The Outlier

Chapter Two

Annemarie walked cluelessly and aimlessly around. She didn't know who any of these people were, and they were all absorbed in their own conversations. "Wait..." She stared at the one man she thought looked familiar. Too familiar. She walked towards him. "Ferid?"

He turned around. It was definitely him. The creepy man that sometimes showed up at her father's parties. "Annemarie? You're the First Progenitor? I should have known, you did always smell rather...intoxicating."

The man he was with turned around. "Ferid, you know her?"

"From when I went to America not to long ago. Oh, Annemarie, this is Crowley Eusford."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Eusford."

"The pleasure is mine, First Progenitor." Crowley replied, obviously teasing her about her awkward position.

"Don't call me that." Annemarie replied. "I still don't even know what that means."

"Huh? You don't?" Ferid asked. "Well, you did just get here today. Hm...how to explain this...Basically, you're the reason we exist, so now you've gotta babysit all of us."

"...Well, I have experience with that..." she said.

"You mean when you're father gets drunk in his suit at his parties?" Ferid asked. Annemarie nodded.

"What?" Crowley asked.

"Her father's the famous 'Ironman'. A superhero that saved the humans from the alien army from outer space a few months ago. He a bit self absorbed and hold large parties where he drinks until he can't stand."

"Then I have to stop him from shooting the lighting fixtures with his suit." Annemarie said.

"Ferid Bathory, who is this?" A new voice asked. Annemarie turned around but couldn't see anyone until she glanced down. There was another Vampire, but he seemed much younger than the others.

"This is Annemarie Stark. She is the reincarnation of the First Progenitor Urd was talking about."

"Well, Ms. Stark, it's a pleasure to be here with you." He gave a small bow. "My name is Lest Karr, a Third Progenitor."

When others noticed that Lest Karr was speaking to her, they also approached to make conversation. Slowly, she had greeted all of the people in that room and after many hours, she found herself tired. She decided to find Urd, maybe he could bring her somewhere she could rest. "Mr. Geales?" She asked.

He turned to face her. "Ms. Stark. What is it?"

"I'm a bit tired. Is there somewhere I can rest?"

"You're tired?" He seemed surprised. Annemarie nodded. "Very well, follow me." He led her back to the room where she had woken up. "If you need something, send for me." With that, he left the room and let her be.

She took off her shoes, they were too tight and her feet hurt. She also changed out of her dress into a simple light gray night gown. Pretty as it was, it wasn't made to sleep in. It was also a bit itchy. Annemarie climbed into bed and fell asleep.

~oOo~

When Annemarie woke up, she panicked a little bit at the unfamiliar surroundings until she remember what had happened. "Weird...I don't miss the others at all..." In fact, she didn't even feel an urge to return to the place she had called home for fifteen years. She got out of bed and shivered slightly at the sudden cold touch of the tile on her bare feet. She walked over to the bedroom vanity mirror.

She stared at her eyes in her reflection. They weren't blue anymore, now they were a bright, bloody red. She sat down on the chair and brushed her hair out. Should I change? She asked herself. Nah, there's nothing to do. But what about shoes? She thought for a minute. Hm, no shoes. For once I'm not pressured to wear stilettos. They hurt my feet pretty bad.