Insomnia was a thing Colette would be subject to now that she was gifted certain abilities. The tortures of incessant sleepless nights most days usually left her up and about or just laying in her bed or the queen's, her mind drifting far and wide. There weren't much she'd do except lay there counting sheep or taking a stroll through the manor hoping morning came quick. This new adversity was something Colette told no one, not even her beloved.
Subject to the same irritable mood later that night, the brunette wandered into the kitchen as per usual to get herself a glass of water, her thoughts mooching and not so sweetly at the imminent council meeting she was aware of when unexpectedly, she bumped into Oliver after seeing him hours prior.
"Oh shi-" she mumbled, giggling quietly.
The revenant's surprised face greeted her in the dim room. He released her arm after holding it to keep her from hitting the floor upon the impact of their bodies. Fumbling afterwards, the young man stepped back.
"Can't sleep either huh?" She asked him, surprised that Oliver bowed at her. She wanted to address it but chose to ignore it. Colette was certain he'd respond like all the other revenants, ignoring her pleas to treat her the way they normally did before the entire incident, before she became Adira's official partner, before the stillness.
"I don't mean to be ungrateful, my lady but the bed here isn't the same as the bed in my home,"
"I'm so sorry and I understand that," said Colette taking a seat by the counter. She couldn't relate because when she first arrived there she slept like a log and without trouble but she understood how the experience would differ for others. Not everyone has the balls to be tucked in a chateau where they were a stone throw away from the queen and her commands.
"Would you like to sit and have a chat? I know we've been acquainted but I feel like our conversation was always, mostly formal,"
"Nothing is interesting about me, miss. I won't have much to share."
"There's always something interesting about everyone," the girl smiled.
"Tell me about your life before this, before emerging as a powerful being?" She asked, getting down from the stool and quietly rummaged through the refrigerator. She found some grapes she chewed on while offering some to her timorous counterpart.
There was a bit of silence as Oliver took a seat beside the brunette. He was as small as she was, he seemed timid and reserved and Colette respected and understood him. She often related to shyness and reticence as the only person she was truly opened and comfortable around within the manor was Adira, McLean and Isaac, Samuel was an exception and only because he volunteered regularly to help walk Lottie.
Eventually, the girl noticed Oliver understood that she meant well and he decided to open up.
"I died young, as you can already tell. I was nineteen when it happened, I was sick and no one around me knew,"
Colette saw him look down at the grapes he cradled, at his somewhat large hands, and empathy consumed her soul. Flashes of him fending vampires off returned and she ached for him— Oliver looked so dreary and hopeless.
"Hey um, do you think this conversation would be better somewhere else?" The ebullient girl pitched, catching the figure off guard.
"Better somewhere else?" Oliver frowned.
"Yeah, there's this place about a half-hour away from here that we could go. We can get some food that's not cooked in here, have a few drinks even-I'm not a big drinker so don't worry, we don't even have to buy alcohol,"
"But it's late, won't the queen be upset if we left?"
"I'll tell her in the morning don't worry. Plus it looks like you could use a little fresh air, you've been cooped up in here for what, four days?"
"That sounds about right,"
"C'mon, let's head out, we'll be back before they even realize we left."
"Okay,"
"We'll talk more when we're there too,"
Colette led the way out of the kitchen. Quietly she grabbed the keys to one of the service vehicles and like two teenagers sneaking away from their parent's house in the middle of the night, she and the young man climbed into the truck and drove off.
The brunette knew the combination to the gate, making it easier for the grand escape and beyond the manor's walls, they went, Oliver drove them of course and in a particular silence as nervousness ate him up.
"Did you ever find out what you were sick with?"
"Yes, queen Adira did reveal it to me, apparently it was a tumour,"
"Gosh, I'm so sorry,"
"Don't worry," tittered Oliver. "So you're a part of the supernatural now?"
The truck hummed forward and as the girl looked out the window, she saw the manor disappear slowly. It was cut off by the trees, they clustered it in a hug with the shimmering moon and the night cradling it too and it was such a pretty sight.
"I'm sure it won't come as a shock but the queen's former lover, Petra had a little strife with me. I don't blame her for doing it because who wouldn't want to fight for Adira, right? Well she did, she fought for her. She attacked me twice, I narrowly escaped once but on the final attempt, she bit me,"
Colette switched on the lights in the truck and showed the faint markings of where Petra's fangs stuck themselves. Olive disregarded the lovebites he saw and studied the scarring instead. It perturbed his soul seeing the scars.
"That's big, I'm so sorry,"
"Don't worry about it. She did kinda crush my skull and that knocked me out perfectly afterwards, so it's all a blur now. They tried to turn me I heard, I was unconscious for a lil bit, but I died maybe for a few hours and that's where I met this being who said some really interesting things to me. Now I make water go woosh, and I shine like a Christmas tree," she said and Oliver chuckled.
"That's incredible, I wish I had cooler powers,"
"But you have claws, I think those are awesome,"
"I was lucky, Adira said when she brought me back. I wasn't in hell but I was stuck in the between. I don't know how she got her people to me but they did. A revenant revealed days, weeks after that she ordered them to dig up my grave. She has an innate ability to know whose soul to bargain for or simply save. She can only do it to the ones in distress, I've heard." Oliver said, comfortable enough to share his story.
"This doesn't apply to all of the revenants because some were requested to be brought back by family and friends,"
"I've heard some of the people who work for her say that," replied the brunette.
Oliver took his eyes away from the desolate road for a few seconds.
"Yeah and I think it's nice that she helps the damned. Some of us weren't inherently bad you know." He paused.
"But as I said, she informed me that I was lucky because I was one of a few revenants whose nails unsheaths like a werewolf's. Most of the revenants come back with the generic aptitudes: like super strength, super speed, telekinesis, some could even turn full-on beast. There's also a few with two or more abilities, I guess I fell into that special one per cent because not only do I come with claws but I can move as fast as a vampire."
"You can?" Colette was truly amazed. "And here you were trying to convince me that nothing is interesting about you, you're certainly envied among your peers I'm certain,"
Oliver chuckled, casting his eyes back to the road. For the first time since the incident at the bar, he genuinely smiled. He felt free from the constraints of the manor's walls and finally understood what Colette meant about him needing fresh air. The midnight's breeze was cool and refreshing and calming, he even forgot his troubles for that night. It felt good having someone listen to him he thought. It felt good because he knew his counterpart was genuinely interested in listening to him ramble on and on.
×
"I went to the river with my friends and that's how it happened. Isaac and Samuel showed up with a man in their trunk and I saw them put a bullet in his head before they chased after me. Isaac did a sweep of the river, I think he's within the one per cent of revenants because he's strong and can sprint fast I guess because he had gotten to them in no time. I still don't know how he knew they were there,"
"So that's how it happened?"
Colette took a small bite of her sloppy joe, using the napkin to wipe at her mouth and hands when she was done.
"The summary of it told by the revenants made it sound-"
"Uneventful, tedious?" she interposed. "I know but truly it wasn't, it was an awful experience at first. My friends died, I had no idea how I was going to tell anyone, revenants followed me around for a week, Adira was so scary at first," the girl chuckled.
"Now she's just a big softy," she mumbled gazing around the quiet little restaurant. They weren't alone, several others were spaced out in the place and she'd locked eyes with a man who grinned at her. He was big, broad shoulders, a hat was pulled down into his face but she still saw his eyes and they were surprisingly soft.
"I've only known her majesty for a few months and I held similar sentiments but she can be thoughtful. A-after," Oliver stuttered a bit.
"After she brought me back I asked her to help my parents out and she did. Every month since my resurrection she sends them a cheque and at first, they were sceptical but then they realized it wasn't fraud or anything."
"She never told me that,"
"I guess there's a lot she keeps to herself, she's not a woman who boasts about things,"
"Not outside the bedroom anyway," Colette mumbled, humouring herself.
Oliver pretended that he didn't hear those words, instead, he took a sip of his drink, also scanning the room. In the absence of the steady flow of the conversation, the girl decided to get up to make a bathroom run and as soon as she stood to leave, Oliver got up too.
"Where are you going?" She was perplexed.
"To make sure nothing happens to you, miss,"
"You're so sweet, but that's not necessary, look,"
The young revenant glanced around the small restaurant yet again. Besides them, there were five other people and although the establishment was nearly empty he felt a doom in the pit of his stomach. It was inexplicable and it was the same thing he felt the moment the vampires stumbled into the bar.
"There's no one here, plus we'll leave after I'm done,"
"But I still should make sure-"
"I know you're nervous, Oliver but it's fine. There are no vampires here, no revenants, just you and me and these fine townsfolk," Colette eyed the small group of people and everyone was busy chowing down on their late-night cuisine. A part of her didn't believe her own monologue but she chewed the doubt away.
"Humans can be just as barbaric and ruthless as the supernatural, miss Colette. Sometimes, they tend to be worse as they are the ones who fight for land and other tangible things,"
Colette was intrigued by the revenant's words and thought process. She was tempted to stay and talk about the fallibility of both mankind and the supernatural but the restroom was truly calling out to her.
The girl eventually swallowed hard at the way the young man glared at her. It was like he too felt the impending doom that hovered which she was trying to brush off. The fear, the crawling anxiety nipping at her skin did not dissipate but Colette needed to whizz and badly.
She walked off, deciding to be quick about it.
The washroom was empty as expected so the girl did her thing. She washed her hands and bustled out quickly but before she could make it back to Oliver and the other patrons in the front, the man that grinned over at her popped up and she gasped holding her chest at his large figure in her way. She knew it was him because the faded design on his shirt was that of a company's logo or something.
"Didn't see ya there," he lied, his eyes never left her chest.
"That's alright, I'm sorry for stepping into you," she placed her arms over her body, to cover herself. Colette tried to move but the man blocked her.
"Was that your little boyfriend out there? He looks like he can't even harm a fly,"
"Oh but he can,"
The stranger chuckled. "I bet you can do more damage than he can," his gaze wandered further and at his roaming eyes, the girl steps back. She felt icky beneath his scrutiny and she made it known from her expression that he grossed her out.
"You're right,"
"I was flattering you, sweetheart,"
Once more Colette attempted to walk past the man and he blocked her.
"Please, I need to go," she said in a shaky tone and the man still didn't move. That was just her luck she thought. The moment she decided for Oliver to stay put someone stood in her way, obvious in wanting to try sinister things. When was the universe going to stop throwing hurdles her way? When was the universe going to stop with the awkward restroom drama, first Lyra now this?
"I can give you what he can't," the man stepped forward and Colette went into fight mode immediately.
The stranger advanced, he backed her into a corner, his body blocking the light above and without even touching him, without warning, she lifted him off his feet. He choked violently, writhing quickly and watching with wide eyes as the girl before him flung him around with just the power of her mind.
He smashed into a small mirror that hung on the wall, shattering it and at the sound of him being slammed into the wall like a toy, other's followed the commotion and running out of the bathroom, stumbling into the many witnesses, panicked was the brunette.
"What happened in there?" Oliver questioned over the buzz of disbelief and concerns.
"C'mon we gotta go, now!" Colette said dragging Oliver with her as they sprinted from the restaurant.
Out in the chill, the truck speeding away, Oliver behind the steering wheel again, Colette looked back incessantly. She kept moving her hand from her heart and back again.
"Y-you, were right," she mumbled, feeling her heart bash against her chest.
"You were right,"