The Revenant Queen 2 (wlw)

Chapter Fourteen

The car ride back to town was quiet. There was a soft hum of music that streamed among the two women but they were both too busy ruminating on the former discussion to focus on the lyrics and vocals of Hozier the talented singer whose song was tossed around in the vicinity.

Within her sailing thoughts, Petra felt regret that fizzed and bubbled at the surface for sharing all of that in one sitting with the girl. She could see how perturbed her revelation left the blonde and she cursed herself, she didn't mean to traumatize her.

Beth stared out her window the entire time with her arms tucked between her thighs, every once in a while she'd fiddle her thumbs together. She kept replaying the entire conversation: Colette and why she left, the girl being attacked by Petra, some woman by the name of Adira who was a witch but also was a demigod but also wasn't inherently evil or good.

The girl, in her quietude, thought she might have hallucinated the whole conversation but out from the corner of her eye, she saw Petra glare in her direction and the look on the woman, no vampire's face was that of obvious contrition.

But Beth wondered, how did she not notice it sooner, Petra being part of the supernatural and all?

The woman was a walking anthropological wonder, she was strong, too strong for someone of her stature to be. There were more questionable things about her character and behaviour as well and one of them the blonde could remember was Petra's agility. That night when she returned after a few weeks of quietness and barely any contact, the girl remembered how the woman climbed into her bedroom without the aid of a ladder and suddenly it all made sense. No human could do that, not even the best stuntman or daredevil and that was the thing that sold her of Petra being paranormal.

Stealing a glance in the rearview mirror, Beth gasped quietly when she didn't find a reflection for the woman when she searched for it.

"You still have doubts?"

"Why didn't I notice sooner?" The girl asked, still trying to wrap her mind around the reflectionless woman—why didn't she notice it sooner? Was she so whipped that common sense was non-existent?

"You couldn't," answered Petra.

"The signs were there,"

"But it would've been ridiculous for you to assume that first to begin with, Beth-"

"How old are you?" Asked the girl who now looked the vampire deep in the eyes. She could see Petra hesitate but it fleeted. Her pretty brown eyes, usually warm and friendly now cold and distant but pretty nonetheless.

"I'm older than I look," Petra answered, waiting until the silence was unbearable to continue.

"I'm almost two hundred years,"

Beth's eyes bulged, her mouth agape, she scanned her counterpart's face.

"You look amazing," she whispered inevitably causing Petra to chuckle.

An ache banged deep within the vampire's chest. She felt it, the end of the special thing she and Beth had created but amid that doom, there was a weight that lifted itself from her shoulders. Her conscience felt weightless, her mind was cleared but then at what cost Petra asked herself.

"Black don't crack, even after one hundred and eighty-something years," shrugged the vampire.

"I...I think that's cool,"

"You do?"

At that moment, Petra saw just how much Beth was pushing for there not to be any awkward tension and she appreciated it. The girl wasn't condescending and or trying to be perceived as understanding or conversational, she genuinely was.

"I find vampires to be cool and my liking of them started around that twilight era,"

Petra chuckled.

"That was a horrible depiction of my kind. Do you know how offended us vampires were by that poorly written, fantasy indulged saga?"

"I thought it was nice," Beth shrugged and Petra shook her head.

"I must give Stephenie an A' for effort, at least she tried,"

"So what did she get wrong?"

There was a moment's silence at the question and in that silence, Petra went over if it was right going over all the details with the girl. She had no problem sharing but she feared the prejudice that would soon follow, those condemnation humans were known for. She didn't want to be subject to it, Petra feared scaring Beth to the point where she would push her away for sure.

"Another time I'll go over those with you,"

"You're worried you'll scare me?"

At the question, Petra remained quiet once more. What could she possibly say? It was the truth but she didn't want to confirm whether it was and she also didn't want to speak of it, so she did the next best thing.

The car continued to cruise along in the silence now that the radio was switched off. By the time the women arrived at Beth's home, they were both questioning so much.

"I just want you to know," started the older woman. She turned to Beth. She reached out to gently grab the girl's hand and to her satisfaction, the blonde didn't pull away or flinch but allowed herself to be held.

"I'd like it if you reached out. I don't want this thing that we started to just dissipate and I know it might seem hard to do that now after learning so much but I hope you could look past some things and realize that I've never been more serious in my entire life about anything than at this point."

Petra gently squeezed the girl's warm hand.

"I really like you Beth, and in the way I've never liked anyone else. I don't want to hurt you, I don't want to swindle anything from you, I'm genuinely interested in your well-being and your happiness and even for me that's strange, so don't think for a second that this is something new and usual. I adore you,"

And there was another gentle squeeze. It was as if the vampire was saying a final goodbye and it felt that way in her chest.

In turn, Beth opened her side of the car and climbed out. She felt the ache in her chest, not because of any of the things she learned but from what she picked up from Petra. She felt what the woman might've felt and despite wanting to reassure her that everything would be fine, she couldn't. She couldn't because she didn't even know if it would be. Where would one go from here, after finding out that their love interest, their muse is a blood-sucking creature of the night? Beth had no clue and no one could blame her but she did know she adored Petra too.

"I'll call you," was all she managed to say and then closed the car's door.

Petra watched her walk up the little path to the house after slipping through her gate.

Sighing, the vampire knew now what was left to do and it was the thing she dreaded since the drama between her, Adira and Colette. She knew it was only time before Adira found her and before the woman did, Petra decided to let them know she was going show up at their stupid hearing.