Being Undead

Chapter 12*

The case of a choice aside, there was the matter of Frederick being upset; and that Laura a lot. She was sorry about the way the events of the previous night had gone down and its repercussions and she wanted him to know that. But she had no idea how to effectively do that, which was why she turned to the one person who might: Damian.

Now, it didn't take powers to know that Damian would never have been Laura's go-to guy if it wasn't necessary. He was mean and she hated every iota of his presence; and although she was actually thankful that he was on hand to save her life from her assailants the previous night- she probably would be thankful for that forever- it still didn't change what the immense dislike felt about him.

Unfortunately, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, she reminded herself as she got out of bed and went to find him.

After so much searching up and down the Undead Mansion, Laura finally found Damian in the dining hall, with a plate of pasta and meatballs and orange juice no less.

Thing is, unlike popular belief, undeads are capable of ingesting meals other than blood. It didn't do for much for their body, to be honest- only blood could really help there- but they still had enough active cells in their taste buds to enjoy a good meal.

Nice choice for a breakfast, Laura admired the spread before Damian, if eating the first meal of the day at sunset could be called breakfast, of course.

"Look who decided to show up?" Damian said as soon as he looked up to see Laura approach, an unabashed smile on his face. "Little Miss Sunshine herself. Tell me, are you ready screw another thing up for us today?"

Laura was in no mood for Damian mockery and would have turned and walked away right then if not that she quickly reminded herself that she still needed his help to get through to Frederick. Sitting down with her own mock smile, she said simply, "I need your help."

Now, that elicited a different response from Damian: he quirked an eyebrow, almost like that was the last thing he was expecting to hear; and Laura really suspected it was.

"Really?" he said after a while. "You need my help. What for? If I may ask."

"Frederick," she replied. "How do I get back in his good graces?"

A small smirk came on to Damian's face at this point. Somehow, he had guessed that's where they were headed. "Look," he said, "I would love nothing more than to tell you to bug off right now, but I know you won't let it go and probably end up making things worse for everyone in the process. I also can't tell you to go face Anton, he'll just destroy you and cause Frederick more grief in the process.

"So, Morgue girl," he stood up at this point and passed the remainder of his pasta to her, "the truth is that there's nothing you can do. You screwed up and there's no unscrewing it."

"Help me, Damian." She grabbed his hand before he could leave. "Please." She shot him her best puppy dog eyes.

To Laura's utmost surprise, Damian groaned under the gaze; she hadn't actually thought it would be work when she shot it. Guess the tin man has a heart after all, she thought, smiling inwards. But she kept it cool on the surface.

"Fine," he finally said, quickly disengaging from her hold and gaze in embarrassment; he was actually blushing. "I'll see what I can do to appease Frederick."

"Thank you." Laura smiled and Damian went even redder. It was obvious that he would have zoomed out of the hall if not that it make the moment even more embarrassing him.

Laura, on the other hand, very pleased with herself- who needs compulsion when you've got puppy dog eyes? She was thinking to herself- sat down to finish Damian's leftover in triumph.

But out of nowhere, it suddenly hit her. "Who's Anton?" she asked.

Thing is, the name had crept up in Damian's explanation the previous night- and the one earlier too- Frederick's expression had turned completely frightening after he heard it, and Laura herself would have realised it was very important much earlier if not that she was too occupied minding Frederick being upset at her.

Damian turned, the look in his eyes returned to steel now as he walked back towards Laura. "I'd love to tell you that, Laura," he said, his voice barely a whisper as he leaned in so close that she reflexively leaned backwards, "but I'd have to kill you afterwards."

Laura quirked an eyebrow. Surely, it can't be that serious, can't it? She thought to herself.

Unfortunately, when it came to Damian, there were some things that couldn't be taken for granted; and he had actually used her real name this time. Something had to be up with that Anton guy.

"Good," Damian said when he saw the withdrawal in Laura's eyes, withdrawing from his lean too. "Stay away from Anton, Morgue girl, you'll live longer that way."