Inaspettato [Esmeralda Craft]

[Cosimo Alessi (DELETED 6612)]

Cosimo did not know Esmeralda. Although he had learned thus far that Esmeralda had an odd way of speaking—like someone out of last century—but he didn’t know her well enough to know what was really normal and what was not. It didn’t cross his mind, anyway. What did it matter how she spoke, or what was normal? Nothing would be normal for her again. Not for a little while, anyway. Nothing was normal for Cosimo, yet. But then, it hadn’t been too long for him, either.

There was no room in his mind, now, for whether this had been a good idea or not. Maybe he should have waited for normality before he brought someone else into this. But maybe he should have thought about that before he went and got himself seen feeding in the park. He didn’t think about the what ifs and maybes, not now. That would be insulting to the girl laid out in front of him, who looked as if she were struggling. And why shouldn’t she be? Cosimo had struggled.

When Elizabeth had sired Cosimo, she had brought him back here. She had brought him back here and she had buried him. Buried him, so that he was forced to climb his way back out again. Something about making sure that he would be strong enough. He had proved that, well enough. As devoted as he was to his sire, he wasn’t sure that he could take that tradition upon himself. This girl, dressed in all white; he couldn’t dare bury her in the ground, and get her all covered in dirt. Although he had been quite happy and proud to prove his own strength to Elizabeth, it wasn’t something that he would enforce on his own… childe? That was what they call them, isn’t it? That was what Elizabeth called him…

”Come on,” he said, quietly. Gently. Gently, he tried to coax Esmeralda up; he would carry her, if she was unable to walk on her own. ”I have a bed I can take you to. Away from the sun. Your body is changing ad it will take some time. But it will get better,” he said. Perhaps it would be best, to let Esmeralda change, and settle – and the next night, they would spend the hours getting her accustomed to everything that will be new to her.

”Tomorrow night, we will go and collect your things,” he said with a smile.

[Esmeralda Craft (DELETED 6851)]

She didn't need much encouragement to stand up. Despite a feeling of unevenness and unbalance she moved with determination, using Cosimo as an aid whilst still trying to be as independent in each movement as possible. Once she was stood, she found her centre of balance again. No words left her paled lips, only timed breaths, which she used as encouragement to make herself move quicker. Like an animal getting used to her limbs, she became more and more steady.

Esmeralda liked the feeling of ground beneath her feet again. Being upright was more pleasant for her head, and let her look around properly. Though she had just walked through the gardens once, it was different this time as the two slowly made their way back towards the elevator. Each step she made took great effort - she felt unstable within herself, like two pieces fighting to consume the other, and that unsteadiness meant everything needed her focus. She was easily distracted most of the time - letting thoughts flitter away from her - but didn't allow herself the luxury in that moment. Her hand gripped Cosimo's forearm tightly, her nails pressing against his skin. She didn't realise she was doing it.

Esmeralda forgot everything she knew about being elegant for those moments. She only needed to move, not keep her back straight and her head high. Instead she looked at her feet. A bed, he had mentioned, that was what she wanted to get to. Away from the noise that buzzed in her ear. She didn't know if it would help her, but it seemed like a sensible place to be whilst her body felt so unruly and mouldable. The shock of losing her heartbeat had worn off slowly, instead the silence inside of her was welcome, and helped her remove her surroundings into a black abyss. There was just the elevator door.

She didn't feel any differently about elevators. They were metal mouths that slid shut and encased you, and made your stomach perform acrobatics before they spat you out. But she felt far more toughened to it now. Like even if it chewed down and tried to crush them, it would bend instead of her bones. The mixture of strength and weakness was thrilling - and exhausting - and Esmeralda doubted that any of this night would be forgettable.

[Cosimo Alessi (DELETED 6612)]

Cosimo did not rush Esmeralda. The girl seemed determined to be as independent as she could be, so Cosimo merely hovered as they walked back through the gardens. Like a father teaching a young daughter how to ride a bike without its training wheels, he was ready to catch her if she fell. They would both need to feed; that would be the first thing on the agenda when they went out into the city. But Cosimo was tired, too, and a small rest sounded like a very good idea.

He was already thinking ahead. He didn’t have an apartment of his own yet, though he had been assured by Elizabeth that the leases were being rearranged. The paperwork for these things could sometimes take a while, so Cosimo had been allowed to remain in the penthouse for the duration. He would not dare take Elizabeth’s bed, but had commandeered one in the spare room. It was to that bed that he would take Esmeralda, and he would take one of the couches. They were nice couches. And he doubted that he would notice, anyway, even if they were not comfortable. As soon as that sun peeked over the horizon, he would be dead to the world, and would sleep wherever his body fell—regardless of whether it was in a soft bed or over a hot bed of coals.

It was not long until they were on the correct floor and Cosimo was guiding Esmeralda toward the penthouse. It was a vast and large apartment, but he did not give her a grand tour. The place was not his to give a tour of; but he would give her a tour of the towers proper the next night. For now, he guided her toward the spare bedroom, where the bed was unmade but the space itself was otherwise tidy. Cosimo did not have many belongings to his name, so there wasn’t much that he could leave lying around.

”I do shower. Every night. I promise the sheets are as clean as they can be,” he said. And he had showered as often as he could, now that he had access to one. Showers were things that he knew he would never take for granted again.

”Do you need one? A shower… or do you need rest?” he asked.

[Esmeralda Craft (DELETED 6851)]

The words glazed over her, and Esmeralda didn't properly recognise them. Something about a shower. She didn't want one of those, she just wanted to sleep. She felt like the connection between her mind and body had been strained, not quite broken, but slowed down. She felt like she moved slower than she used to, lagged down, and if she stopped moving that wouldn't be a problem. She wanted to bury her face in the pillow and melt away, though she decided that would be unladylike and abandoned what she wanted in that moment. Formalities were still sternly enforced on her.

Her family was always extremely traditional. Upholding the name was more important than keeping love in line, so most of the marriages were arranged stiffly even in such a modern society. Esmeralda's skittish, standoffish nature was probably down to this, as her mother focussed on how she sat more than how she felt. She knew it wasn't exactly normal but it didn't bother her. It gave her a sort of originality, she supposed. Not that such a little thing would mean anything any more. She had moved into a different society that night and she knew her strict upbringing wouldn't be the focus of attention.

"No, thank you.." She murmured, blinking hard and focussing on the bed in front of her. She reached out with her pale hands to touch the bedding, and then stopped to look at her skin, distracted by the detail she could see. It was extremely trippy, that was the best way to describe it. She pushed down on the bed a little then turned and sat on it, her eyes flashing back to Cosimo. "Thank you." She repeated, with purpose.

He had fulfilled something that she had such a burning curiosity and need for, and she felt in his debt. She wanted to make him proud of what he had done - Esmeralda would not let this be a mistake.

[Cosimo Alessi (DELETED 6612)]

Cosimo released Esmeralda, allowing her to settle in the bed. There were a few pillows stacked at the head of the bed. Good, fluffy pillows. Probably feather down, given how plump they were. A luxury, compared to what Cosimo had been accustomed to in the past. The sheets and quilt were of a similar quality; the sheets a light blue and made of a thousand thread count cotton, and the quilt of a dark blue, heavy and comforting.

There was a lamp beside the bed that cast a warm and dim light over the scene, which could be turned off with a touch. Cosimo's fingers swept through his dark hair and he nodded. It felt odd, to have someone thanking him for turning them into a vampire. That she would now be sleeping in his bed, and would henceforth become a permanent fixture in his life. It was the thought that continued to resonate; that continued to circle back around in the back of his mind. He gave Esmeralda a smile, and lingered awkwardly for a few more long seconds before he nodded again.

"It is no problem," he said, as if he had only done a small favour; small change for a coffee or picked up something that she had dropped. As if he hadn't changed her life, irrevocably. "Get some rest. I will see you tomorrow night. I will be just outside. On the couch," he said, and then cleared his throat. She was not a child, and she probably didn't need to know that he would be just outside. But, just in case.

He then turned and left the room; as thirsty as he might be, he did not have the energy to try to go and feed again, nor to even find one of those stale blood packs to keep him topped up. As soon as he sat on the couch, he pulled out his phone to text Elizabeth; to prepare her for the arrival of his new childe, and to ask if keys could be made. As soon as the text was sent, he lay down. And promptly dozed, only to fall into a dead sleep as soon as the sun climbed into the sky.

[Esmeralda Craft (DELETED 6851)]

Esmeralda watched him go, her eyebrows drawn together, but not in frustration, just in thoughtfulness. And then her lips twitched upward into a smile, and she stood up. She walked around to the side of the bed, and pulled back the covers. Even if she was to get into a smaller bed, she would get in on the same side - the left side, always - out of habit from when she was a little one and would climb into her nanny's bed, who religiously slept on the right. Even she was chilled like Esmeralda's mother, but she was warm enough to sympathise with a child who had a bad dream.

She sat on the bed, and twisted to slip her feet under the covers. She slid back, slowly closing her eyes and exhaling as she settled into the pillow and pulled the covers over her. She didn't feel the warmth like she did the night before. Her fingers gently combed at the covers, scratching without actually using her nails. All at once, she realised she had not looked at the room that was around her. She had never skimmed over something so briefly in her recent years, but as she tried to open her eyes to fix this mistake, she couldn't manage it. Sleep already clawed at her and began pulling her into its folds, and just this once she resisted her desire to check her surroundings.

Her breathing stopped as she forgot to do it, and she looked perfectly dead laying there. Her skin pale as always, and her chest not rising and falling like it should. She made no movement, slipping away.