"Hey, how are you?" Elliot asked.
He and Mimi met outside of old Anderson, the Science Center still ravaged weeks following the battle with the Canines. Beyond the scorch marks and laser damage, however, were the signs of reconstruction — smooth, new walls and emboldened beams; a front entrance that widened in wormhole fashion; an updated defense shield that hummed and gleamed about the entire structure. But, while the changes reflected an overall effort to restore the damaged facility, the building remained better remembered for its battle with Gevaudan's army. Such truths cannot be covered up with shields and sealants.
"I'm well, I'm well," Mimi answered in a faded sort of way, as if she were standing in an empty room with an echo, as if she had to repeat her words to believe them herself.
The meeting time for the pair had been specific, following sunset, such as to accommodate Elliot's incompatibility with the sun, and yet it was still bright enough outside to see the surrounding landscape — the bending branches of the tall evergreens, the swirling flow of the golden switchgrass fields and the rocky up-shoots of conglomerate earth. Despite the pretty scenery, the day's details were in danger, threatened by the approaching darkness of the night.
Mimi faced a growing, brisk wind, her hair blown back and across her face. Across from her, Elliot stood hunched over, his back to the whipping wind. He held his head low, his now longer hair fluttering about his face, partially covering it.
"I haven't seen you around here much," Elliot said.
Mimi looked at her feet and shuffled about, clicking the heels to her boots. She noticed a detail to her treads, only to freeze and gaze back, wondering if Elliot had noticed her lost attention. The two had not spoken since the battle with the mongrels; really, not since Elliot had become a vampire.
"Yeah, well, it looks like you've been kind of busy," Mimi said. She pointed to Anderson's structure with her chin.
"Yeah," Elliot agreed. "We've been doing a lot of firewall reconstruction. It can still be used as a hospital like before, but beyond that, I don't know... "
He noticed that Mimi was avoiding looking at him.
He continued, "... for now, we cannot safehouse the students. We don't really know what the Canines know, about its structure, and what they don't. Gevaudan may be dead, but his wolfpack endures. When the new alpha emerges, maybe we can reach out and rebuild relations, but until then, we don't really know. Maybe we'll end up having two science centers."
Elliot smiled, but Mimi retracted her lips to the side.
"Have you been working in the lab?" she asked.
"Ah, no, that probably cannot happen anymore. But I'm advising Dr. Rache as she takes over the department."
Mimi nodded.
There was an awkward pause.
"Where are you staying now?" Mimi asked.
"Umm, well, I like to stay up in the mountains. There are a lot of caves there. It's nice and quiet. But I try to come back often. Stay in touch with everyone, all the scientists... "
Elliot pursed his lips.
"... but there's one person whom I haven't been able to stay in touch with... "
"Oh, really?" Mimi cut him off. "Well, I wonder who that could be?" She stepped away.
Elliot frowned.
The two became silent again, as if playing a game of hide and seek.
"Have you transfigured since the battle?" Mimi asked, changing subject.
"Umm, yeah, but only for traveling purposes though. Minimally, actually. I think I've got it under control now," he half-laughed.
Mimi stared at him with thin eyes.
"Have you been drinking blood?"
Elliot hesitated. It was like being asked if he were drunk, under the influence. He felt a twinge in his chest.
"Uh, yeah, I have." Elliot reached up and touched his neck, as if to pull on an invisible collar. "Only unit blood, of course. Not much. I don't need that much."
There was another round of silence.
"But hey, look, I've been wanting to talk to you," Elliot started up again.
"Oh? About what?"
Mimi said it with oblivion.
It was bad acting, Elliot thought. In reality, she knew exactly what was going on, and yet she still pretended not to know. Did she need more time? To think? As if the weeks apart weren't time enough.
"I've been thinking a lot about us," Elliot said. He followed Mimi's face. "Over the last couple of weeks, I've thought that maybe... "
"Yes?"
Elliot paused. Why is she doing that? he thought. Why is she acting like she has no idea? Mimi was going to make him declare his words of devotion.
"Well, I just wanted to say that I care for you... "
"Elliot... "
"... that I love you."
"Elliot!"
"There's no one in the world I can see myself with, and I want us to be together, forever!"
"Elliot! No, I'm sorry. I can't think of us like that."
"Wh-why not?"
"I love you, Elliot. I care for you. But I don't want a relationship with you, not like that."
Elliot couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I-I don't understand... "
His eyes began to buzz a light blue color, and his neck and arms began to swell.
"I'm sorry, Elliot. You're like... like an older brother to me."
Mimi looked away.
Elliot began to breathe more heavily.
"I thought you loved me!"
"I do, Elliot, but I can't. I'm sorry."
"But Aless told me... " Elliot caught himself.
There was a pause.
"What? What did Aless say to you?" Mimi looked back.
"H-he told me that he liked you, but that you weren't interested, because you were in love with me instead."
Mimi's jaw dropped, and her eyes glinted. "No, Elliot, that wasn't true."
"I don't understand. Are you in love with Aless then?"
"Aless? No! I'm not in love with anybody!" She paused to clarify, "Yet, I mean. I hope to be, maybe... someday? "
Elliot was befuddled. Did Aless lie to him?
Elliot stared at Mimi and her dark brown eyes. They were so pretty. They seemed to make things more difficult.
"Aless asked me to join him," Mimi continued, "to become a vampire, like you. Not to become a romantic couple, I don't think."
Elliot was lost in thought. Did Alessandro trick him? So that he, Elliot, would become a vampire?
Elliot stepped closer and challenged once again.
"But I want to marry you!"
"Elliot ..."
"No, I want to become husband and wife! Have children! Together, we'll lead the humans into the next millennium!"
"Elliot! How can you say such things? How can you expect me to marry you?"
"I want you to 'join' me!" Elliot spoke louder, almost yelling. He grabbed Mimi by the arm.
"Please, Elliot, let go," she said.
He persisted.
"You're hurting me!" Mimi called out.
Elliot glanced at his grip and quickly released it.
Mimi rubbed her arm where Elliot had grasped her.
"What are you thinking, Elliot?" Mimi said. "You've given up your humanity to become a vampire! Like it or not, you've already made your decision about us! I'm not marrying you now! Not ever!"
Elliot was dizzy and having chest pain now. The truth was crushing his heart, and he couldn't breathe correctly. "Y-you don't want to be with me?"
"Not because I don't care for you, Elliot, because I do! We're friends! Good friends! We've always been. After Dad died..."
Mimi paused to remember.
"... I don't know what I would've done without you."
Elliot choked and half sobbed. "No! No... I-I - I've got to go. I-I can't be here right now!"
"I'm sorry, Elliot. Please, don't go. I'm still your friend! Stay here. Let's talk some more."
"No, no, I can't. I-I can't!"
Eieeeeeeerrraaahhhhkkkkk!
In that moment of uncontrolled stress and despair, Elliot transfigured into the monster once more. His shirt ripped open, and his wings instantly burst outward. Screeching loudly, he let out a heartbroken catharsis-of-a-scream heard halfway throughout the valley.
The release of raw energy and emotion frightened Mimi.
Elliot looked at her once more, tears running down his face, only to see the fear in her eyes. He took off flying into the sky to escape the situation, if only it helped.
Back on the ground, Mimi collapsed to the floor and cried. Overwhelmed by her emotions, her love, her own broken heart.