Thursday, May 2, 2013

Aretha Tesla: Old Friend


I sprinted down the stone gray hallways, my heart pounding. There was no pretending to be fearless. Too much could go wrong. What if- I shuddered involuntarily at the thought- Mevolent found me again? Or worse, what if Niccolo wasn't himself when I found him? What if I had detained the wrong Sensitive? I pushed the thoughts out of my mind. The 'what if's don't matter. What's happening right now does. 

Niccolo! I took a huge risk by projecting my thoughts- anyone could've heard that. Still, I thanked God that Niccolo had taught me how in case of emergencies, because by now it was looking like the only way I'd be able to contact him. Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks. Pounding footsteps, sounding more like frantic gallops, were clearly audible now, and the sound grew louder and louder... And then I was sure someone heard me, because a full-fledged vampire was racing down the hall towards me.

My first instinct was to take a deep breath- the attempt to calm my flying heartbeat was in vain, but that didn't matter- and sink into a fighting stance. Vampires are fast, but that one will have a lot of momentum in this direction, and if I time it right I think I can sidestep it and jump on its back. But just as I darted off to the side the creature leaped into the air, taking me by surprise, and landed with its claws pressing down hard onto my chest. The knife I had been holding flew out of my hands and across the floor. Fat lot of good that did me- not that I was counting on it, anyway. 

In mere seconds, my situation had gone from bad, to really, really bad, to not-even-worthy-of-the-word-bad. The breath rushed out of my lungs when I hit the ground- that was a sure sign of likely defeat. I kicked upwards into the vampire's midsection- it didn't help much, but it didn't have to. I just needed it to not realize that its claws were inches away from my heart. Niccolo! I screamed again, not really caring anymore whether or not the eavesdropper was still listening. Maybe I could get out of this on my own, and maybe I would have to, but it wasn't looking too good.

Then the vampire was gone- simply vanished, right before my eyes- and in the next second Niccolo was standing in front of me, panting just as heavily as I was. I knew I shouldn't have, and I knew it wasn't anything close to safe, but I couldn't help running to close the distance between us, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. And I was more than a little surprised when he returned it. "I missed you..." I whispered in between breaths, "And we need to talk."

"I know," he replied, his dark voice painfully soft, "But not here. There's something I need you to find." I felt the slightly dizzying sensation of teleportation, one I had grown quite used to over the years, and then we were at a dead end next to a row of cells. "I left something hidden for you here, but I can't tell you what it is- I blocked it from my memory. But it's important." I felt his arms around me loosen and I hugged him harder as he tried to pull away, unwilling to let him slip though my fingers again. "Don't worry," he assured me, knowing exactly what I was afraid of, "I'm just going to pick up the sensitive. I'll come back for you."

At that, I decided to let him go, and he took a couple steps away from me before looking back and adding, "But if I'm not here in 10 minutes, leave without me. Run." And then he was gone, and yet again I had to wonder if I'd ever see the real Niccolo for more than a few seconds. Still, I reminded myself, that's longer than anyone else has. And I started looking for whatever it was he had hidden for me.

Author's Note: Make note of the title- it will make sense later on. *evil laugh*

9 comments:

  1. Oh =-||=|||~||==|~||||>

    I have two theories, neither completely makes sense, neither is good... Make that three... Actually... If I had to pick one, I'd guess the third, but...anyway. Blaaah, my brain came up with another and eliminated the first one. Aaand, most of these sound completely stupid anyway. XD

    You are evil, Aretha. [glares]

    And I was going to say more, but this is take three on my |||==||||~||||-|||-|=== phone, and I don't have the patience to write it all up again. Sorry.

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  2. Oh dear Derek... Niccolo is so... Strange... Awesomely brilliant! I wuv Niccolo (and I hope he didn't see that)! He is so sweetly masochistic!! He likes the pain and suffering... Dude that is my occupation!!

    Great chapter! It shows Niccolo's affection for you Ari! It is soooo adorable!!!

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  3. I actually like Niccolo though I much prefer Javier as Niccolo would probably kill me...

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    Replies
    1. Everyone's killing everyone nowadays! Let's just enjoy the moment of Niccolo's awesomeness!!!!!

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    2. You just compared me to your husband... Should I be concerned...?

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    3. *Makes awkward turtle with hands*
      Awkward...

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  4. asdfghjkl
    vampire
    niccolo
    ari
    WHY? *cries*

    ARICCOLO IS A PERFECT SHIPPPPP
    *runs off*

    *yells from a distance* AMAZAYN CHAPTER BTW!

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    Replies
    1. You know, it's funny- I never expected people to ship that. Never intended it, either. The ship, if you don't mind the bad pun, sailed itself. ;p

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    2. Ahahaha. Very punny, Ari. ;P

      IT'S SUCH A CUTE SHIP OMGG.

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