Reckless

Chapter 3 Part 1

Character POV: Roxanne

Modern Day

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I jolt awake, looking to my nightstand to where my iPhone is plugged in, charging. I see the name on the screen, "Analize," and I groan, scrubbing a hand over my face even as I reach across to answer. I grasp the phone, pressing the green button and putting it up to my ear. "Do you realize that it is six o'clock in the morning?" I mutter irritatedly, not caring that this woman has been my superior for centuries.

Her voice is low, completely unamused with me, as she says sharply, "There's been a body discovered. I need you to go and investigate. I've already booked you a flight. If you leave now, you will have just enough time to get there before the plane takes off." I wince as she says this, turning slightly to look across the bed at the naked man laying there, his black hair in his eyes, mouth hanging open as he softly snores. I know that when he wakes up and finds that I'm gone, we're going to have another fight.

"Seriously? There hasn't been a killing of a magical creature in centuries. There are only three witches left in existence, two of which are us, so we know it's not a witch. It's probably just a depraved human killing another human. What's all the fuss?"I whisper, wincing as I recall that he's still here. Still, even as I'm arguing, I am slowly pulling the sheet back and gingerly placing my bare feet on the ground. I catch a glimpse of my bare burned leg and quickly look away, forcing all of those dark memories out of my head so that I can focus on the task at hand.

She's silent on the other end of the line for long enough that I begin to second guess myself, and I get this intense weight settling in my chest as foreboding flows through me. I shut the door to the bedroom, his bedroom, and walk down the hallway towards my room. I place the key in the lock and turn the knob, turning it and swinging the door open wide. I shut the door behind me, flipping the latch and effectively locking it before I say, "I'm alone now. Feel free to speak freely. What's the interest in this corpse specifically?"

Analize says in a slow drawl, "Two puncture marks on the neck, body completely drained of blood. She was posed like she was strapped to a pyre, except in this case it was an electrical pole by a busy highway. The only time she could have been propped up was at night as that's the only time that stretch of highway is empty and people wouldn't have noticed." She pauses then, and I can see her face as if she were standing before me, deep red hair piled high on her head, dark eyes almost black with hatred, before she finishes, "Passersby in the region described a suddenly dense fog appearing and then disappearing around the same time the body must have been dumped."

"There hasn't been a confirmed vampire killing in centuries, either," I remind her, even as I feel my heart thunder in my chest. I'm not sure if it is with excitement or with fear. Given the last time I saw the vampires, the last interaction I had with her, I'm not sure whether things would end with a hug or with teeth embedded in my neck. I quickly dash towards my dresser, riffling through the top drawer, pushing aside nearly empty bottles of booze, to find the necklace with the single spelled gem that contains a single drop of Ariadne's blood in its core, only to find that it is shining bright-- something it hasn't done since I last saw her. My hand stills as I just stare at it disbelievingly.

Analize growls lowly through the telephone, "Humor me."

I shove the necklace into my pocket, instantly shuffling about to grab out some clothes as I put the phone between my shoulder and head so I can use both hands. "Send me the information. I'll be there as soon as possible." She grunts her agreement, hanging up on me. I quickly pull on a red dress, slit up the side, and put on a black leather jacket, shoving the necklace into a pocket and zipping it up. I run a brush through my long blonde hair, then a quickly put on some matte red lip stick, seeing the slight scar over my eye glistening back at me. I look away again, shoving the lip stick tube back into the drawer, taking out a bottle, and downing all of its contents in one gulp before screwing back on the lid and shoving it back into the drawer. I quickly make my way to the door, putting on my heeled pair of boots. I quickly look around to check and see if he has woken up and if he's going to try to stand in my way and keep me from going anywhere like he's done before.

Satisfied that he's fast asleep and there'll be no one to stand in my way or witness my departure, I slip the flask into my other pocket. That's another thing that I don't want him noticing. I can picture her standing in the corner, her lips pursed as she quirks her head to one side and crosses her arms, her anger at my actions building. I mutter under my breath, speaking to this woman that is so different from the one I knew, "At least it's not drugs." I glance back up and the fake *her* is gone. I pause by the notepad, lost in my thoughts. I pause to scribble, "Ariadne" on the pad, the visualization of the person I'm both dreading and hoping is behind this crime settling something deep inside of me.

Realizing where I am, that this the 2020's and that I am in the house I share with a man, I rip the page off of the pad and crumble it up in my hand. I switch to a completely different pad of paper and scribble my note explaining where I've gone, in as much detail as I feel he needs, for him to see when he wakes up. He'll just have to understand that there are things that I can't put off, even for him.

I walk towards the tan door, swinging it open and shutting it much more quietly behind me so that there isn't even a squeak of the hinges. I quickly shove my key in the lock, turning it, and sealing him in like I've sealed Ariadne away in the darkest corners of my mind. Or am I sealing him away from her? She wasn't always bad, I remind myself, as I slip my key into my pocket. Guilt gnaws away at me at the thought as I am forced to remember the part I had to play.