Kissed with Midnight [Aviana]

[Kaj Gyllenstierna (DELETED 6519)]

“I have worked there but few weeks,” Kaj said in a lighter tone when she had asked about his job at the hospital. He didn’t know if he was going into too much detail, but he was quick to add, “since I have moved to this country from Sweden.”

Talking with Aviana came quite easily after his little faux pas; Kaj found that it was effortless to relax around this woman, who despite all friendly banter and support, was basically a stranger to him. Of course Kaj was always nervous about talking to new people – particularly new people who spoke English alone – but he at least prided himself on his judgements. Kaj felt that he was able to anticipate people, to understand them as readily as one could read a book. Nevertheless, he wasn’t so obtuse as to forget about the deeper meanings, the underlying roots which helped these flowers grow. Kaj could read people and understand them in a quick surface glance, which assisted in determining whether he would like to form relationships with them. It was then that he was able to read between the lines, as it were, and dig a little deeper into these people.

With Aviana, he found her quite charming and delightful. She was gentle and forgiving, making him feel quite safe around her. She embodied the character of an older sister – one Kaj imagined to exist rather than understood from his own personal experiences. His relationship with his sister, Bella, who was 14 years his senior, was never close, warm or loving. Perhaps it was because of the age difference, or simply because Kaj was the Black Sheep in the Gyllenstierna household. It wasn’t difficult to work out why just from the family portrait. His mother, father and sister formed a tight trio, their appearances consistent with their disciplined natures and stern outlooks. On the left, then, there was Kaj; the boy whose hair was longer than his female relatives’, whose attire was unrestrained and casual. Their hands were clasped behind them, shoulders back and chest puffed out with confidence; Kaj held his hands in front of him, shoulders slack with his tall, skinny body diminishing.

Try as he might, Kaj was not like them. They were a determined people and down-to-Earth, grounded by reality and cold about the certainties of life and death. Kaj, meanwhile, was prone to flights of fancy, to daydreaming, to aspiring for the impossible and doing what he wanted to do simply because he wanted to do it. It was why he had moved here from his homeland, in search of a better life and a culture that would be more accepting. Frankly, it had not helped that Kaj was not the type who would ever bring home grandchildren – even if he liked children. In almost every way imaginable, Kaj’s desires conflicted with that of his family’s.

All too suddenly, Kaj was ripped from his warm and comfortable place at Aviana’s side. Following her abrupt and bizarre exclamation, Aviana was plucked from the world he knew and tossed some feet away. Once again, Kaj had not seen what had happened, and as quickly as the Fadebeast had appeared, it had vanished. To the Swedish man it was as though some tormented spirit had decided to assault them both this night. Assuming he was the common denominator, Kaj froze in place and watched with wide eyes as Aviana’s body slumped against the floor; her umbrella was scattered some feet away. Kaj did not see her reach for her gun in her purse, blue eyes turned to the umbrella that was rolling away with the wind. He staggered over to it, collecting it quickly on his way over to Aviana. Crouching wasn’t the best idea, but the Swedish man dropped to his knees alongside her, fussing over her like a mother hen.

“Are you alright?” he asked. “What happened? You seemed to just… fly into the air all of a sudden.”

In the stress of it all, Kaj’s accent grew thick around his words like mould; it would be surprising if she understood much of what he said, even if she wasn’t suffering a concussion.

[Aviana]

Avi would suddenly drop the tight hold she held on her bag. Her eyes lingered to where the fadbeast had stood, and it was gone now. The beast had vanished? Just like that? The young vampire didn’t quite understand much about these creatures. What drove them to just randomly attack and vanish? It didn’t make much sense to her, but there was still much about this city that she didn’t understand. Maybe the fadebeast was just messing with them, and would be back again once she felt safe? A lingering of paranoia held within Aviana’s mind, a fear that at any moment the beast would be back. Where had it come from? Why? Was it the same fadebeast from before? So much raced within the he mind, and for a moment it was overwhelming.

Her eyes would drift then to linger over at Kaj as he thoughtfully got her brightly colored umbrella. She wondered if he had seen anything when the monster had snatched her. Or better yet, how was she going to explain what had happened? He made his way to her, and much of this worry would briefly wash from her mind, as she forced it away. He was so kind, and she hated to know that she might have troubled him even more. She should have just continued straight home… but where would that have left Kaj? What was with this city, and being unable to catch a break?

Her hand would slowly move to rest at her side. Luckily her leather jacket had been open and the beasts claws (or whatever they were) had only pierced through her knitted top. She felt the pain more clearly then, and she touched the wet knitted fabric. Pulling her hand away slowly, the tips of her fingers were stained with a dark crimson color. Avi knew good and well what that was, something she could not afford to lose. At least the beast’s claws had missed her ribs. She knew what a cracked bone felt like, the memories were still fresh in her mind from the last time it had happened. If she had to guess, the wounds had stabbed deep through her abdomen. Possibly even puncturing some organs, but that didn’t matter? Did it? Just another thing to be added to the list of things she didn’t know about vampires.

As Kaj drew closer, and Avi wished there was some way to keep him from figuring out about this. She would wipe her fingers on her jeans, and dust the dirt from her hands. Maybe he wouldn’t notice? She would hate to bother him, or cause the man any worry. He had been nice, and freaking him out was the last thing she held interest in doing. It would bring up a whole other set of issues, such as why she wasn’t bleeding out after receiving four deep puncture wounds to her abdomen. Sure she was bleeding, but her heart no longer beat, and there was no pumping force behind what filled her arteries and veins. The man worked at a hospital, surly he knew how a few things worked and would notice something wasn’t exactly normal about Aviana if he discovered the wounds.

Despite the pain, Avi knew she had to play off how it felt. Maybe she could even play it a bit clueless. Like she didn’t even know what truly happened. Could she do that? It made her feel a bit sick to think about. She hated when people lied to her, or attempted to fool her just to keep her from getting hurt. So why should she do such a thing to another? It all just felt so wrong but tried hard to justify her reasons. Why should he be freaked out and know so much truth? Avi wished she didn’t know many thing, especially when it came to vampires and most things about this city. Avi had managed a smile then as Kaj dropped down beside her. He seemed a looked worried, and it could be heard through his words. His accent seemed a bit stronger, but Avi felt she got the gist of what he was trying to say. “I’ll be fine, I promise. It didn’t kill me….” Trailing her words off as she had foolishly spoken the word it.

She would reach her hand to touch his arm for a brief moment, as her eyes held to him. His second question seemed so very hard to answer. She didn’t want to lie to him, it felt so wrong. But would he even believe her if she did speak of the truth? Avi would never have believed any of this until having been turned. “Bizarre things wonder the streets of this city at night…” Spoken as she went to lean up, but sat right back down on the pavement. It was painful, but that was not the hard part. It was the part of pulling off that she felt completely fine, that she found difficult.

She would not linger for long, but would get to her knees and then stand a bit wobbly for a moment. Dusting off her jacket and fixing her bag back over her shoulders. “We should really get you to work through, before any more trouble finds us.” This was her lame way of luring the subject. He would surly have more questions. Was Avi the right ones to be answering them? She knew absolutely next to nothing about vampires or the creatures of this city. Not to mention she had none to go to, none to help her figure any of it out either. Avi held a hand out then to offer to help Kaj up. She still wanted to help him get to work. At least he would likely be headed home once the sun was up. That’s when humans were safe in this city right? She couldn’t help but fear that none was safe in this city, ever.

[Kaj Gyllenstierna (DELETED 6519)]

“Well, obviously it didn’t kill you,” Kaj said immediately – his voice almost chiding in its seriousness. “But what do you mean by it? What happened? What was that it? What bizarre things do you mean?”

Kaj was a million questions as he helped Aviana to her feet – exchanging their roles only ever so briefly. As soon as she was back on her feet, albeit unsteadily, Aviana was quick to take command again. Kaj was used to the submissive role and did not hesitate to follow her lead. Her suggestion to get to his place of work was perfectly reasonable and he had no reason to object. Besides, if she was injured, he could get one of the nurses to take a look at her. It was the least he could do after her help tonight and they certainly needed to get off the streets.

Trouble swamped Harper Rock and made victims of the unwary. Kaj had lived in this city for little less than two months and up until now, things had been relatively calm. Only once had the winds stirred the depths of paranormal activity, where Kaj had witnessed something strange in someone who had appeared Human. At first Kaj had shrugged it off as some kind of intoxicated or insane babbling, but then it happened again – with a different person, someone offering something a bit different and yet the same. It was becoming difficult to ignore the strange happenings in this city, but, tonight the winds had churned a storm and the paranormal activity had struck its peak.

It was still raining. The scent of life dissolved within the drizzling mist, slowly eroding the sins of the world. The evidence of their weird night might be washing away, but those events – Kaj was sure – would stick in his memory forever. But how would he explain these events? How could he come to understand what was happening around him and learn to keep himself safe? Going home was no longer a possibility. His family would consider him a failure if he came back so quickly with his tail tucked between his legs. He would have to beg for his old job and it would seem like death was the full expectancy of his life. Kaj had no choice; he had to stay and he had to learn how to survive. Would Aviana help him? She had no obligation to, but Kaj could hope. She knew more than he did, that was for sure, and if he asked… perhaps she would tell him the truth.