"Now listen, I love to sleep. I get to dream of my guilty pleasures and imagine a life with my soul mate, a pleasant one that doesn't involve a goddess who makes me do her bidding like a fucking dog. So if you interrupt it with a sad attempt to escape, I will have to kill you, even if I don't want to." I rant, staring him in the eyes so he knows how serious I am.
"I understand master. Can you fall asleep already, you talk too much." He mutters, massaging his temples.
I gasp in faux shock, widening my eyes to further my act.
"I am offended! I do not speak that much! In fact, I speak the regular amount that any six hundred year old vampire would! If you would drink blood for a living and live an immortal life you would understand. But you don't, so I reckon-"
He groans out loud, cutting off my incessant rambling.
"Just snap my neck already." He demands, throwing his head back in annoyance. I watch him for a few seconds, thinking about my options. I don't want to kill him, so I have to make sure he doesn't escape.
I reach into my bra and grab the key, before pulling him closer to detach the handcuffs. I grab them from his lap and click one around his wrist, and the other one to the seat handle.
He gives me a look. I lock all of the car doors, before turning back and laying down in the seat. I shift around, seeking comfort in this tiny car. I can already feel the cramps I'm going to wake up with.
"Please don't make me kill you." I blurt out silently. He doesn't reply.
A sigh escapes my lips. I use my arm as a pillow, waiting for sleep to take me. The ghost of Daniel's touch lingers, planting a small smile on my face. I can only wish I'll see him soon, even though it's unlikely.
Fred squirms in the backseat, getting as comfortable as he can get with one arm restrained. I listen to him huff and puff in anger.
Kidnapping an innocent human reminds me of the old days. I've been trying to do right, and here I am holding someone against their will in a car I've stolen. Maybe I'm just hopeless.
I stare out the window, watching as people pile into Starbucks. Even when it's about to close, the place is still filled with humans.
The man that Daniel stole from is still there. My guess is he's working an extra shift for whatever reason. He takes calm strides to the counter, giving away the frappe in his hand. He's been doing this for a while, too.
I see him peer over his shoulder, taking a sneak peek at a blond man sitting alone. He then turns around, and the other guy does the same to look at him. I silently coo in my head, hoping that one of them gathers the courage to ask the other out.
If only my power was matchmaking instead of erasing memories.
"Do you really want to help people?" Fred asks suddenly, pulling my attention away from the potential couple.
I turn my head to face him.
"Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?"
"You have to drive now, and far away." He commands, ignoring my previous question.
My eyebrows knit together in confusion. I quickly take the car out of park, putting it in reverse. The engine roars to life under my feet. "What are you talking about?"
As I drive out of the driveway, he answers.
"They'll come looking for me soon. They're going to find you and kill you."
Well, they'll certainly try.
"And why will they come looking for you?" I ask, suspicion clear in my voice. Did he tell anyone he was here somehow?
I take my eyes off the road for a moment to glare at him.
"If you told them anything-"
He cuts me off. "You'll kill me, I know. I haven't told them a thing, but it's been a few hours since the call. They have to come looking for me."
"And why is that?" I reply sharply. These meddling humans are so exhausting. I'm trying to save their government and they're trying to stop me.
A bullet flies through the glass, breaking the windshield. I yelp in shock. How the hell did they get here so damn quick?
I look at the rear view mirror, finding a car tailing me in a fast pursuit. My eyes meet Fred's green ones, narrowing in distrust.
"What, I can't keep secrets, too?" He says, rather calm about the whole ordeal. For the sake of not ruining my clothes with blood, I'll choose to believe it's because he's trained to react like that in these situations.
I step on the gas pedal, entering a rather vacant highway. Another gunshot goes off, narrowly missing the car.
"Does this look like the time to keep secrets?" I ask angrily, zooming past cars in an attempt to get this guy off my trail. He gets even closer, if that's possible at this point.
"And for Celesta's sake, get down or something, they might shoot you!"
He pats his chest. "Bulletproof vest. I'm fine, but I don't know about you."
Why am I keeping him alive again?
I reach into my bra yet again and throw back the key. My arm begins to sting mildly, the effect of a bullet piercing my skin. It's more annoying rather than dangerous; it feels like a bee sting.
He takes off the handcuffs, rubbing his wrist to comfort it. I feel his gaze penetrate the back of my head, riddled with curiosity.
I make a sharp turn when I realize there's a black car in front of me without their headlights on. I lower the window and curse them out for their irresponsibility. They're just asking to be in an accident!
"We're going to surrender you." I explain, driving off the highway. The car follows predictably.
Why is only one car coming? Do they expect me to be easy to catch? Should I be offended?
I slow down to a halt on the side of the road. The car does the same on the other side, and the driver immediately gets out with his gun aimed at me.
"Hold him down for me." I whisper, before opening the car door. With an injured arm, I'm not sure how much help he'll be, but I can't do two things at once.
I make eye contact with him and stand up, stretching my legs a bit. They were in a cramped position for so long!
I walk around the car and grab Fred, showing the guy what he wants so badly. Not so sure about what's special about him, but I'll find out soon.
I push him towards the man, causing him to stumble and almost lose his footing. He turns back to glare at me, which I subtly ignore.
The man's eyes bulge in shock once he gets a clear view of me. It confuses me, but I don't ask about it.
"You can have him, he's not worth getting chased by the FBI."
He smirks and and hands Fred a gun, clicking off the safety. Fred instantly points it at me.
"Well hello, my queen. Is this what you have been doing ever since you left the castle? Kidnapping government officials?" He asks, swiftly bowing. A smile creeps up on his face, revealing his sharp fangs. Vampire.
I scoff. "Middle-aged humans over a hot, sexy vampire? That's a no-brainer."
I step to the side to look at Fred, the shadow of the vampire. I nod softly at him.
He swiftly turns around and shoots him in the arm, causing the vampire to hiss in pain. I use that as an opportunity to grab him, throwing him to the tree. I run alongside with him as he flies into the branch, banging his head on the tree trunk multiple times.
Once he's weakened considerably, I fling him to Fred's feet, where he lays vulnerable to all attacks. Fred grabs his arms and holds him down for me. I begin to straddle him so he can't escape, forcing his head down directly in front of mine.
I take deep breaths, imagining the plucking of his memories straight from his mind. I concentrate on his eyes, the windows to his soul.
I float in an endless abyss. My feet hover above the ground, if there is any. Invisible rope ties me down, keeping me from drifting off into space.
Streams of light bolt past me, reflecting graphics I cannot see. I squint my eyes, attempting to catch glimpses of them. No luck.
I reach my hand out to grab one that's nearby, grasping it by its seams. It disintegrates at my touch, the ashes falling to my feet.
One memory gone.
I close my eyes, willing his mind to find the present. Blurs of his memories seem to move faster, only to slow down once the previous happenings are nearby. I reopen my eyes, staring at the motionless graphics.
I slide my hand across the pieces of film, ranging from now to when his bosses sent him on this recovery mission. They crumble to the ground, allowing the air to sweep them away.
I'm sucked back into reality, pulled out of the crevices of his mind. The vampire still struggles, nipping his fangs at the human. I wrap my fingers around his neck and snap it.
My head pounds as I stand up, hurting my vision. I have a feeling it's because of the use of my powers. I'm not skilled with them yet, so it'll hurt me the first few times.
"When he wakes up, he will have no recollection of this." I tell Fred as I walk to the car. He follows, frequently looking back at his coworker in guilt.
I look at the automobile in disgust. It's riddled with bullet holes and has outlived its usefulness for me.
I hop inside and slam the door shut, which is soon imitated by Fred. I begin my drive to West Virginia, constantly checking on him to make sure he isn't doing anything stupid.
As I look at him, I'm reminded of his blind faith in me. It fills me with curiosity and a need for answers.
"Why did you betray him for me?" I blurt out.
He sighs, rubbing his face. "I don't know. I think I just trusted you to do the right thing, which you did."
"Why didn't you erase my memories?" He asks. None of this would've happened if I did that from the start. This car wouldn't look like it's been through hell, guns wouldn't have to be fired, I wouldn't have him laying down in my backseat.
"I didn't think I could." I answer. I didn't try because I would only use it as a last resort, such as this one. Killing the vampire wouldn't have worked, they'd just send more people after me. The same thing would happen if I escaped, too.
"If you want, I'll erase all memories of this for you. You could back to your family as if this never happened." I silently hoped he would choose to stay. He's my inside man, holding all of the information I'd have to search hours for.
I could sense the inner turmoil he's experiencing at this moment. He loves his family so much and despairs to go back to them, but something is keeping him here.
He shakes his head after a few moments, surprising me greatly. "No, I want to catch the people destroying the government, and I have a feeling you're the only one who can do it."