The Crimson Rose || Nicolae Bartholy X OC || [COMPLETE]

Chapter II.

The drive.

Sitting on the passenger side, Claire had forced herself to stop crying, eyeing the driver next to her, every few seconds.

"You do not have anything to fear, I can assure you." The man's voice was so reassuring, Claire was not too worried about getting in a car with someone she just met. Her instinct told her she could trust him and she went along with it.

Nicolae turned on the heat to help her dry off. He was worried she could catch a cold for how soaked she was!

"Is it warm enough?" He asked politely, trying to look at her, seeking her indago hues.

Claire's hair worked as a small curtain, covering her face just enough. "Y-yes. Thank you..."

Her voice betrayed her nervousness, Nicolae waited before starting the engine.

"Would you like me to drive you somewhere in particular?" He asked.

Claire shook her head. "I don't... I don't have anywhere to go... I just arrived here..." She looked out of the window, watching the quiet parking lot of the station.

"Where am I?" She turned to look at the man, swallowing nervously. Nicolae couldn't help himself and let his powers investigate the girl's emotions.

She looked scared, in a hurry to get away, but it wasn't for those stupid kids. She was running from something, or someone, from before she sat foot in

"Mistery Spell." He replied calmly, starting the car and driving out of the parking lot.

Claire looked in the rear mirror, making sure nobody was following them.

"Where are my manners. My name is Nicolae Bartholy...may I ask yours?" His voice was gentle and kind.

Claire nodded. "C-Claire. Claire E-Eliade."

It was only when she pronounced her last name that Nicolae was able to hear the accent in her voice.

She sounded like she was from the Eastern part of Europe. Russia, or maybe Serbia... or something like that.

He tried to smile to reassure her some more. "Well, it is my pleasure, Claire. I don't want to seem rude, but do you have any family to contact? A friend that you would like me to call?"

She shook her head no. "No... I don't know anybody." She sounded frustrated, like if she was regretting multiple of the choices she had made before today. Nicolae nodded politely.

Claire reached for a pocket in her dress, pulling out very little money. "M-maybe you could drive me to some v-ery cheap Motel?" She asked in a whisper, counting the change in her hands.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Claire. Not for a girl on her own. Not after what you've been through tonight."

Claire looked up at him, confused, was she so easy to read? But then she thought he probably was talking about the station incident and sighed softly.
She was silent for a long time before speaking again.

"By the way t-thank you for earlier..." Her eyes met his for a brief second before Nicolae looked back at the road in front of them.

"I wish I would've arrived sooner." His voice was firm as he replied to her. And it was true. If he only thought about the way those morons were treating her, he felt pain right in his heart.

Why would anybody make fun and mistreat such an innocent, beautiful young lady?

Human cruelty still made him so angry.

"I heard your accent, I find it fascinating. Where are you from, if may I ask?" He was really curious.

It had been quite a while since he was in Eastern Europe and he couldn't put his mind to rest until he found out more about her.

"R-Romania." She stuttered again, although she wasn't cold anymore.

Nicolae had his confirmation about her delicate and scared soul, she was still in distress, could she need help?

"Romania." He repeated. "A wonderful country. I have been there for work a couple of time."

Claire nodded with a small smile, trying desperately to catch her breath and relax... but she just could not. She was still scared of those men that lured her into a promised paradise. It was all a lie.

"I really want to help you, Claire, but you need to tell me who are you running from and what happened to you. Maybe we should go to the cops."

His words cut the silence around them, Claire looked up at him, scared. "No!" She almost screamed her answer, startling him and making him stop the car at a curbside.

"Ok, ok. No cops... are you in trouble? You can trust me, I promise you." He smiled at her again, looking into her eyes, trying to calm her spirit with his powers. She was so tense he could see it even with his eyes closed.

"I...I..." She felt tears building up in her eyes. "I was stupid. I wanted to come here to study, I didn't know..." She sobbed softly, making Nicolae's heart throb in pain.

Why did he feel so much for her? Why did he want to take her in his arms and tell her everything will be alright?

He had only known her for less than an hour!

"It's quite alright, you can tell me." And she trusted him.

"I made a deal...with some people. They promised me a full scholarship and visa if I would have accepted some medical researches...studies...on my condition." She pointed at herself, her hair, her face. "I am an albino. I gave up everything I had to buy a ticket to come here from Romania. I arrived two weeks ago. I had a place to stay, close to a research facility, everybody was nice to me at first. But when I started asking about when would I be starting classes they never responded clearly. When it was my time to go to the lab, tough, it wasn't what they told me. It was like...some kind of circus and they wanted me to be their major attraction." She shook her head at the memory, thinking about herself sitting on that stupid throne. People looking at her, laughing, touching her. It had been awful. "I asked what was happening, it was not part of the deal. They didn't want to hear my words, when they saw I didn't want to be part of their stupid show they forced me to do it and they locked me up so I wouldn't run off."

Nicolae was terrified. What kind of monsters had tricked Claire into that? He knew she wasn't lying. He could feel the pain, the shame and embarassment in her eyes and her heart. It was almost too much to hear.

"I am so sorry, Claire."
Words weren't enough.

He tried to collect his thoughts, tried to figure out what to say to make her feel better. But he didn't know.

"I am sorry those men lied to you. You shouldn't have been treated that way. You are a human being." He so wanted to take her hand, hold it, and for forgiveness for the cruel human race that acted as beast way too often.

And for what? Money, power. It wasn't fair.

Claire was still crying softly, trying desperatly to stop. "I can't go back... I sold my house to come here... I have no money, no documents... I don't exist." She covered her face with her hands, she felt so horrible, she just wanted to disappear.

Nicolae was ashamed of being half human.

They stood in silence again, both of them thinking about what could Claire do.

The girl didn't want to be a bother to him, she already felt guilty enough to be in his expensive car with her dirty clothes.

She wanted to get a room somewhere, anywhere, and just take a bath and go to sleep.

Think about what to do in the morning. She was so tired in fact, so deep in thoughts that she ended up falling asleep, right in Nicolae's car.

The man realized it only after asking her another question, which she didn't reply to. Worried, he slowed down and stopped by a building to make sure she was okay. It was when he saw her asleep, that he knew what he had to do. He started driving toward the Mansion.