Unedited.
Chapter Ten
The ceremony for my marks wasn’t anything like when we received our Guild mark. It was a closed production, only Lena, the Second in Command, Gregori, and for the first time, a Vampire were allowed in attendance.
After walking into the creepy stone room, I sat in the same wooden chair as last time. Lena stepped up in front of me.
“Georgiana Vertigo. As a member of this Guild you’ve killed thirteen beings. Before that, as a student, you killed four. This puts you at seventeen, more than some who’ve been with us for years. We do not take pleasure in death, no matter who the victim is. There is a hole in the world now that they are gone. The marks are for remembrance. Wear them with pride.”
The Artist came out of the shadows like last time and stood behind me. He said the same things as last time, the same as Lena practically. He turned on his machine and pressed his version of a charcoal pencil to my neck. I didn’t even flinch as the needles pierced my skin.
“Why do you draw?”
He smiled, not taking his eyes off the paper. “Because I’m an artist.”
“But why are you an artist?”
He put his pencil down and turned to look at me. We were sitting so close, like usual, our bodies touching from shoulder to the smallest toe.
“Someone has to create beauty. Why not me?”
“But all you do is draw me.”
He smiled and cupped my face. “I draw you, Ana,” he whispered, “because you’re the most beautiful thing in the world to me.”
I smiled and looked at his lips. “Are you trying to win me over?”
“I’ve already won you over.” He kissed me briefly. “I don’t need words or drawings for that.”
“Then why do you do it?”
“Because when I draw you, when I put your beauty to paper, I’m making it last forever.”
I was about to tell The Artist to stop so I could bolt. Remembering Aidan like that was something I hadn’t done in a long time. But before I could form the words, the tattooing stopped.
It was over.
He wiped the blood and extra ink off my skin, finishing off with rubbing ointment on lightly. I felt something trickle down my face and I reached up to wipe it off, thinking the Artist left something to drip. Instead, when I looked, my fingers were moist with a tear.
The Artist bent so he was speaking directly in my ear.
“He was right.”
I turned to look at him. He stared right back at me and for the first time I got a good look at him, not that I didn’t last time but…
He had coal black hair that was long but tied at the nape of his neck. His eyes were dark but bright at the same time. I stood up and we continued to stare at each other. Everyone else in the room started to talk amongst themselves.
The last time we spoke came to mind and I finally asked him the question I’d been dying to.
“How?”
He didn’t say anything as he pulled his white t-shirt away from his neck. A bite mark graced his flesh, shiny like mother of pearl.
“I was like you once.” He reached in his pocket and held out a folded piece of paper. “I’ve decided.”
“On?”
“Your design. I think you’ll like it.”
Now I was confused. I unfolded the paper and looked down, my eyes growing wide. Not what I expected. Then again I wasn’t expecting him to hand me a piece of paper either.
“I think it’ll be my best work.”
I felt Jon step up next to me and look at the paper. He nodded his approval.
“I believe you are right.”
“I don’t think…”
“You will,” The Artist said. “That’s why these things must be planned ahead. By the time you finish, it should look like that.”
I looked up at him. “Are you sure? Those are…a lot of marks. I’ve never seen anyone with that many.”
He regarded me with no judgment. “By the time you are done, you’ll have killed more than any Slayer in history. You’ll go in history books for it and other things.” He motioned towards the paper. “If you don’t like it we can change the design but I believe this is how it should look.”
I looked back down at the paper, studying the image he’d created with charcoal pencil. It was a naked back image of me, or at least I thought it was me. Marks covered the back of my neck and extended down my spine in various tendrils. He’d placed them strategically around my scars, making them beautiful instead of permanent reminders of the past.
I nodded and looked up at him. “I think it’s perfect.”
“What of your Vampire? I won’t do it without his consent.”
I looked at Jon, not that it mattered. He reached in his pocket and pulled out an off white envelope, a twin to the one he handed to me when we spoke in Gregori’s office. I still hadn’t opened it yet.
He handed the envelope to The Artist who opened it. He read over the note quickly and nodded.
“Then it’s settled.” He looked at me. “I’ll see you again soon. Keep that.”
He disappeared into the shadows and I looked at Jon.
“You knew.”
He nodded. “It’s one of our laws and your Artist knew that.”
“What’s the law?”
“No need for you to know. Michelangelo has given his blessing, you’ve given yours. It’s beautiful and you should feel honored to one day be able to wear that on your skin.”
“Jon, I never wanted this.” I held up the paper.
“But this is what you have.”
I wanted to stand there and argue with him, about how I was literally pushed here, by Michael, by my parents, by Raphael…by circumstance. But it seemed I wouldn’t have that chance. Instead Gregori walked up, wrapping an arm around my shoulders like a former mentor would.
“Are you ok?”
I looked up at him, hoping he’d figure out I was definitely not ok, and nodded. He hugged me, keeping it completely natural.
“You did everything right yesterday. There wasn’t anything you could’ve done differently.”
I was starting to think he was losing his touch because that wasn’t what was wrong with me. Then he finished.
“The past is the past. This is the present. I know Guild life was never what you wanted but you’ll work it out. You’ll get through it because it’s what you do. Now go back to your room and try to watch something happy. Stay away from the soap operas and imagine what I’m going to do to you tonight.”
That made me smile and I nodded. He pulled back and popped me on the arm.
“Ok?”
I laughed. “Ok.”
He looked me straight in the eyes so I would get the message, at least the last part.
“Yup,” I said.
He waved to Lena and then left the room. Jon stepped up next to me.
“I was wrong.”
“About?” I turned to him, breaking out of my daze.
“He is good for something.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m starting to think I want to trade you in for a newer model.”
“Unfortunately, the newer model is unavailable.”
“Why?”
“Because you made a pact.”
I sent Jon up to his room, unable to be around him anymore without wanting to strangle him. I sat in my room until I couldn’t anymore. With a light jacket, I took to walking around the city, Green Day blaring through my ear buds.
I knew I wasn’t supposed to be out alone but I couldn’t take the caged feeling anymore. I told Hank where I was going, which was as vague as I could make it. Jon could follow me if he wanted and part of me had a feeling he was. Besides, if Michael told him anything about me it would be that I couldn’t sit still for long.
So when I rounded a corner and found a knife pointed at my stomach, I really wasn’t worried. I looked up at the assailant and pulled my ear buds out.
“Give me your cash and iPod.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” He moved the knife closer. “Now, princess.”
A common street thug. How very…ordinary.
“No.”
“No? Look, lady, I’m not afraid to stick you for only five bucks. Just give me…”
Two figures dropped off the roof behind him, the hair on my arms sticking straight up signaling danger. Two more dropped behind me and the guy’s hand started to shake.
“Run,” I whispered. “Now.”
He took off, the two figures behind him letting him go. I pushed the hood off my head and turned so I could see both groups.
“Hybrid,” someone said in a clean, cool voice. “You have enemies in high places.”
“Looks like I have ones in low places too.”
One of the figures stepped forward so I could see him under a little light shining from a store window. Turns out it was a her instead of a him and a tribal tattoo covered her cheek, right underneath her eye and extended all the way down to her jaw.
“Nice ink,” I said.
“Thank you. I’d ask to see yours but it’s fresh. You shouldn’t be out here alone. Not with the bounty on your head.”
“What can I say? I’m not a staying put kind of girl.”
She smiled. “Nonetheless, my brother would be upset if something happened to you.”
“Brother?” I frowned. “I don’t…”
She stepped closer and lowered her own hood, letting loose blonde curls that had bounce to them. I still had no clue who she was.
“His scent is all over you. It’s like he’s standing here instead of a well trained, ignorant Slayer.”
That struck a nerve and I was pretty sure she wanted it to. “Excuse me?”
She moved closer so I could literally see the whites of her eyes. But those weren’t what intrigued me suddenly. It was the color of her irises.
They were crystal blue.
“You’re…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. He’d only mentioned her once and I’d completely forgotten until now.
“I am.”
“Were you named after a painter too?”
“No, a flower. Hyacinthus.” She cocked her head to the side. “And you’re Αγάπη.”
“Only Michael calls me that,” I whispered.
“Then it’s a good thing he sent me or you’d be dead right now. There’s been a man on you since you stepped out of the hotel.”
“I’m fine.”
“Sure you are.” She smiled. No dimples. “However, you should go back. Jon Winter is just behind you but not as close as he should be.”
“Maybe it’s because he knows I can handle myself.”
“Not with injuries inflicted by Underworlders and a bum ankle. I know my brother taught you better than this.”
“Do not talk to me about Michael.”
My anger was like a match, lighting me up from the inside. She looked me over more closely but didn’t take a step back.
“It appears both of you agree on silence when it comes to the other.”
“What do you want?”
“I came here to give you a warning. Jon will keep you safe at close distance but myself and my…colleagues will keep watch from afar. Every time you leave the safety of Sword & Arrow, we’ll follow. Until my brother gives me the word to stand down.”
Overkill much? “Goodie. It’s exactly what I wanted for Halloween.”
The corners of her mouth turned down. “Don’t take this lightly. I don’t like playing babysitter.”
“Then don’t. Go back to Michael and tell him I’m fine. He should know that. I don’t need him being overprotective.”
A figure materialized out of the shadows. I knew that swagger.
“Jon…”
“Hya’s right,” he said, making the girl’s name sound like a strange greeting. “You shouldn’t take this bounty lightly. Besides, Michelangelo will be unhappy with all of us if something happens to you. So in favor of not losing my life, let’s go back to the hotel.”
“I can’t…” I felt a second weight settle in, something I didn’t miss, and sighed. “Damn it.”
Hyacinthus narrowed her eyes and stepped closer, sniffing.
“Hey,” I snapped, “back up.”
What’s going on?
I was taking a stroll and your sister tracked me down. What the hell, Michael?
Where’s Jon?
“God damn it!” I yelled. “I’m not a teenager any more. I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for a year and several long months so…back off. All of you.”
I slammed the bond closed and stalked out of the alley. I heard a phone ring and Jon calling out my name but I ignored both. There were several reasons why I kept the bond sealed off and this just happened to be one of them. I didn’t need him playing big brother, no pun intended. He’d told me himself that he couldn’t rescue me anymore.
The jog back took five minutes and by the time I got there, my ankle was throbbing. I took the elevator up to the top floor and then the stairs to the roof. I stood up there, by the door, and took deep breaths. I was panting from the jog and the annoyance of Michael being Michael.
“He’s just trying to protect you.”
I looked to my right and found my hallucination standing there, leaning against the brick wall.
“He’s suffocating me.”
“If you’re not going to protect yourself, he will. It’s how he is. You know that.”
I shook my head. “Not anymore. I take care of myself now.”
I walked over to the edge of the building and braced myself against the short wall that was supposed to keep people from walking off the roof.
“I can’t have him in my head…not when I’m trying to move forward.”
“But you’re not,” Aidan whispered. “You’re stuck. I’m proof of that.”
I closed my eyes and bowed my head. “I can’t…let everyone go. I can’t.”
“You can’t pick and choose. It’s all or nothing and maybe you need to let everything go. It’s time, don’t you think? You’ve kept us both close long enough. Let go.”
I shook my head. “It’s not long enough. I promised you both forever and I’ll keep my word. I’m…”
“A Slayer, I know. But, Ana, you can’t be this way much longer. It’s tearing you apart.”
“No, it’s not…”
“Be angry, be sad, morn our loss but you need to let go.”
I slammed my hands against the concrete, aggravating my wrist injury. “No.”
“He cares about you,” Aidan whispered. “Phillies. He can love you. Let yourself love him back. You deserve it, him. He’s safe and here. He’ll love you until the day you die and he’ll be there when the time comes. You won’t be alone like you thought.”
“I can’t. It would be betraying…”
“Falling in love with someone else isn’t betrayal, Ana. It’s moving on and letting go. He’ll take care of you. He’ll hold you when you cry, laugh even though the joke you make isn’t funny. He’ll make you mad on purpose just so he can make it up to you later. That type of relationship is healthy. This, what you’ve got going with me, the real me, and Michael…isn’t. It’s toxic.”
“No.” I shook my head and looked at him. “No. It won’t work. He’s not you. He’s not Michael. He’s not my forever.”
“He could be. If you let him. You care about him, don’t you? He makes you happy?”
“That’s not enough.” I slumped down on the roof. “It’s never enough just to be happy. I can’t let go.”
Aidan came over and sat in front of me. “You can’t cling to a ghost, Ana. Your hand will just go straight through. It always does. Don’t make that your life. Don’t count stars you can’t see.”
I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes.
“It’s not fair. It wasn’t supposed to end this way.”
“It ended on the beach in South Carolina with a beautiful goodbye. Remember?”
“That…no. It wasn’t goodbye.”
“Yes it was. We said goodbye and it was beautiful. It was the end.”
I shook my head. “You promised to come for me. You swore you’d remember and then come back.”
“How long?” I shook my head. “Ana, don’t lie to yourself. How long are you willing to wait?”
“A year isn’t long enough.”
“It’s been over a year. If it was going to come back it would’ve. You told me that, you’ve told yourself that. He’s not going to remember what it was like to love you. He’s not going to feel it. It’s not coming back.”
“He promised. He never breaks his promises.”
“Look at me, Ana.” I shook my head. “Come on.”
I moved my hands and looked at him. “You don’t lie to me, ever. You promised.”
He nodded. “I know but it’s not going to happen. You have to accept that. No matter how much you miss him, no matter how late you stay up, it’s not going to happen. So get angry about it, hit something, but move on. Stop keeping yourself in limbo.” He paused, his brown eyes glistening with tears. “Let me go.”
“I can’t.”
“You need to. Jon was right; it’s corroding you from the inside.”
“I can handle it.”
“Like you can handle your moods? Not going to work, sweetness. I’m sorry.”
“You can’t ask me to do this.”
He sighed. “I’m not asking. I’m telling you. Ana, I love you. You know that. I miss you. Every beat of your heart, every breath, and every morning I wake up without you, I miss you even more. And it’s ok for you to miss that too but…it wasn’t meant to be. Not for us.”
“He’s right, Georgiana.”
I looked up and Michael was standing there with his hands in his pockets. He had the same transparent likeness as Aidan and it had me shaking my head. The look on his face was…hard to bare.
“Not you too.”
“You need to let us go. You need to be happy, here, now. It’s time to let go.”
“No,” I whimpered. “No, you don’t mean that.”
“Don’t try to rationalize this. Just let us go,” Aidan whispered. “It’s all in your head anyways. We’re not even here. You’re talking to thin air. Stop waiting for the impossible to happen.”
“You’ll always have us in your heart. With every beat, with every ache, we’ll be there.” Michael gave me a small smile. “We’re with you always.”
~*~
All that's left is an epilogue and the playlist, peeps.