The Immortal Truth

Chapter Four

My eyes opened groggily, my entire body aching and reverberating with pain. Christopher's face was the only thing I saw, looking over me with concern. "What the hell did you do to me?" I managed to rasp out through the burn of thirst in my throat.
            "I am so sorry, Isabella! I thought if I grabbed you quick, the magick wouldn’t affect you as bad!" Christopher exclaimed, running a hand nervously through his hair. "I have some blood in my fridge, is O negative okay?"
            I nodded, my head spinning at the tiny movement, and Christopher disappeared. Only seconds passed before he was back, a glass filled with blood in his hand. He pulled me into a sitting position, handing me the cup.
            I gulped that glass down, barely noticing how it seemed to fill itself right back up, before I downed the refilled glass as well. Immediately, I felt better. "How'd you refill the glass?" I asked, voice breathy as the blood worked its magic on me.
            "Magick. I manifested it," Christopher replied, sitting beside me on what I now saw was a couch. "It only did not affect you badly because I did not create the blood from nothing, I manifested pre-existing blood." His dimples appeared as he smiled, seemingly pleased with the loophole he found.
            "Thanks, I guess." I glanced around the room I was in, heart stopping and skin heating up at the realization that I was in Christopher's house. I bit my lip, quickly changing the subject before I went insane with lust. "So, a witch?" I asked, voice shaky.
            "What?"
            "You're a witch, right? I mean I haven't been able to figure out what you are. You don't smell like a mutt, don't look like a faerie, don't seem like a vampire even if you did apparently have blood in your fridge, and I was positive you couldn't be a witch. But you used magick, something only the fae and witches can access. So since you're obviously not a faerie, you have to be a witch," I blurted out.
            Christopher looked at me with wide eyes, the blue in them seeming to swirl and deepen before he burst out in laughter. What the hell?
            He was cracking up, as if my assumption of him being a witch was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "Me? A witch? Gabriel would love that! You are very funny, Isabella. No, between you and me, I am a Fallen."
            As soon as the words left his mouth, terror turned me to stone. "A-a Fallen?" I stuttered, gripping my hands together tightly.
            The Fallen were notorious in the Supernatural world, Guardians that couldn't follow the rules in the Upper Realm so they were kicked out. They fell to earth, wrecking absolute havoc, killing and destroying everything in their path before the remaining Guardians were sent down to Earth to protect us. The Fallen were supposed to be the most evil and horrible things out there, right above demons. Personally, I always thought that was just a scary story that Supernatural kids made up and told, I never believed the Fallen and Guardians existed because I'd never seen one with my own eyes.   

"Yes, I am a Fallen. I should have expected your fear, it is so ridiculously typical. Let me assure you Isabella, I am not your enemy. I know the lies that have spread around, it is why I cannot publicly show how I am a Fallen, but they are only lies. Yes, the Fallen have a bad side and a bad past, but so do vampires, witches, faeries, shifters, even the Guardians!" Christopher said, pulling my hands apart and holding them gently in his.
            My entire body rushed with heat at his touch, and I had to stop a gasp from escaping my lips. "None of this makes any sense, Christopher. I mean, a Fallen? You guys have been in hiding for centuries! Why come out now, to me? Why are you in Group? What the hell was that Traveling shit? And how'd you use magick if you aren't a witch?" My questions came out in a rush, head spinning with confusion and attraction.
            I so couldn't be attracted to a Fallen.
            "Full of questions, I see. If only I could answer them all. Let us start with the simple ones first, okay?
            “As I am a Fallen, I have a very wide range of abilities, one of which is the power to, for lack of better words, absorb the abilities of others into me. Traveling is a main faerie ability, one I got while apprehending one of the fair folk who was incapable of following Council rules. I absorbed his powers into me as punishment.
            “The same goes with my capability to use magick. I absorbed the power from a witch living in the East End. She was a nasty one, deserved what she got," Christopher replied, the blue in his eyes turning to ice.
            I couldn't stop the shiver from going down my back. He worked for the Council? Was he here to apprehend me?
            "Yes, I work for the Council, and no I am not here to apprehend you. You have nothing to fear from me, Isabella. I would never harm you, nor would I think of taking your powers. I need you as you are," Christopher said, interrupting my train of thought. I quickly put my mental block back up, hating how he kept finding his way past it. "Sorry, I did not mean to intrude on you, your thoughts just tend to be quite loud."
            I moved away from Christopher, my body protesting as I broke from his touch. "Why do you need me?" I asked, voice soft.
            Christopher looked pained, the blue in his eyes deepening as he wrung his hands together. "I cannot tell you why yet, Isabella. Not until I know that you are ready, that you can handle what I have to say."
            I stood up from the couch, shaking my head at him. "I am 482 years old, Christopher. I have dealt with people attempting to murder me, torture me. I have watched people I love die, I have had people I trusted betray me. I'm sure that whatever you have to say will not shock me. I can handle it," I snapped, head pounding at his statement.
            How dare him! Treating me as if I was a fragile human instead of the powerful vampire I actually was. "Isabella, I cannot tell you yet. I mean no insult to you, I just need you to trust me," Christopher begged, standing up beside me.
            "Trust you? Trust you? I just met you!" I exclaimed, glaring at the imposing figure beside me.
            I turned to survey my surroundings, the need to escape thrumming throughout my being.
            Christopher's home was cozy, small, full of sleek and dark furniture, but seemingly no exit. "Take me home," I whispered. "I want to go back to my apartment."
            Christopher nodded, solemn, before dropping his head to look at the ground. "We will have to Travel again, unfortunately. My home is a bit too far to do much else," he said.
            "What? Where are we?" I asked, spinning around as I looked for an exit door.
            Christopher walked to the built-in bookshelf, pulling out a novel from inside it. Immediately, as if we were in a damn movie, the bookshelf swung out to reveal another room. "The front door is through this hallway," Christopher said, leading me into the other room and through a long, dark hallway. At the end of the hallway was a huge mahogany door, which I quickly opened to reveal a sight I hadn't seen in almost a century.
            Memories flashed across my mind, almost crippling me as things I had long suppressed seemed to almost stab me with their appearance.
            I stepped outside, in a complete daze as I breathed in the much too familiar air. "Venice," I whispered. "You took me-you live in Venice."
            Christopher walked beside me, his dimples showing as he looked at me. "I was not aware that vampires could cry," he murmured back, touching a warm hand to my face.
            I forced a smile onto my face, the salt from my tears dripping into my mouth. "Vampires can cry, it just doesn't happen very often," I managed to say, eyes still locked on the view of the beautiful place I absolutely despised. "I shouldn't be here, please take me home." My vision wavered, and before I knew it, the past had me in its grips.