The Immortals

Chapter 4

***Warning-Sensitive Content*** 

 Vanessa was regretting spending the time shaving her legs. She had already known that there was a very slim chance her date with Ryan would go anywhere, but after spending the last hour with the man, she was mad she even put in the slightest of effort. She would much rather be home binging True Crime documentaries on Netflix.

    “So my father would rather me go to law school and become a judge, like him, but medicine is just such a noble profession. I couldn’t turn away from that.” 

    Vanessa took another sip of her wine, wishing it was something stronger. This was the 20th time in the hour, Ryan mentioned his father. Oh, and that he was a judge. Vanessa didn’t remember him being this pretentious in class. Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact that he felt he finally won by getting her on a date, but he would not stop bragging about his father being a judge and how much money his family had.

    And he would not stop talking. He didn’t ask Nessa once about herself and just talked nonstop for the last hour. And unfortunately the bar was very busy and it took a while to get their food. As soon as the waiter apologetically brought them their meals, Vanessa started eating her chicken parm. She could not get out of there fast enough. She forced another smile as he told yet another story about growing up rich while scooping up a large bite of spaghetti.

     “So, Vanessa,” He refused to call her Nessa, “What are your plans after graduating?”

    Finally he was asking about her. She perked up, “Well, I just got accepted to both Columbia and USC for grad school. I’m going for pharmaceutical research. I want to focus on Alzheimer research. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s and it really had an impact on me as a kid…”

     “Oh,” Ryan interrupted, “You’re going back to school after your undergrad?” He asked condescendingly.

    “Yes…why wouldn’t I? Most people within the field have their PHD. It would be hard to get anywhere in the pharma field without high degrees.”

    "Oh, that’s so adorable, “ he scoffed, “I thought most women just went to college to meet men. It’s so sweet you want to actually pursue a career, though that will really limit your chances for a family.”

    She was about to punch him in the face. What was this 1955? Vanessa took a deep breath. I’m not going to hit him, I’m not going to hit him, “Well, this has been great and all, but I really need to get going.” Vanessa stood up and fished some cash out of her wallet, throwing it on the table for her portion of dinner. She did not want him to think this was a date or she was using him in any way for his money. Ryan looked at her confused, “I’m going to wait outside for my Uber, I’ll see you in class next week”

    Vanessa started to step away from her table and suddenly started to feel really dizzy. She grabbed the back of her chair for balance. Weird, she thought, I only had one glass of wine. Why do I feel drunk all of the sudden?

     Ryan stood up, “Are you ok Vanessa?”

     “Yeah,” she replied weakly, “I’m fine. I-I don’t know what that was. I’m good though. Thanks.”

     “Here, let me at least drive you home. I don’t want you waiting outside alone like this. It’s clear I said something to upset you, which I apologize for, but I can at least drive you home.

    Vanessa didn’t know why, but she was positive she did not want to be alone in a car with this guy. Her head was swimming and she was having a hard time seeing straight. Ryan grabbed her arm to steady her. She tried to pull away, but suddenly felt very weak.

     “No that’s ok. I already called an uber. You live on the other side of the city. I’ll be fine.”

    She tried to walk away again and stumbled. Ryan caught her before she fell. She noticed a couple of concerned looks their way. Ryan smiled at them, “She just drank a little too much, I have her.”

    The people nodded satisfied with the answer. Vanessa was confused. She had only one glass of wine. She hadn’t drank anything during the day. No way should she feel this drunk. Something wasn’t right, but her mind was so foggy she couldn’t quite figure it out.

    “Come on Vanessa,” Ryan said firmly gripping her arm tightly, “Let’s get you home.”

 “No!” Vanessa managed to get out, but couldn’t pull away. She felt herself being dragged out of the restaurant. She desperately tried to call out for help. She did not want to leave with this man, but for some reason words were not forming. Her head was swimming and it was becoming harder and harder to see straight. What the hell was happening?

     Ryan led her out of the bar and onto the city street. As usual it was packed with people, but no one was paying attention to them. Vanessa couldn’t even walk straight. She didn’t know where he was taking her. 

     “Please,” she managed, “let…me…go. My Uber.”

      “Don’t worry about your Uber. I have a Lexus. It will be much more comfortable.”

    Vanessa shook her head and tried to pull away but couldn’t seem to get out of his powerful grip. She couldn’t understand why. Before she moved to the city with Kelsey, her dad insisted they take self defense classes. She knew all the basics to get out of this situation. She did kick boxing and Pilates twice  a week at the local gym. She was in shape and strong. Ryan wasn’t that big of a guy. She should be able to at least get away, call for help, but for some reason she couldn’t. She was having a hard time standing up now.

    Vanessa felt her consciousness slipping. Ryan had to adjust his grip and now had her arm over her shoulder and his hand around her waist holding her up. She heard him say yet again to people in the street” Sorry, we were celebrating and my girlfriend just drank a little too much.”

    I’m not his girlfriend. I’m not drunk. Please help! She tried to scream, but nothing came out.

    “s**t,” she heard him mutter to himself, “We’re not going to make it to the car. I think I overestimated the dose.”

      The dose? Her eyes were starting to close. Stay Awake!! She yelled at herself. She absolutely could not fall asleep. She needed to do something, anything to get out of this situation.

    Ryan was leading Vanessa into a side alley. She needed to stop him but didn’t know how. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fight it much longer. Ryan was weak, and had to practically drag Vanessa to the dark spot behind the dumpster. She wasn’t a big woman by any means, but he could barely support her weight. Finally he set her down on the ground behind the dumpster. She tried to stand but couldn’t.

    “Shh,” Ryan whispered, leaning over her, “Don’t fight it. I know you want it. A stubborn b***h like you, trying to play hard to get. But in the end, all of you whores are the same.”

    “Please,” It was barely a whisper. Vanessa’s eyes started to close. “Please stop.”

    Ryan’s hand started to slide up her dress. Vanessa couldn’t even lift hers to stop it. “You wouldn’t wear a dress like this if you didn’t want it. You think you’re better than me. That I’m this dorky guy you can use for a night out and I wouldn’t want anything in return? Yeah right bitch.” His hand was going further and further up her dress. It was touching her underwear now. He leaned closer, his lips almost touching Vanessa’s.

    Vanessa closed her eyes and prayed. Please, please help me now. Anything to get him off of me please!

    Suddenly Vanessa felt a surge of power through her. She didn’t feel as dizzy. She could do this. She just needed to focus. Ryan’s other hand started to touch her breast, he had pulled her dress and bra down, exposing her breasts, her dress pulled up to the top of her thighs.

    “Get off of her now!” She heard a man’s voice from behind Ryan say. Ryan looked up distracted. Now’s your chance a voice in her head said use your abilities.

     “Mind your f*****g busi-“ Ryan never finished his sentence. With the last bit of strength Vanessa had, she pulled one of her arms up to her face, and not really knowing how it worked thought GET OFF OF ME!! Ryan went flying, slammed into the brick wall of the building behind him.

     Her vision started to blur. She had no more strength left to fight and could only hope that the man she heard was still there and would help her. She could hear Ryan moaning and knew he wasn’t unconscious but definitely hurting. 

    Just before she completely lost consciousness, Vanessa saw a figure come into her view. “Shh, it’s ok, you’re safe now. Are you ok?” the figure asked. He had a strange accent, British maybe?

    The figure started to focus in her eyes as he squatted before her. And just before she passed out, it clicked and she realized she recognized the man. “It’s you,” she muttered, and then slipped into a deep sleep, the last thing she remembered was the deep grey eyes staring at her with concern.

***Earlier that night at the restaurant-Caleb’s POV***

    Caleb Black sat by himself at the corner table, the darkest spot in the bar, his back against the wall. There were about 6 tables full of patrons between him and the woman, but it didn’t matter, he could hear everything just as clearly as if he was sitting next to her, unfortunately for him.

    Caleb took his third shot of whisky of the night, and gestured to the waitress for another one. He was really glad at this moment that he did not get drunk like a regular human, because if he did, it would be a really long night. In fact it was already a really long night.  He found himself irrationally angry that the woman agreed to go on a date with this man. All of his extensive research on Vanessa when she was chosen did not make it seem like she was one to date casually. In fact she did not seem to date at all, not since her last serious relationship nearly two years ago. Yet here she sat, clearly bored out of her mind, while this small, poor excuse of a man droned on endlessly.

     Caleb never quite understood modern dating. He understood s*x of course. Even casual s*x. Even growing up in his highly conservative community, many people, himself included occasionally engaged in casual s*x. But this dating game? He did not understand the point. Especially now. It was very clear Vanessa had no interest in this man. Yet here she sat, politely smiling and nodding while she ate her food and drank her wine, clearly trying to end this as soon as possible.

    More than once Caleb wanted to go over there and interrupt them. Take her out of her misery. But he fought the urge. The Elders were very clear. He was not to get involved. Not until she had her complete awakening. But still…maybe he could just walk past, spill his drink on the boring man. She wouldn’t even know it’s him. Caleb sighed, he knew he couldn’t risk it. This was his first assignment alone and Elder Helene made him very aware that she did not believe he was ready, despite the visions saying otherwise.  He could not do anything that would jeopardize Vanessa’s chances or the mission.

    “So, Vanessa, What are your plans after graduating?” Wow he was actually asking her a question. He hadn’t let her get a word in the entire night. It was a good question too. Caleb was curious himself.

     “Well, I just got accepted to both Columbia and USC for grad school. I’m going for pharmaceutical research. I want to focus on Alzheimer research. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s and it really had an impact on me as a kid…”.  Caleb knew the council was never wrong, the visions were never wrong, but still it was strange to him that she was selected. She had very real goals in the human world. Admirable goals that could really help and change the world. He just couldn’t quite grasp if she would be willing to give that up, even for a greater purpose.

    “Oh,” he heard the stupid man interrupt “You’re going back to school after your undergrad?”

     “Yes…why wouldn’t I? Most people within the field have their PHD. It would be hard to get anywhere in the pharma field without high degrees.”

    “Oh, that’s so adorable, I thought most women just went to college to meet men. It’s so sweet you want to actually pursue a career, though that will really limit your chances for a family.”

     Caleb stood up and had to literally grip the table to keep himself from going over there. He had such a strange desire to go and defend the woman’s honor. Yes, he was assigned to protect her, keep her safe, and eventually teach her, but he knew these feelings were more than that. They were dangerous. He had to tread carefully.

     Caleb grew up in a time where a woman’s only role was to marry wealthy. Very few women had a proper education. But he wasn’t naive enough to believe that was the correct way. He had lived a long time since then and have seen some extremely brilliant and powerful women. Women that could kill Caleb by simply snapping their fingers. He learned very quickly that women were just as capable as men, if not more so, and underestimating them was not wise.

     Caleb shook himself out of his haze long enough to realize Vanessa did not need him to defend her honor. He saw her stand up, throw some money on the table and then begin to head out. But then something happened he didn’t expect. Vanessa wobbled, and had to grip her chair for balance. He frowned. What was that? Vanessa was not clumsy by nature. And she barely drank one glass of wine. He watched her drink three times more than that at girls night a few days ago and she was barely tipsy. There was no way one glass of wine would make her stumble.

    She wobbled again, this time Ryan grabbing her arm. Something was wrong. Caleb very quickly gestured for the waitress to come over so he could settle his bill. She was trying to flirt with him, but his eyes never left Vanessa. He could see her try to pull away, but for some reason she couldn’t break Ryan’s grip. Ryan was a small man, and Caleb knew Vanessa was a strong woman. She should be able to get away, but was unable to. Ryan was settling his own bill, all the while never taking his arm off of Vanessa. Caleb saw her falter again. Bloody hell. Ryan was heading towards the door now, leading Vanessa. She was stumbling , barely able to stand on her own. He heard Ryan make some excuse to some patrons about her having too many drinks, and led her out of the door.

    Caleb did not wait for his waitress to come back with his bill. He threw a $100 bill on the table and ran out, literally running into a couple trying to enter the establishment.

                “Hey man, watch where you are going!”

                “My apologies,” he muttered while he slipped around them and onto the city street.

                “Bloody hell, where are they?”

    He scanned the street but could not find them. How could they have disappeared so quickly? Caleb closed his eyes and focused. He blocked out all other sound and focused on Vanessa, on her voice, on her smell, putting her to the forefront of his mind. He found them! Ryan was leading her into an alleyway about a block down. How did he get there so fast?

    Caleb sprinted. He could see her in his mind clearly now. She couldn’t even walk anymore, Ryan was practically dragging her as he was too weak to even carry such a small woman as her.

    I’m not his girlfriend. I’m not drunk. Please help!  What was that? Was that her thoughts? That was new, Caleb absently thought as he made his way up to the alley. He could hear her thoughts as clearly as his own. And he could feel her too. He could feel her fear, and her fight and determination. She was terrified and barely conscious. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess, but she wasn’t giving up. And neither was Caleb.

    Caleb made his way into the alley. The bloody coward was on top of her. Her dress and bra were pulled down exposing her chest, it was also pulled up exposing her thighs and underwear, Ryan’s hand sliding in between her legs.

    “Get off of her now!.” It took every fiber of his being to not just murder him on site. But the laws of the council were strict on the matter. He had to tread carefully.

    Ryan looked up, not scared just annoyed he was interrupted, “Mind your own f*****g busi-“ He never got the words completely out. Caleb started to reach for him, but never got to touch him. Suddenly, Vanessa weakly lifted her arm, she could barely hold it off the ground. Her eyes were closed. But whatever she did was enough and Ryan went flying across the alley way as if a rope was around his waist and dragged him away, crashing violently into the brick wall behind him. Caleb couldn’t help but smile. So the woman was telekinetic. And her powers were finally starting to develop. It wouldn’t be long now.

    But Caleb did not take the time to ponder this. He glanced at Ryan. He was still awake but moving very slowly, clearly shaken up. He had a minute before he had to deal with him. Caleb quickly knelt down before Vanessa. He could tell when she registered his presence and her whole body shook her hands protecting her face, and he was secretly glad she didn’t have another burst of power. But he knew she was spent. She used every last ounce of strength to get the bastard off of her. 

    “Shh, it’s ok. You’re safe now. Are you ok?” Her eyes were going in and out of consciousness and he knew she wouldn’t be awake for much longer.

    Then suddenly her vision cleared for a second and she looked him straight in the eye. And he knew. She recognized him. “It’s you.” She whispered before falling asleep. Well f**k.