." The ghost smiled faintly like she knew exactly what he was thinking, he wished he could have seen that dimple appear when see was alive."Did something happen?" He leads them both out into the kitchen."No, she's just not being 'Alexa' in front of you anymore.""We need to fix this.""Bahman, that's a lovely idea but you can't fix a person. Just be there. Are you okay?""Yeah, I'd just like happy endings you know.""What do you mean?""We found D.""OMG!" Sarah went from 2 to 100, with all the enthusiasm."Quiet, and don't get your hopes so high, there's weird stuff going on but. We should take her home in the morning.""Good plan. Come I'll make you some tea.""But!""Fine, coffee then, but caffeine after nine is almost like wine, your body won't thank you.""I'm sure it's much better than wine. But you come up with some silly things.""And that's why you like me?""Maybe.""I'll take it." She beamed back at him, as bright, pale and glowing like the moon.Alexa awoke to the surreality of a peaceful dawn in the city of London, sunrise was usually when she was heading home for the night. She did not know what had possessed her to give into the temptation of not going out to seek the deadly children of the night last night, but she just couldn't face it. Unknown blood was on her hands but, the world went on without her. Sarah swished in sparkling and climbed into the blanket beside her."Morning or napping?" The happy spectre asked, but Alexa was still lost in her thoughts watching the clear calm skies and streets from the high-rise view they had. "Why do you think it's so peaceful outside?""It's Christmas day Alex!" "Oh, I'm sorry, this will-" The ghost touched a finger lightly to her lips."It will be my first with my new family." "Should we get going?""Family? Going where?" "Come on! It's Christmas, please don't tell me you haven't had one before?""Me and D, doing something religious. No.""Well, there's more of us now. Bahman's even coming.""Okay...?" "And Tristan, so get your sparkly glad rags on!"Sarah had insisted she come and dress up before they boarded the only direct train of the day. It was easy for her to get lost in the landscapes of the country, watching the bright blue skies and the low sun. "It's so good not to feel the cold you know, I'd never be able to wear a cute dress like this in the winter before. Hey Alex are you listening?" "This is a bad idea you know?""Why, were you avoiding home?""What if I was?""I'd ask why?""I'd have to think about him, how I've failed him, you, even myself. It's been so long, he's definitely dead, and I didn't do anything. I should just leave the house to Diana, at least she and Paul use it.""Alex, do you own the house?""Legally. D found a deed and no one can prove he hasn't been squatting there for 20 years.""Erm." Sarah had that puzzled look again."I didn't ask how he did things, he just did. And he knew how to make the world a better place, not just destroy things.""Oh, Alex!" The ghost jumped in for a bear hug, but the warrior easily dodged it, she didn't deserve it. "The sky is pretty today." She only pouted slightly, but didn't try to hug her again and returned to the window. "Yeah."They got off at the station. Alexa looked over the familiar old road. Not having her bike really was a pain, Paul would be there gloating at her need for him. Maybe she should try running, her werewolf side must have a use. It didn't matter to her if she took all day but she could surely manage it. She entered the carpark and saw him, lounging majestically on the side of his eyesore of an off-roader. He was already cracking a sheepish yet earth-shattering grin, peeling himself off the car, he straightened still gorgeous, her gruff but charming, kind and honest Tristan. And she had all but ignored him the last few months, why was he smiling at her like that? What could she have possibly done to deserve someone to look at her like that? Like the most beautiful woman in the world. She was butch, passably pretty at best. He wasn't. He was everything. She tripped over her own foot. Tristan had seen her. Ha! The site of him had made her stumble like a newborn gazelle, absolutely adorable and ready for a predator to come along and take her. He knew he shouldn't be thinking like that since he had disappeared on her, in her hour of need, but he'd helped save her life since and, she'd let him, he would take her home, to give her her unconventional family back. She was so rare, beautiful, full of strength, power, passion, and intelligence, even if she was young she didn't seem it usually. She was the most beautiful woman he'd seen, and the most perfect he'd known. He captured her gaze and focused towards her. "Hi." He whispered over the crowd knowing she was the one that could hear him. "Hi." She replied engrossed in the intimacy of being supernatural creatures, as if they were the only ones in the world that mattered. Alexa could feel it too, they were both lost in each other's voices for a moment. "You're not going to believe what I've found." His crooked smile crept bigger, warmer taking her in. All Alexa wanted at that moment was to be with him, he had come back and had waited for her. In only a few steps he was on him. No longer did she feel completely alone, as she crashed onto his soft lips, and he cradled her and his strong arms, as his stubble scratched her cheek."It's all romantic and stuff but, Alex, Tris, you need to get a room or maybe just not a train station carpark. I'm just saying I know you wanna cook a baby, but who do you think started cooking the dinner by now?" The spectre teased them, but they had been making a big scene, the locals were going to get nosey soon... This wasn't a time. She popped into the back seat, a massive present was sticking out of her belly, "Ewww." She floated out of it.Tristan and his lady love slid into his car, "Sarah?" Alexa checked a little dishevelled."I'm fine, just drive." The ghost mumbled at them. "Sure thing Captain." He chuckled at the girl in the back seat, then he turned to watch Alexa buckle in. "Did you miss me pup?""No." Alexa immediately said defensively ripping her eyes away from him and glancing out of the window. But he could hear her heart racing. "Well, I missed you." He stated watching her out of the corner of his eye. She turned back to him big black eyes sparkling with a hint of yellow. He couldn't help getting lost in them. Then her lips parted and she came forward to meet his. "Eyes on the road!" A shrill cry came from the back seat. Alexa pulled away first, palms covering her face in shame at her loss of self-control. "God I don't want kids." She grumbled under her breath at the interruption and loss of contact, settling into looking out at the passing scenery again. "We can't have kids." The immortal werewolf stated calmly as he focussed back on driving. There were so many things she didn't know about their world that would disappoint her. "What, wait, let's not have this conversation now?" She spluttered. "Agreed." He stated. A little while later he checked his rearview mirror and caught sight of Sarah smiling smugly. Well done, she was smarter than most gave her credit for, they probably would have crashed. Alexa took a deep breath, she didn't want the confrontation or their sympathy. At least Tristan had welcomed her back. Diana would... But why did she even care what she thought? Alexa had never figured out how the little one had reminded her so much of her father. It wasn't like they had that much of a family resemblance, just the slight sent. And a few gestures but it really came down to their knowledge and attitude to people, it just gave her a feeling. Of childhood and safety. Not that her childhood had been that safe with D bringing her along as they traipsed about, but he had kept her safe until it was her turn to save him since he was almost a master at getting himself into trouble.The thing with Paul, that would be worse. How do you confront a sociopath about his father's attempt to murder you, after they've made many of their own attempts? She tried to walk in slowly, but her anticipation stopped her from crossing the threshold. Standing in the doorway the two in question were in the room seated, completely still, very out of character for them. Her kitchen table. Someone had set it expertly with a beautiful spread of a great roast dinner, there was all the classic Christmas accoutrements, a duck she knew to be Tristan's favourite, and a big fat, blue cheese Wellington with perfectly golden glazed puffy pastry. See they didn't even need her to cook. She had noticed Sarah watching them all engrossed in the drama of the moment. And who would tell her off first? Call her out on how much of a failure she had been. Her Tristan was the only one who seemed immune and stalked through the thick atmosphere to stand behind Diana, coughing loudly through his deep voice. Then he put his hand on the petit blonde's shoulder, since when had they become so close? "Ahhem, Diana had something to tell you, Alexa.""Is that right?" Diana finally moved and inclined her small head defiantly up to the looming wolf. But he glowered down, with his full forceful and charming smile, allowing only a hint of incisors to escape. "It's what is right. She needs to know." He glared more."Okay, now we all need to know because everyone is being weird! Heck, even Alexa hasn't started eating. Spill girl!" Sarah sliced through the tension of the room as she spirited across to an empty seat, ready to view some dinner entertainment. Diana didn't like it. Tristan's big hand shook the small shoulder it had encased, and Diana's head scoped the room in fury, she felt like a bespectacled ferret looking for a trouser leg to run up, she was a woman of science and knowledge! She blew stuff up but didn't get her hands dirty, especially if it was only her in danger... Then her eyes caught her daughter's, and that's when she noticed. Her usually glaring or laughing little girl, looked blank, her always radiant caramel skin held red tinges under her eyes and blotches across her cheeks, in fact her whole face had an unevenness about it, sunken in some places, and puffy in others, was this natural human ageing? She looked further, her body still looked strong but, Diana could notice the difference in the hunter's gait and her muscles, everything was slightly less, less straight, less precise, less powerful, all less Alexa. Sarah had been right, even Alexa was "being weird" standing there out of place in her own home. And all this, if Tristan had hypothesised right this was all because she didn't know. "Alexa honey, can you sit down, please? Paul get her some tea, or mulled wine or something for everyone. I'm going to tell a story.""Isn't that for after dinner?" Sarah started, but Tristan quietened her with a look, and protectively took the seat next to Alexa and she took hers. "There is a point when you think you know everything because you believe you've grown up, finished education, explored everywhere. But recently I experienced something incredibly new, and this was after about 16 years of beautiful new things, compared to my hundreds of basically the same thing. Still fun, but sameish. A life hopping between planets, the new things were limited to versions of the same. The people, the politics, the religions and even the sciences still held to the same laws. Until I came to this little planet, and I found a small red swaddled bundle crying in a burning building. And before I knew it you had grown from defenceless babe to fierce protector, who would save my tush if I ever got in trouble. Eventually, I took you for granted, and sloppiness ensued where I could have thought of a way out, but I didn't." She didn't want to watch the penny drop, puling the bandaid off was the only way she could save her sanity and get through this. Her eyes moved away from her daughter and settled on the calculating wolf man, he may have been huge, but to her far less intimidating than the daughter she had lied to. "I used science. We have rather robust bodies so when sustaining a mortal injury we usually have enough time to get back to a safely stowed away machine. It takes our bodies and splices and reconfigures the DNA in every cell of our bodies to fix the damage, and then rebuilds to the safest form. "But this time the process went differently in the most surprising way. To escape death I changed into the thing my daughter was. A teenage girl. So Alexa honey, if you can believe it? I am D. Ask me anything only D would know and I'll answer." The small orangey alien delivered the monologue slowly and compassionately, but also assuming none of it had made sense to anyone other than Paul who had seen everything in person. And she was right, her daughter just sat there like a very muscular fish. And to be fair the man wolf to her side was decidedly scowly. The loud ghost's face was utterly priceless with glee, clearly not wanting to break the silence. "Omg, Alex, how are you taking it? Aliens!"Tristan tried to caress the smaller wolf's arm comfortingly. "Yes, I'd try not to think about that part. But Alexa, this is the reason no one will ever find your father." He could feel her shiver under him, clammy, confused. He rubbed comfort and circulation in as her mind tried to process it all. The ghost was waiting patiently, thankfully, they all did. Aliens were not under his jurisdiction. He'd read the case of Frederick Valentich once, he'd not believed a bloody word.Alexa took a deep breath and considered the facts. What was logical? Diana had always had a sent so similar to D, and both so drastically different to anyone else she had ever encountered, and that tan. Did she believe her? Him? "What burning building?""What fire are you talking about, there's been many fires. The one you started by crashing a bike into that satanic church when you were 10? The one I put out in the Gallic tomb of Bright the Destroyer. The Ziggurat? Literally too many sweetheart, could you be more specific?" Her gender-transitioned guardian quibbled over facts and the small details as ever, but all of those events had only been shared by her and D, she was proving what she'd claimed to be true. "It's a time loop" Paul looked between them and tried to nudge his alien onto the right course. Alexa looked him up and between him and Diana, judging something. He tried to act as normal as possible.Alexa considered the vampire, his sticking to Diana made more sense now. Their relationship was more complicated than she had thought. "A time loop...?" She could get enough information she would eventually understand everything. Diana didn't look much like an alien. "What are you talking about Paul?" She tried to bat Paul off her glaring haughtily down her glasses at him, but Alexa was taking none of it now. "My parents died in a fire?""No I'm right here honey, I just covered that.""Diana she's asking about how you found her.""Well, you called me, because I left you in the past.""O-M-G time travel too!" Sarah added laughing with herself."Please calm down everyone, Alexa are you okay?" Tristan had taken her hand as soon as he had realised she was asking about her parents but he was too old to entertain the impossible idea of bloody time travel. "I might be. When I get all of the truth. But you did just mention time travel." She squeezed his hand back but remained focused on the others. "Why else did you think that one has been sticking around?" Diana glared at Paul again, sticking her tongue out childishly. "That's obvious, even to me the dumb one." Sarah chimed knowingly. "Sarah, what have I said about putting yourself down?""Alex I'm just saying! Time-traveling aliens though? I'm going to get Bahman, he can't miss any more!"They all stayed silent for a moment or so. For an intelligent group of people, they sure had confused each other and couldn't comprehend answering the looming questions. Sarah popped back, with Bahman beside her. "Fancy spread. Has it happened yet?" He asked the group. "What? You already knew about time-traveling aliens?" Sarah's eyes bored into his soul, and he sat. With a small smile happy to observe the rest of the proceedings.