Fracture: Part III
“How did you get in here?” I demanded, stopping my foot down for emphasis.
“Quinn let me in.”
Traitor! She set me up. “Good, then she can let you out, too. I’m leaving.”
“Beryl,” He paused. “I understand that you’re angry, but you can’t fault me for having obligations outside of trying to keep out out of trouble.”
“You’re always around any other time!”
He gave me a look, “No, I’m not. I have a life and if you would look outside of yourself for more than five seconds, you’d realize that.”
“So you can just insult me some more? We can’t all be perfect!”
“Beryl…”
“I’m sorry, that was out of line. But you can’t honestly tell me you want to go alone.”
I ignored him.
“I know you don’t. You nearly fainted when Quinn and I went with you to investigate haunted trash compactor.”
I did NOT almost faint. I just gasped a little too hard and didn’t get enough oxygen to my brain–that’s it!
“I handled myself fine, Christian. I don’t need your help.”
“Is that so? Fine, you don’t need my help, but I want to help. Does that make it any better?”
“No thanks.”
“I’ll just follow you, then.” He said smugly, taking a seat.
“Restraining order–”
“On a 300-year-old vampire? Good luck with that! In fact, I’ll go with you. I want to see you attempt to explain the situation.”
I grumbled.
“Why do you have to be so damn annoying? Fine! Come along, see if I care…”
“Fair enough. Now… tell me about this ‘apparition’. Quinn told me you saw nothing, not even when it sent you into a wall.”
“Nadda. But I could feel it… her… whatever. Like walking outside in below zero weather.”
“Did it speak at all?”
“Through the little girl…”
“Through her? As in… posession?”
“Anto–err… Mr. Vega has a daughter, Valerie. The ’spirit’ or whatever it is communicates only with and through her. She’s the only one who can see it. Last night she told me to get out.”
“Is it hostile towards her father?” He asked, standing up.
“Y-yeah, I guess. I mean… all she said was that it ‘torments him’. And Antony mentioned that he hasn’t slept in quite a long time… poor guy.”
“Well, that’s quite an interesting situation, isn’t it?” Christian said pointedly, moving to walk past me. “Let’s go–my curiosity is effectively piqued.”
“Hey, hey… stop! You can at least tell me what you know. I mean, it is my case and all.”
He let out a long sigh. “I have to see it before I make any assumptions, but from what you’ve told me… it’s not a poltergeist. It’s not even a ghost.”
“But I couldn’t see it!”
“How long is it going to take for you to wake up and realize what side of the universe you’re on? You’re not a mortal and as such, mortal rules do not apply. Sometimes you need to look past things to see them. And never believe the ‘if you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist’ nonsense.”
“Well if you would share your apparent wealth of knowledge, I wouldn’t be so clueless!”
“If you would ask, I would tell you! But you’re too busy doing stupid things like running off into houses out in the middle of nowhere with posessed children, highly dangerous men, and getting thrown into walls!”
“Antony is NOT dangerous!”
“You don’t even know him, Beryl. He could easily be a serial killer with twenty or more people buried in his backyard. Maybe his wife is back there, too. You really need to open your eyes.”
“Now, let’s stop wasting time. It’s a long drive.”
He ignored my further attempts to convince him of Antony’s obvious lack of the dangerous serial killer vibe. The jerk! I even gave him excellent examples, like Creepy Guy! If Antony was dangerous, he’d be like Creepy Guy. It’s like, the effective law of Dangerous-ity… or something. Mr. Know-It-All vampy savior should know that!
