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Never before had the German in 7C been so happy to be on a plane to Canada. Typically, he hated the long-haul flight with its crying children and their snoring parents. With being crammed into a small bit of space barely suitable for a 152cm passenger never mind his 188cm frame. He had sprung for one of the economy seats with more leg space; it still wasn’t ideal though. This was a trip he had made dozens of times to visit the Canadian branch of his family. Trips that he enjoyed even if the method of conveyance was less than pleasant.

What made this trip different was that he had no intention of ever boarding a plane to return to Germany. It hadn’t been the initial plan when he had initially booked the flight as a round-trip ticket. The events of the past forty-eight hours had been his impetus to change it to an one-way, pack what belongings he could fit in his luggage, and board the plane without a backwards glance. There was no longer a place for him in the country he had spent the majority of his life. What he had learned in the short time period had ensured that. He just wasn’t sure there was a place for him in Canada for the same reason.

If things didn’t go well in Harper Rock, he would find another area to settle. It was still odd for him to think that a little over forty-eight hours ago this trip was only scheduled to be a month long vacation to visit with the Canadian side of the family. Surreal didn’t seem to cover the feeling giving his notice at work and to the landlord. At least he hadn’t really had to worry about cleaning the flat or emptying it of food as he had already prepared it the holiday; all he had had to do was pack. And change his ticket to an one-way which had been eerily easy to do despite it being less than twenty-four hours to departure. He couldn’t help but marvel at how unburying the family secrets had changed things so drastically and so quickly for him.
The captain announcing to get ready for landing pulled Hadrian out of his musings into the current moment. The button to bring his seat into its upright position was depressed as he passed the cup from the beverage service into the waiting bag of the stewardess. Thanking her, he secured his tray into its locked position before double checking his seat belt. Familiar actions that helped ground the German into the here and now. The ding of the ‘fasten seatbelt’ turning off signaled the beginning of his new journey though he was content to stay into his seat until the crowd of passengers had thinned significantly. While he waited, he sent off a message to his cousin, Aurelia, that he had arrived and would meet her in the pick-up lot so there were no extravagant parking fees.

The butterflies in his stomach increased with every step he took through the terminal towards baggage claim where he took possession of his pair of bags containing the majority of his worldly possessions. He paid the feeling no mind given he was quite nervous about seeing Aurelia once again. Or rather, Hadrian was dreading her reaction to the information he needed to impart to her. It was crucial, though, that she and others - especially the family’s patriarch, were made aware of the knowledge he carried; he just knew it wasn’t likely to be well-received.

Entering the designated lot, he slowed to scan the cars, thankful the butterflies had dissipated though he wished he could say the same of the dull ache that seemed to have taken residence in his back. He couldn’t help but smile as he spotted his cousin’s Jeep; it was the same old, beat-up vehicle that he remembered from many past visits. Sauntering up to it, he called out a quick ‘Hello’ of greeting as he hefted his bags into the back of the vehicle with an ease he hadn’t thought possible. His back, though, seemed to protest the action with a burst of searing pain that faded as he slowly made his way to the passenger door to climb in.

“Evening, Aurelia. Damn is it good to see you again” There was a smile on his face as he caught a proper glimpse of the young woman. She was ever as beautiful as he remembered, if not more so. It was a casual observation; she was spoken for and even if she hadn’t been, her friendship meant far more to him to make an attempt at something more. The butterflies in his stomach returned as he leaned over to brush his lips lightly across her cheek in greeting. As lips met flesh, his stomach seemed to turn into a giant knot. His eyes widened slightly as it coupled with the cold feel of her flesh; the book he had read before leaving Germany had mentioned something about this. His mind seemed to run amuck for the moment it took him to settle back into his seat. “We need to talk,” he finally spoke a moment later, his voice steadier than he thought possible at the moment. “But not at the Estate. Somewhere else that’s fairly private.”

There was always something to say about Harper Rock. Between the vampires, the spirits and the crime rate that was steadily increasing, Aurelia didn’t linger around often after work or when she was spending time with her girlfriend. She preferred sticking to the outskirts, especially due to the rift opening and the seeming increase in the deaths around the city. Spirits were more frequent throughout several districts, their voices louder and more prominent. It was a bit overwhelming at times, suffocating even. Since she’d become a vampire, Aurelia had noticed her ability to discern the dead from the living had began to slip, It was something she wasn’t sure how to bring up to anyone, to discuss.

At times, it was difficult being a medium without her grandparent around to help her.

With a soft sigh escaping past her lips, the blonde allurist leaned forward and rested her chest against the steering wheel of her jeep. Her cousin had insisted that she could just pick him up; Aurelia didn’t understand why, it wasn’t as if she were lacking the finances to afford parking, but there had been no sense in arguing. She had already been waiting fifteen minutes in the load zone, the sound of Josh Turner crooning out from her speaker system as if it were at spoken volume rather than the whisper she’d put it on the moment. To her, there was no difference. It was one of the pluses, she told herself, the heightened senses.

What came as a positive was also a negative, really. The sound of the music playing was always better than the sound of her engine, nonetheless. As she drummed her fingertips against the side of her steering wheel, she looked at her phone when it chirped at her. Her lips curled into a smile when she saw the message across the screen. Her excitement grew, the blonde straightening up in the front seat of her Jeep. Like her relationship with Judah, the one Aurelia held with Hadrian was a strong one. The two were close as adults, just as they had been as children and so the offer for him to stay with her had been second nature. In under a week, the extra guest bedroom had new sheets on the bed and fresh towels had been placed in the adjacent bathroom.

Aurelia heard him before she saw him - shifting to look as the bags were placed into the back of her Jeep before she smiled. The von der Marck vampiress returned the greeting before she collected the small bottle of Tylenol that was made specifically for muscle ache and offered it to him. “Hello Hadrian. I’m glad you made it out this way.” The smile she held was radiant and genuine, pleased that he had arrived. Her smile only faded briefly after the kiss to her cheek; she knew she was no longer warm to the touch and although the main estate knew of Aurelia becoming a vampire, her father’s excited chatter hadn’t made it out to the extended estates. It wasn’t a secret to anyone, but she didn’t go shouting it. Although, by then, it was not difficult to suspect given Aurelia’s recent fight for vampire rights.

She was adamant to make things better and to point out vampires were not the monsters they were portrayed to be. As a vampire, she still intended to pay taxes just as she would as a human.

His reaction was just another reminder to Aurelia that her senses were sharper. As he seemed to lose touch with reality for a moment, she could hear his heartbeat increase. Was he frightened? Was he nervous? Did he think she’d hurt him? The thoughts traced through her mind, although Aurelia herself knew it wasn’t a concern. At first, the need for human blood had been intense, but she’d since chosen an animal blood diet, paired with the occasional regular food as it got rid of the metallic taste that lingered in her mouth. Unless she was down a few pints of blood in her body, human blood was of no interest to the petite blonde. “We can go back to the Ranch, the Estate will be there tomorrow.” She said, turning on the engine and in the moment after, reached over to turn up the music just that it would be heard over the rumbling for her.

“You remember it? The old one I used to live in as a kid. My parents gave it to me, I’ve been rebuilding it.” The casual words were spoken as Aurelia checked her mirror and carefully twisted so that she could look over her shoulder. A man in a blue Escalade didn’t consider that she was about to pull out, blowing past her so that the petite female rolled her eyes and waited, and then merged into the slowly moving traffic. “There’s a few things that you need to hear, too. First off, the stories we heard from my grandfather growing up were true. And with that,” She reached up to shift the mirror just so he would be able to see what she had in her glance. Gray skin, sunken eyes. Aurelia’s features had become darkened, her eyes milkier in the reflection than the pure blue they shown otherwise. A deceased body that had started to decay. “Sometimes there’s truth in stories.”