By Ginny
Chapter One
The phone was ringing…and I wasn’t going to answer it. I had been
up for 19 hours straight and was a wreck. I didn’t need another thing keeping
me up. Too bad I hadn’t turned the answering machine on. Maybe I should look
into updating my machine. Whoever was calling had better have good reason and
not want to talk "shop", or they would suffer. That is, once I had
enough energy to do something about it.
I managed to pull the phone under the covers and pick up the
receiver on about the fourteenth ring; someone was being insistent.
"What the hell…" I mumbled under the covers and into
the phone.
"Get out of the house."
It was Edward.
"What are you…"
"Anita, pack some clothes, Sigmund and your toys and get
out of the house."
"In that order?" I abruptly laughed. "Edward,
where are you?" I sighed.
"Coming towards your house right now."
"Well then, I think I’ll wait right here for you, in my
nice warm bed." The minute I said it, I knew it didn’t sound right, but I
wasn’t going to draw attention to it.
"No!"
"What?" Edward was confusing me, big surprise there, but
this was ridiculous.
"Anita, get the fuck out of bed, now! You have four minutes
to be ready to sprint out the front door. Please, just do it." The line
went dead.
I didn’t want to believe him. I wanted to stay in between my
warm sheets with the favorite man in my life: Sigmund. Cuddly, there to comfort
you twenty-four/seven, you get my drift. But however badly I didn’t want to
believe Edward’s words, if he told me to run, I had to believe him. In the next
moment, I found myself with a duffel bag clutched in my hands, frantically
throwing various polo shirts and jeans into the bag. I hadn't bothered turning
on the light. I stuffed Sigmund on top of the pile in my bag and zipped it up.
I grabbed a wooden chair sitting in one of the dark corners and scrambled on
top to reach another bag. What? I’m five three; do you have a point to make?
That’s what I thought.
I ripped the bag down and expertly unlocked my fire-safe.
Wouldn’t want any cops taking peeks at my illegal firearms (courtesy of Edward)
now, would I? How would I explain that to Dolph and Zerbrowski? Of course, as
of late, there were a lot of things I wouldn’t be able to explain to them. Just
as I zipped my second duffel bag closed, my cell phone rang.
It was just another distraction that kept me from doing what I
really needed to do, then again, maybe it was Edward.
"Hello!" I practically yelled as I ran down the
carpeted stairs with my two duffel bags strung over my shoulders.
"Anita."
I froze in my tracks and almost plunged down the remaining steps
as I recognized the voice.
"Edward!" I said, gripping the handrail so that I
wouldn’t fall.
"Get out. I want you to stand on your porch until you see
my Hummer, then I want you to sprint to it as fast as possible." He hung
up, yet again.
By this point I had managed to reach my living room. I opened my
front door and noticed headlights already gleaming off of my home. How fast was
he going? No one would’ve gotten away by saying he was complying with the speed
limit.
I slowly came back to the "real world", if that's what
I live in, and found that my feet had already started towards the curb of the
street. Edward's Hummer had finally come into view, screeching to a jolted stop
in front of me as Edwards simultaneously threw open the passenger side door.
I flung my bags at Edward and was climbing into the Hummer when
gunfire rang out. It was aimed at us, which, wasn't very surprising at all. It
wasn't exactly how I had wanted my annual reunion with Edward to go, at least
not yet. That sort of thing was usually saved for later. I somehow managed to
close the door as Edward made the fastest U-turn I'd ever experienced. My hands
quickly locked my seatbelt in place and I was ready to ridicule Edward; but as
I glanced at him, I found that his seatbelt was already strapped into its
rightful place. Good boy.
"Edward?" I spoke quietly, while inquiring. He was
actually showing signs of emotions, and they spoke tense. Provoking him was not
going to help matters.
"Not yet." he said, not even glancing in my general
direction once. I'd wait for him to speak to me.
Chapter Two
Waiting for him to speak to me actually took several hours. We
had reached Chicago's suburbs when he had finally decided to give in, well not
exactly. We had been sitting at a stoplight when he handed me a manila folder.
"What's this?" I asked.
He said nothing and continued to stare straight ahead, as if he
could melt the windshield. Maybe he could. I pulled the small metal clasps up
and managed to dump the contents in my lap. It was me - except it wasn't. It
was actually Anita Rosalind Schmidt. There was a birth certificate,
passport, everything to prove that this person existed. I had, yet again, a
fake identity.
"Edward, where are we going?"
He was starting to piss me off. If he didn't start acknowledging
me soon, I was going to completely forget my "not provoke Edward"
tactic.
"Edward," He gave no reaction.
"Edward," I repeated. I gave up on my plan.
"Edward!" I yelled, grabbing hold of his hand and
yanking it towards me. In the next moment the Hummer had found its way to a
curb and it had been thrown into park. I was still holding Edward's hand, and
was starting to have second thoughts about it as Edward undid his seatbelt with
his left hand. It might have been a good idea to scream and run away, given the
position I had just put myself into. My pondering took too long, because Edward
grabbed my own wrist in a quick flick and managed to pull my body across the
seat. It wasn't very comfortable. I ended up straddled over the seats.
I managed to meekly look up into his babe blues, how? I have no
idea. Edward was the only person, monster, or not, who I actually backed down
to. If it had been Jean-Claude, Richard, Nicholas, Serephina or other, I most
likely would've been stupid and laughed. Edward was another story. He may be
human, but it's a different breed of human. I think he had softened up a little
when I had last seen him in Santa Fe, but not enough.
I tensed as my eyes followed his hand's path. He reached into
the glove box, and when his hand re-surfaced, it held a black velvet jewelry
box. Like something a ring would be held in. I was suddenly, very, very,
confused.
"You're my fiancée," he spoke as he expertly opened
the box one-handed. "Anita?"
"I-I, I'm your fiancée? What about Donna and-"
"We met six years ago in St. Louis," he continued as
he slipped an exquisite diamond ring on my ring finer. The stones were set in
the ring, flat, and it fit my finger perfectly.
"We met in St. Louis six years ago," I cautiously
repeated.
"Your name is?" I questioned.
"Edward William Klein."
I nodded, "I'm?"
"Anita Rosalind Schmidt, for now," he said,
transferring his tight grip on my wrist to my hand, intertwining it in mine. It
felt odd having Edward holding my hand. The weird thing was, it also felt right
and oddly enough, comforting.
"How old are you?"
He was silent a moment before he reluctantly said,
"Thirty." I finally knew something true about Edward, yeah! He was
only three years older than myself. He gazed at me, I didn't know why though. I
was positive that he knew every facial expression I could muster.
"What are you thinking?" I asked.
He had become unfocused. Edward never did that. I slowly
realized that he was stroking the back of my hand with his thumb. I was
experiencing a new Edward.
Our trance was broke with a tap on the window. Edward and I
moved and found a cop waiting on the other side. I'm sure Edward was just
positively ecstatic. Edward pressed the window button and it slid down.
"Sir, Madam." The cop said, tipping his hat in my
direction. We simply nodded back.
"Is there a problem?" the officer asked.
Edward glanced out his window, making it look like he was just
realizing how he was parked. The truth was, he knew exactly how he was
parked.
"No, officer. My fiancée forgot something back at the hotel
we were staying at and we need to catch our flight." Edward said with a
Ted accent and attitude. I hated the Ted personality.
"I'm so sorry we're parked like this; I didn't realize it
was causing a disturbance. I'll move right away."
"It wasn't causing much of a disturbance, just doing my
job." the cop smiled.
The cop briefly glanced down at my hand with the newly acquired
ring; his eyes looking up and moving his gaze between Edward and I. A beaming
smile flooded across his face as he said, "I'll let you two get going.
Good luck to the two of you."
With that, he walked back to his patrol car and weaved back into
traffic. When Edward had shut the window, our gaze met on our locked fingers.
Our hands slowly slid apart and we faced forward. Edward managed to get back on
the main drag. For the second time in a day, I was facing uncomfortable
silence.
Chapter Three
The only protection my body had from the ground thousands of
feet below, was a metal casing of the plane. It may have been comforting to
some, but there was no way in hell that it was going to comfort me. Was it me?
Or was I placing myself in this situation more and more frequently? For the
past two hours, I had been trying to distance myself from Edward and it wasn't
easy, not at all. It was actually a struggle. There were mainly two reasons of
why it was so hard. The first was that he was sitting next to me. I couldn't
avoid him on purpose without making it obvious. The second and main reason was
that we couldn't lie or avoid one another. It was like a rule between the two
of us.
I was, for once, sick and tired of being quiet with Edward. Both
of us didn't do small talk, but I was yearning for it. As I was mentally over
viewing my situation the plane started shaking slightly. This was not what I
needed. I had no comfort, unless you counted Sigmund, who was in the overhead
compartment. I was not going to move my arms from the armrests, and I wasn't
going to ask Edward to fetch me a stuffed toy, so that idea was out. Then there
was Edward, who I was trying to avoid.
The turbulence grew, sending my hands to the plane's arm rests.
Oh God, oh God, I couldn't die like this. This was one of the top five for my
"Ways Not to Die" list. The plane was starting to shake more and
more, my knuckles turning bright white in color. Just as I thought I was going
to lose it, an arm unfurled in front of me. Should I take it? I think the
answer was obvious enough. My left hand sprang off of the black plastic encased
armrest and onto the arm for dear life. If I was going to die in a fiery plane
crash, then I was going to do it while clutching something alive - or at least
as close to 'alive' as I could possibly get. Thankfully, it was still light out,
upping my chances for holding on to something alive.
Another arm reached behind my back and gripped my right arm,
peeling it off the other armrest and towards my side. A warm tingle fluttered
through my body and I suddenly felt sleepy. I didn't think anything of it as my
vision went black.
***
I felt numb. My whole body felt like it was barely there, and it
was euphoric, it was great. I felt better than I had in a long time. Too bad it
wasn't a dream, because nothing in my world ever felt this good. I slowed my
breathing ever so slightly as I opened my eyes into small slits, focusing them
out of a balcony window. Big Ben and The London Bridge sat outside my window; I
was in London, England. It took me a few moments to clear my head, but I
finally was able to state in my mind: "I'm not dead."
The first of my worries was over. Now I had my second worry to
deal with. Am I still with Edward, or have I been kidnapped by a possibly
psychotic killer? As I slowly rolled over on my side, I found Edward tangled
from the waist down in a white sheet in the bed. Well then, all my worries were
over with.
"Whoa, wait a second!" I thought as I refocused my
attention on Edward's finally toned bare back. Edward was in my, no, our bed. Not
just that, either, he was 1) Naked from the waist up (I had no say in the rest
of him), 2) asleep (I had proof now that he actually slept), and 3)
Scrumptious-looking.
I was actually enjoying the view, that is, until Edward rolled
over with open eyes.
"Good morning, Anita. Sleep well?" Just by the way he
said it made me suspicious.
"Good morning, Edward. Yes, I slept very well - what did
you do to me? Tranquilize me?"
A small smile glittered across his face as he said,
"Yes."
"Damn, I knew it wasn't possible for me to sleep that
well."
Edward made no reply. I noticed that I was in my sleeping
T-shirt; the Arthur Connen Doyle one. Edward had changed me into it. I wasn't
angry with him; he'd seen me practically naked before - a couple of times. I
trusted Edward that he wouldn't "do" anything to me while I was in an
unconscious state.
The ring was still on my finger. Did Edward have a ring? Of
course he did. Donna and Edward were engaged. Wait, Donna and Ted were
engaged. Ted wore an engagement ring, Edward didn't. I reached under
our sheet and pulled Edward's left arm out.
He was wearing a ring, and it wasn't the Ted engagement
ring either. This one was new and it matched mine, metal wise that is. Men typically
don't have diamonds and such put on their rings. I couldn't contain myself, so
I spilled my thoughts on Edward.
"Your ring matches mine."
"Yes, it does."
Why hadn't I noticed the ring before? I should've noticed it
when we had been Chicago, his ring should've been obvious, but it hadn't.
"Why?" I asked.
Edward simply shook his head as he started to slide out of bed,
taking the sheet with him. He wasn't going to answer my question. I clutched
onto the sheet, pulling it back towards me. Edward let go of the sheet, letting
it drift back down onto the bed. He looked edible. Like a lone chocolate
sitting in a chocolate box. He may be slim, but he isn't scrawny. Not by any
means at all. He was well toned. He had abs and it definitely showed that he worked
out. He was perfect. My mind drifted back just in time to hear the sound of two
doors slamming. Inside my head, that is.
Shit. Those two doors could only lead to two beings: the beings
being Richard and Jean-Claude. Why did they have to pick this particular moment
to waltz into my head? They knew my exact thoughts on Edward now, and just by
the way they had slammed those "doors", I knew they were pissed. I'm
sure that they had passed the "pissed point" and had moved onto
better things like, enraged and had begun to think of things like serious
revenge. And Edward didn't even have a clue.
"Anita," Edward said, gently shaking my shoulder.
"What?"
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah..."
"Are you positive? You looked like you were in your own
little world for a moment."
"Did I? Oh, well, I'm fine." I said. I quickly added,
"Positive, positive."
That was probably the crappiest lie I had ever forced myself
upon, ever. I knew Edward wouldn't believe me. He didn't believe one ounce of
what I'd just said, but my reply would have to do for now. It was all he was
going to get. I knew for sure that he was going to ask later, however, and he
would make sure he'd get an answer out of me. Whatever it took
Chapter Four
"Go take a shower,
Anita." Edward said, breaking the silent state we had been in.
"Fine, where is it? Oh,
and where did you find a hotel like this, Edward? It doesn't look like a hotel
room at all." I said.
The sheets on the bed were
white, along with everything else on the bed. The flooring was hardwood and a
fireplace made of white marble stood in front of the bed. It was beautiful; I
loved it. I wondered what the rest of the hotel looked like and how much the
room had cost him.
"It’s not a hotel, it's
my flat. The bathroom is over there." He said, pointing to a door that was
open just a crack.
"This is your flat?
As in apartment? How many places do you own?" I was
astonished. If Edward kept surprising me, like he was doing, quite well in
fact, then I was probably going to have a stroke, or something related to it.
"Yes, this is my
apartment, and no," Edward replied.
"Not even a hint?"
I pleaded, trying to put on a puppy dog face.
Edward exhaled an abrupt
laugh before grinning, "More than two. Now go take a shower, I'll meet you
downstairs."
With that, Edward exited out
the door by the fireplace. I caught a glimpse of a historic-looking impressionist
painting hung on the wall before he closed the door behind him. Did Edward have
another girlfriend or fiancée here? I wouldn't put it past him, with all the
things that he hid from me. Maybe Edward actually knew how to decorate! I would
have to my best to kill him if he was having any other relationships, like the
one he has with Donna. Unless… Donna had left Edward. I should ask him. I
really didn't want to wear another bride's maid gown.
I flung the covers off of me
and immediately started searching for my Browning, or at least my Firestar. A
minute or so later I had located my Browning under my pillow. Leave it to
Edward to remember such necessities. I dug through my duffel bag and found a
dark violet polo shirt and a pair of black jeans; then I headed towards the
bathroom, in pursuit of a hot shower.
I enjoyed my shower
immensely, and was feeling pretty good. I hadn't been thinking about what kind
of trouble Edward had drug me into or anything like that. I was on a roll of
good feelings. My roll plunged, however, when I opened the shower door. My
clothes were gone from where I'd left them on the toilet. My Browning was still
there though, which meant that Edward was guilty. Why didn't I hear him come
into the bathroom? I was letting down my guard. I'd better fix that soon or I
was going to get killed.
I wrapped my hair in a
cornflower blue towel and found a robe on the bathroom door's hook that hadn't
been there before. Edward had given me a robe in exchange for taking my
clothes; somehow I didn't think it was a fair exchange. I wandered into the
bedroom to find that my duffel bag was missing also, the one with my clothes in
it and Sigmund not the one that held my toys. Sigmund was sitting on the bed.
He had a sheet tucked around him, how odd was that?
"Edward!" I
bellowed. I plundered down the hallway to the smell of eggs, bacon, toast and,
yes, coffee. Edward had better have good excuse for his abduction of my
clothes, the few that I had brought with me. When I reached the bottom of the
stairs, I found that Edward was in the kitchen, surprise, surprise.
"What'd you do with my
clothes?" I stormed.
"I burned them."
"You what?!"
Did I just hear what I thought I'd heard? Edward didn't reply. "Why?"
I was now standing next to him, watching him flip the bacon in the pan.
He brought his eyes up to my
sight and said, "We have to change our appearance, Anita. Your appearance
for instance, is easily recognizable. With you in public, you're like a bull’s
eye."
"Hey! That was my
clothing, my very comfortable clothing. Do I burn your clothes?
No!" I was madder than mad. Edward had burned my clothes! I couldn't
believe it!
"What the hell am I
supposed to wear now?" I added.
"We'll work on that
after breakfast," he said, shoving a plateful of food into me.
"Now go sit down and
eat. There's something for you to wear on the couch in the living room."
Edward shooed me away with his hands, pushing me towards the bar-type table in
the kitchen and the living room.
The clothing on the couch
turned out to be a pair of bootleg jeans, heeled dark brown boots, a turtleneck
crimson sweater, an autumn-colored beanie hat, mittens and a mini-messenger bag
purse. It wasn't just something to wear, it was a whole outfit.
I picked up the plate of food
that Edward had made up for me and sat down on the couch, taking a bite of
bacon strip.
"Oh, so you're allowed
to eat and drink on my white couch, but I can't on yours?" Edward said
sarcastically behind me.
"Yes," I said
stubbornly.
"Fine. Eat up, get
dressed and get ready to go, because we have some errands to run."
I wondered what those errands
would consist of. Edward was definitely going to get questioned about what was
going on soon. Very soon.
Chapter Five
Edward picked up my ensemble and
laid it on the floor as he slid down on his couch next to me. We ate breakfast
and I ran upstairs afterwards to the bedroom to put on my attire. When I turned
to look in the mirror, all I could think of was, "Damn."
Damn as in damn, I look good.
Maybe I should have Edward do my clothes shopping from now on. I strapped my
usual knives into their rightful places and put the Browning in my holster. The
sweater didn't bulge. Where should I put my Firestar? Decisions, decisions. I
couldn't decide if I should put it in my usual holster, or in the purse. There
were pros and cons to both.
I picked up the purse, only to
find a secret snap compartment stitched into the bottom of the purse. I had a
high doubt in my mind that the company, who had manufactured this particular
purse, would put a compartment (such as the one that I had) into a purse.
Edward, Edward, Edward. He could be so thoughtful.
When I came back down the stairs
and walked into the living room, I found Edward already dressed. He was wearing
a fisherman's sweater the color of his eyes with a blue-gray pair of pants, and
very nice boots. He had a beanie hat clutched loosely in his hands. He looked
as handsome as ever.
A slight smile warmed his face as
he pushed himself away from the wall.
"Let's go." Edward
stated.
I nodded simply and walked with
him to the door. As he opened the door, he looked at me and whispered,
"Remember our roles."
As he used his thumb and index finger to twist my ring back and forth on my
finger. I said nothing. I didn't have to. If I didn't want to get me, along
with Edward, in deeper shit than we were, I would play my role. Edward had
better not have any bullshit rolled up his sleeve, though, because hell would
freeze over before I would take any of it.
It was the first time I'd left
the apartment, in a conscious state, and the first time I would really
see London. We reached the main entrance doors and stepped out on the street.
The cobblestone street, that is. There were people everywhere, not in a
claustrophobic manner, but close enough. There was a market on the next street,
with what looked like oranges and apples for sale.
"So...hunny, what's
our first errand for today?" I asked, emphasizing, "hunny."
"We're going shopping for
clothes, pookie."
I glared at Edward; secretly
vowing to break one of his fingers the next time he called me that.
Edward held his hand out to me. He must have finally given up, because he took
my hand in his and pulled me into the crowd. We walked about five blocks before
Edward walked, with a purpose, into a store called, L’Amour.
I pulled Edward by my ear and
whispered sternly, "You know how much I hate to go
shopping."
Before Edward had a chance
to reply, if he was going to at all, a young man walked up to us and asked if
we needed help.
"Yes, actually. My fiancée
and I are working on buying a new wardrobe and we're completely stumped on
where to start. " Edward said, charmingly.
"Ah! Wonderful! Let's
see."
The man turned and faced me,
looking me up and down. I was tempted to pull my gun out on him, but a slight
movement from Edward and his hand was on my shoulders. See? No problem, no
problem at all.
"You have a beautiful
figure, miss. Full of curves. You are very lucky, sir. If I didn't have a taste
for men, I would try to sweep her up."
Well, I guess I wouldn't have to
kill him, because he liked men. The man pulled out various items off of the
racks and displays after asking me what size I was, and for what purpose my
clothing would be used for. I tagged behind Edward and the man like an obedient
dog. God, I hate shopping.
As the man went rustling about
the racks, Edward came back with what looked like a futuristic bondage Barbie
getup.
"I think you should try this
on." He smiled.
"Sure, Edward," I
smiled sarcastically. I fingered the hot pink vinyl.
"Just one question," I
said.
"What?"
"How the hell do you put it
on? Oh, and, what the hell are you on? And what was the person who
made this on?" I whispered loudly.
Edward chuckled softly.
"Hey, I tried. It's pink, I
thought you wanted something pink. I could help you put it on."
I rolled my eyes at him and
wandered over to the men's area. What would embarrass Edward? I remembered the
time before Richard had gone and killed Marcus. I had to wear a black leather
outfit. There's no need to go into details. Edward had told me that he could be
a very good actor when he needed to be. Was there anything in this store that
he wouldn't wear? This could prove to be difficult.
Edward moved in next to me,
blocking one of the racks I needed in order to continue on my crusade for
embarrassing Edward.
"Edward, move."
"No."
I put my hands on my hips,
"Why?"
"Because I know
what you're up to maybe?"
I moved in close to Edward and
pulled my Browning on him, shoving it into his stomach in one smooth motion. I looked
into his eyes, only to feel a similar jab hit my stomach. Edward's Beretta was
shoved into my own stomach. I guess we were tied.
"Here we are!" The man said, making us stop our
standoff.
I looked at the man and beamed a
smile, as Edward and I hugged each other close, placing our guns back in their
holsters.
"Great!" I managed to
say enthusiastically.
I moved Edward towards the man
and away from the rack that we had been disputing over.
I grinned, "Oh honey! Look
at this!"
Edward turned slowly around
slowly, Death's expression sliding into place. The man moved over to stand
alongside Edward and I.
"Oh, very
sexy." The man said.
Edward flooded back into a
semi-normal looking expression and managed to raise an eyebrow.
"Exactly!" I said.
"Honey? Try it on?"
It was now a battle between
Edward and I, and Edward knew it. If he didn't try it on, he lost the battle,
but if he did...
"Sure, pookie."
He may have won, but he was going
to lose a finger or more when we got home.
Chapter Six
I was ready to collapse in
exhaustion. We'd been walking the various streets of London for almost the
whole day. How could Edward do this much shopping?
"Edward, when can we go
home?" I asked, leaning my head upward to look at him.
"Soon. We have a few more
errands to do."
"A few? Edward, a few
errands was hours ago! I need food and I'm tired. You're going to have to carry
me home, along with all those bags." My voice had risen a few decibels by
the end of my speech.
"Calm down Anita. We have
two errands left for today."
"Calm down?" Yeah
right. I'll show you how to calm down.
"Are you going to tell me
about him soon?" I asked.
He knew who I was referring to -
Van Cleef. Van Cleef was the reason why we were in a foreign country and trying
to disguise ourselves. He was why I had to pack my bags and leave when most
people were asleep, and why I had left my jobs, my boyfriends (although that
title might be a bit skewed), and my friends; without any prior notice at all.
"It depends."
"On what?"
"A lot of things. Just wait
and I'll tell you when I feel the time's right."
"When the time's right? I've
been waiting for when the 'time's right' on too many things! And you
know what? I'm sick and tired of it!"
I felt like a toddler having a
temper tantrum because a parent wouldn't get them something they wanted.
"Edward, you're going to get
me killed for good! When you don't tell me things, I get hurt. Look what
happened when I went down to New Mexico!"
Edward abruptly pushed me down an
alley. He flopped the bags flat on the ground and pinned me against an old and
crumbly brick wall. From where we were, no one on the streets would be able to
see us. That might be good and bad.
"I know what
happens, Anita. Don't you think I've thought about this? I have, over
and over. I don't keep things from you so that I can put you in danger, Anita.
I always have to weigh the odds. When I keep things from you; it's because I
feel that you'd stand a better chance of living that if I were to tell you the
whole story. You're my soul mate, Anita. I would never try to get you
injured or killed on purpose."
The words Edward had just said
were probably the longest I'd ever hear him say in one sitting, or
standing, in this case. I realized that tears were flowing down my cheeks. I
was crying, in front of Edward. Because of Edward. It was the closest he had
ever come to telling me that he actually cared for me. He didn't tell me to
stop crying. Instead, he brought his hands up to my face and used his thumbs to
wipe away my fresh stream of tears.
My legs felt weak. I was
exhausted, and crying wasn't helping me at all. My back slid down the wall,
ending with me sitting on dirty cobblestone. I didn't care. Edward sat down
next to me, shoulder touching mine. I sat there and collected my thoughts; I
don't know what Edward was thinking.
************************************************************************
Edward got up after awhile and
went to the curb of the street. A cab soon appeared, and after a quick chat
with the driver, Edward reappeared. He pulled me up and fit all of the shopping
bags into his left hand. His right hand made its way around the curve of my
hip. This was a rare occasion, because Edward was risking himself by having his
hands full. Edward gave the cab driver directions once we had situated
ourselves within the cab; we were finally going home.
Edward paid the cab driver and we
got on the elevator. I was so tired by the time we got in, that I went straight
up the stairs and into our bedroom, where I proceeded to plop face first onto
the bed after placing my toys nearby. I could never be tired enough, not to
take the time to place my toys in their designated places. It could be the
difference between life and death, for me that is.
*************************************************************************
It was around 8 p.m. when I woke.
My hat and boots had been taken off, and a chenille blanket was covering me. I
was hungry, and oddly enough, it was for chocolate. I had seen a chocolaterie
down the street and right now, it was tempting. I searched in my purse to find
all of my money converted into Britain's currency. I searched the apartment,
but didn't find Edward, so I set out to find a piece of paper and a pen.
I found them in a drawer in the
kitchen and wrote Edward a quick note:
Edward--
I wanted chocolate (don't ask)--so I'm going down to that
chocolaterie to buy some. I'll be back soon, and I'll try not to draw attention
to myself, or kill anyone.
I hesitated, before finally signing it,
Your Pookie,
Anita
Edward had given me a key to get
into the building earlier this morning, so I'd be able to get back into the
apartment. The walk down the street only took a couple of minutes, but my feet ached
from today's earlier walk and I didn't want to walk further than I had to. When
I finally entered the shop, the smell and sight of chocolate filled my senses.
It was intoxicating.
After a little browsing, I found
a perfect-sized assortment box and paid for it. I was getting eager to get back
to the apartment and indulge, until I saw a particular man facing away from me
in the sun's setting light. His head was shaved and he stuck out from the
crowd. He had to be at least seven feet tall. Oh, hell no. This was not
what I needed.
First, Van Cleef was after Edward
and I for some unmentioned reason. Now Olaf. Could things get any worse? Don't
answer that.
Chapter
8
Why? I didn't need this; at least not now. I knew that Olaf had
taken an obscure liking to me and had wanted me to hunt with him, but the time
wasn't right. Olaf was a crazy mother fucker, period. There wasn't any room
left for doubt. Questions blurred through my mind, but I had to stick to the
questions that could save my life.
Had he seen me? Does he know I'm here in London; or is he
vacationing after all those women (who just happen to look like me), he's
murdered?
I could only hope that he hadn't seen me and didn't know that I
was in London. Things were going to hell rather quickly, and I was trying to do
all I could, at this very moment to slow mine, and Edward's descent in to
hell's fiery depths. I pushed myself into the shadows of the chocolateire's
shop wall and held my breath. I closed my eyes into little slits and wished in
silence that he would disappear. He didn't. Instead, it started to rain cats
and dogs. People started dashing left and right into the shops that were still
open. This was my chance.
I dashed, literally, across the street and into the midst of a
large crowd. A man stood in the center preaching in the rain about cleansing
yourself of your sins. Somehow, I didn't think I had that much free time to
talk about all the sins I've committed in the past.
I struggled through the crowd and pushed through the few
stragglers that were listening in from the outskirts of the main crowd. I was
free, and almost home. I was about two blocks away from Edward's apartment. I
rounded the last corner I'd have to take and ran straight into Olaf.
My face bounced off of his upper stomach. He grabbed my arms in
a steel grip, as I looked up at his bald head.
"Hi, Olaf." I said with a faint smile.
"Anita. You thought you could run away from me? The time
has come. I want us to hunt together."
"Uh, now's not the time. My schedule is booked up right
now."
"Is it? How is your dear Edward?"
"Why?"
"Because he is your shadow, your soul mate,
remember? Wherever you go, he goes."
"That's not always true."
"Oh, but it is, Anita." he emphasized.
"Listen, Olaf, I've got to get going. If you'd give me your
hotel and room number, or phone number, I could get back to you."
"Do you think I'm that stupid, Anita? I know that
I left on bad terms with Edward and yourself in Santa Fe. I will not let you
have Edward hunt me down and kill me. You will hunt with me, Anita."
"Sorry, Olaf, but hunting things for the luxury of it isn't
my cup of tea. I just don't do it."
"Do you not understand, Anita? I'm not giving you a choice.
You will hunt with me. We will hunt Edward, and if you refuse, I will
force you."
I wasn't going to argue with him. There wasn't any point in
doing so.
"I gotta go, Olaf. I'll see you around, maybe."
"Oh, I will see you. You'll be seeing me around a lot.
Goodbye, Anita."
Olaf dropped his rock-hard grip on my arms and walked past me. I
hadn't even noticed until now that it was still raining. I was soaked to the
bone.
What was I going to tell Edward?
***********************************************************************
I was still thinking about what to tell Edward as the elevator
made its way up to the apartment. Edward was going to tell me what Van Cleef
wanted. This wasn't going to wait. He was going to tell me the second I saw the
secret-loving bastard. I had a new realization of how much Edward loved me in a
best friend kind of way, but that didn't mean I couldn't still bitch at him.
I stalked into the main floor of the apartment, expecting Edward
to be there, but he wasn't. The note I had left was still on the table, along
with an arrow drawn, pointing up. Was Edward upstairs?
I took my shoes off, squishing across the hardwood floor. I was
dripping everywhere. Edward was going to absolutely love me when he saw all of
the puddles splattered on the floor. I drug myself up the stairs and to our
bedroom door.
"Fuck." I muttered.
I was getting a head cold. I'd have to change out of my clothes
and get warm soon. I turned the doorknob and pushed it open, gun in hand. You
can never be too careful. For all I knew, Olaf could've been in the room,
waiting for me.
Edward was asleep in bed. Or, at least, as close as he got to
sleeping. I closed the door behind me and walked as quietly as I possibly could
to his bedside. I knelt down by him and watched as his eyes opened wide and
blue, even in the darkness.
"Edward." I said quietly, although I didn't know why.
We weren't in a library. Maybe I was paranoid that the room might be bugged.
Edward checked for those things, though. He didn't know that Olaf was in town,
however.
"What's the matter? Why are you soaked?" he said
quietly.
He had caught onto the distressed air I was exhaling. He had
always been good at reading my feelings. He sat up in the bed and motioned
towards the empty spot next to him.
"No, Edward. I need to get warm soon, and I don't want to
get the bed wet."
I was searching for how to start, but Edward made things easier.
"Who'd you run into?" he said, looking blankly at me.
"Olaf." It was a whisper, but Edward had heard. I saw
his expression turn into an undertone of rage before my eyes. I plopped down
onto the hardwood floor in front of Edward's legs.
"Olaf."
I nodded.
"Where?"
"Two blocks from here. By the flower shop." I stated.
Edward leaned forward, sliding his Beretta out of its holster on
the bedside table. He stood.
"No, Edward," I said sternly. "He's already long
gone by now and it's not worth it. Besides, you have some explaining to do. A lot
of explaining. Starting with Van Cleef. You can't leave me out anymore. You
know that." I was on my knees now.
He nodded to me and spoke.
"I know." I let out a deep breath that sounded
frustrated."
"Go get in the bath. I'll make some coffee."
"Why should I get in the bath? Why not the shower?" I
asked suspiciously.
"Because, I can talked to you while you're in the
tub," he sighed, then continued, "and it leaves you in a
semi-vulnerable position. Which is comforting to me."
"You like to be comforted?" I almost laughed.
Edward only rolled his eyes. He slid past me and left the room
to go make coffee.
Chapter
9
The water was steaming, the bubbles were sudsy, and I was in the
porcelain claw foot tub in Edward's bathroom. I heard Edward's footsteps as he
came up the staircase. When he finally rounded the corner into the bathroom, he
held two mugs of coffee and the chocolate I had bought at the chocolaterie on a
plate.
Edward left the room for a second and returned with a metal
stool.
"So, Edward. Where do you want to begin?"
"Not yet." he said. He set the mugs and plate on the
bathroom table, then kneeled down on the tiled floor; running his hands across
the wall's edges. He crawled towards the sink and searched around the plumbing.
Edward's hand reached into his back pocket in his jeans and pulled out some
sort of device.
"What is that?" I asked.
"It detects electronic signals throughout certain
confines."
"You mean it looks for secret cameras, and audio
recorders."
"Yep."
I sighed. As much as I hated to wait for what he had to say, it
was necessary. This was one of the reasons why Edward was still alive. When
Edward finally finished, I had convinced myself that he had searched everywhere
possible, and everywhere thought of as not possible. Edward kneeled onto
his toes before he stood, walking towards the bathroom table. Edward brought
the table over towards me and sat it down. He finally sat by me on the stool
and asked,
"Are you feeling any warmer?"
"Yes, but if you stall any longer, you'll be sleeping next
to a prune."
He didn't laugh or smile.
"You know how badly I don't want to tell you this. Once I
tell you, Van Cleef will want you even more than he already does."
"I know, Edward."
Edward closed his eyes, and let out a deep breath.
"My real name's Edward. Edward...Van Cleef. I'm 30, like I
told you."
My eyes noticeably widened, but Edward kept his eyes shut, as if
he was trying to visualize something in his mind.
"Who's Van Cleef?" I asked, cupping a pile of bubbles
in my hand and nibbling on a chocolate.
"My uncle. My father had one other sibling, Van Cleef.
They'd never gotten along. The only thing that brought them together was their
father, my grandfather. They weren't allowed to hate one another while their
dad was around. The family was centered around the military. I'm of W.A.S.P.
breeding.
"My father and uncle grew up. My grandfather had always favored
my dad, and my uncle hated it. One day, my uncle couldn't stand my
grandfather's favoring any longer. My grandfather made my father, mother, uncle
and I come for dinner every Friday night."
Edward paused. He was visualizing.
"Van Cleef killed your father, didn't he?" I said
quietly, while turning to look at Edward's closed eyes.
"He stabbed him in front of everyone at the dinner table.
It was a mess. My mother was hysterical. She grabbed my uncle and tried to hit
him. He turned and slit her throat...she fell on my lap. Do you see why I
couldn't tell you?"
I nodded, but realized he couldn't see my nodding.
"Yes." I gulped. "Edward, I'm-"
"Don't. It's in the past. If I linger onto it, I'll get
killed just as my father did. My mother didn't know what my father did. She
didn't deserve to die without knowing the real truth. I found out what my
father and uncle truly did on accident, and got dragged into it. After Van
Cleef killed my parents, he kidnapped me, opened a training school and turned
me into what I am today. A failure, for him. Do you want to know why I kill
monsters? I kill them because when I kill a monster, I'm killing Van Cleef. My
uncle is a monster."
"Why can't you kill him? Why are you running from him? I've
always known you to exterminate the problem, not run from it."
"Anita, he wants you to work for him. He wants you to
become his ‘pet’ monster, because I won't." He was avoiding my question,
but if he didn't want to answer, he wouldn't.
"Van Cleef might be disappointed, because I don't do
that ‘pet’ shit. Besides, I’m already a monster, or almost one."
"You're not a monster, Anita."
"Yes I am. I have powers to control the dead and damned,
Edward. I have, had, two boyfriends that were definitely not human. How
can I be called, 'human'?"
"But you are. You've made me see that you still are Anita.
If it were almost anyone else, I'd either kill them or let them become Van
Cleef's pet. Not you."
"Why? Because you care for me?" I took a large sip of
coffee out of my mug.
"Yes."
I spit a mouthful of coffee into the tub. Oh my God. He's
straight out said that he cared for me. Edward had never said, "yes."
It'd been, "more than I should," in Santa Fe. I was leaning against
the tub, closer to Edward.
"Anita, you're my best friend, my self-declared soul mate,
the only person I've ever let this much of my past and feelings out to
truthfully, and the only person I truly love. Not Ted, or anyone else. The true
me."
"What about Donna?" I took a handful of chocolates and
started eating them.
"I lover her humanity, her almost-ordinary life, but I
don't truly love Donna."
I nodded slowly. What else was I supposed to do or say?
"So, when do we kill Van Cleef? Oh, then there's Olaf. But
one at a time."
"We need a plan, Anita. We can't just go in with our guns
blazing." Edward said, pulling the chocolate that was ready to be
consumed, out of my hand and into his mouth.
I lied back on the back of the tub and sighed.
"Fine, we'll make a plan."