The Monhagan Chronicles: Prelude

Chapter 6

Audrey

I was more relieved than I should have been when I found my apartment was empty. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and almost smiled. I quickly walked to my bedroom and pulled my suitcase out from under my bed. Dropping it onto the mattress I opened it swiftly and began filling it with various clothing, underwear, and other essential items. I grabbed the brush from my vanity, my laptop from the bedside table, and the charger for my phone from the drawer. 

I ran into the ensuite bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner, makeup bag, and toothpaste. Rushing back to my suitcase I threw the lot into the front pocket, barely able to zip it. Turning to the door I saw Dean leaning against the wall looking around my room with his hands in his pockets. He looked like a god leaning on the light grey of my walls. Pushing the attraction down I grabbed my suitcase.

“If we hurry they might not notice we were here.” I said, hope evident in my voice.

“They are already here.”

I sucked in a breath. s**t. I knew he was right the minute the smell hit my nose. So sweet, so fragrant. Like homemade strawberry pie. My mouth watered. I clamped my mouth shut and held my breath. I closed my eyes and concentrated on anything else, anything other than that smell. 

“Audrey! I know you’re here! You better come out and start explaining yourself.” I heard Nicki call from the living room.

I can’t do this. 

I felt the air stir in front of me and opened my eyes. Dean was inches from me. I looked up into his eyes, pleading, for what I don’t know. He assessed my face and the tension in my body. His hands came up to my shoulders and slowly ran down my arms to my elbows. He continued to rub my arms soothingly, never interrupting eye contact. I heard Nicki and Gideon’s voices as they neared the bedroom. 

“Concentrate on anything else.” Dean whispered.

So I did. I concentrated on the way his hands felt, lightly running up and down my arms. I concentrated on the way such a small motion felt, the strange reaction my body had to his voice. The warmth that spread through me as my eyes flashed down to his lips. How soft those lips appeared. What would it be like to kiss him?

“Woman, I know you’re in there! Come out or I’m coming in!” Oh Nicki was not happy.

Before I could even respond to her Nicki burst through the door. Her eyes widened at the sight of me standing so close to Dean, a man she had never met and who looked like the best kind of dessert. Her mouth opened a couple times before she could speak.

“Nevermind Audi, I totally get. Not even mad.” Blush crept up her face after she realized what she had said. “I mean… um…”

Gideon patted her back smiling slyly at me then turning back to stare at Dean. “Girl, we were worried sick. Next time just give us a ring or text or something.” His eyes trailed up and down taking in Dean’s entire body. I stiffened, anger burning through me.

“I’m over here Deon.” I all but growled. 

“Sorry sweetpea.” He said with a shake of his head but his eyes came back to me. “And just where do you think you’re going miss thang?” he continued, eyeing my suitcase.

Nicki’s mouth snapped shut her eyes narrowing in my direction. Her face was still red from her embarrassment. That was not good. She was an emotional hurricane on her good days, add embarrassment to that and the storm was coming. And it was directed at me.

“Uh un lady. You are not going to run off with some chip and dale wanna be you just met. Have you learned nothing at all from your past mistakes? You walk out that door with him and I’m calling your momma!”

Oh god. I dropped my suitcase and placed my hands over my face. My cheeks were burning with embarrassment. She seriously just threatened to rat me out to my mom. What were we twelve? I couldn’t hold onto the breath I was holding. It didn’t seem to matter though, all I could concentrate on was the embarrassment.

“Jesus Nicki. Please stop.”

Gideon laughed, actually laughed at my discomfort. “I’ll go make some coffee and maybe we can talk a bit before you leave. I’m sure Nics just needs to get to know…” He left the sentence hanging, obviously waiting for an introduction.

“Dean, this is Dean. Dean these are my friends Nicki and Gideon.”

Dean smiled warmly at them. “Pleasure to meet you both.” His deep voice flowed around me, my body immediately reacting. “Some coffee would be lovely.”

Nicki stepped further into the room allowing both Deon and Dean to walk out. As soon as they had left the room she slammed the door and locked it. She whirled back to me. She didn’t look angry anymore. In fact she was smiling.

“You b***h. We said no hook ups. But damn, I have to hand it to ya, that is one fine male specimen you found.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me. “Spill, I need details.”

“It’s not like that.” I started. My mind was furiously trying to come up with a plausible lie. Anything I could tell her that would be believable but close to the truth since I was horrible at lying. You would think I would be good at lying since I basically do it for a living. “He’s just a friend that was… um... that was helping me with something personal.”

“Oh I bet he was helping your person.” She giggled. “Girl, if you don’t tap that I will. I mean Jesus f**k he is sexy as hell.”

“Oh my god Nicki. Shut up.” My face was burning again. “Just… just leave it alone please.”

“Oh you like him. You gonna ride him like a cowboy huh? Get you some girl.” My face burned hotter with every sentence. She then became more serious. “Just be careful Audi. We love you so much and just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

I smiled ruefully at my friend. She walked up to me, throwing her arms around me in a bone crushing hug. I stiffened. Oh the smell. Peaches and cinnamon. My mouth watered. She immediately jumped away from me.

“What the f**k!” she screamed. She was pressed against one wall of my room. “Vampire!”

Well s**t. Wait what? I tipped my head at her curiously. The scent of her blood and my hunger for it all forgotten. How the hell did she know? Before I could ask she ran out of the room. I followed hot on her trail. She ran straight to the kitchen, surprisingly fast and agile for a woman of her size. Not that she was that big but I had always thought she was slightly clumsy. Tripping on her own feet and unable to chew gum and walk at the same time.

She ran straight up to a surprised looking Dean and grabbed his arm. “What the hell did you do to my friend.”

Dean shot a questioning look my way then looked down to the irate woman before him.

“Ah.” Was all he said. “And Gideon?” he asked. Apparently he understood more of what was going on than I did.

“No.” Nicki ground out.

Gideon looked back and forth between the two of them before giving me a look of total confusion, which I returned. Dean sighed and ran his free hand through his hair.

“It was an emergent situation not of my making.” Was all Dean said, but I knew what he meant. He was referring to my turn.

Nicki’s head shot to me. She was going to give herself whiplash. Her eyes glazed over with tears that threatened to fall. I wanted to hug her, but was afraid to get any closer to her. Afraid I would smell that lovely scent and be overcome. I stared into her eyes, wanting nothing more than to understand what was going on with her. How she knew.

The smell of strawberry pie came closer as Deon began walking towards me. I took a step back and he stopped, his head tipping to one side and a look of hurt washing over his face.

“What did I miss, Audi?” He asked quietly.

“Nothing.” Nicki replied quickly. “We need to go. Um, I forgot I have an appointment… at the salon.” Nicki was just as good at lying as me. “Come on Gideon, I need you to give me a ride and Audrey needs to finish packing.” She gave me a look that said she would be talking to me soon.

Gideon just shrugged and followed her to the door. What. The. Hell? How did this become my life? I swear I will never drink again.

Dean

I hadn’t realized that Audrey’s friend was planning to lock herself in the bedroom with her. I only walked into the kitchen because I knew if anything happened I would hear it and have no trouble getting to her in time. What I hadn’t counted on was Audrey’s friend Nicki being a witch. Most supernatural beings could in some way feel other supernatural beings. We were sensitive to each other's auras. So when Nicki came running into the kitchen and grabbed me I automatically felt the hum of her magic. It took me a few more seconds and a look to Audrey to understand her anger.

As a witch Nicki was able to feel the change in Audrey and was blaming me for it. While I was more than willing to take that blame I also wanted her to understand. When Nicki confirmed that Gideon was the only actual human in the room I gave her the answer she was looking for in the safest way possible. 

After Nicki pulled Gideon from the apartment I looked to Audrey. I knew from what little experience I had with her that she would have a multitude of questions. She didn’t disappoint.

“What the f**k?” Her vulgar language should have irritated me but I found it eliciting other reactions from my body.

“Your friend is a witch. She, like all other non-humans can feel the difference in the auras of other non-humans.”

Her mouth fell open. She was so cute when she was surprised. 

“So, I can do that too?” Audrey asked in amazement.

“Eventually. It takes practice to learn the different feels for each species. We will work on it in your training if you’d like.” I offered knowing she would agree to it. “If you are ready we should really get to that actually.”

She nodded then gasped. “Oh my god, Mittens.”

Mittens? Why would she need mittens? It wasn’t that cold outside and besides being a vampire the cold wouldn’t affect her so much anymore.

“Mittens?” I asked in confusion.

“My Boston Terrier. He’s at Mrs. Fitzpatrick’s, my neighbor. She was taking care of him last night so I could go out.”

A dog? I smiled. Of course someone so soft and gentle as Audrey would have a pet dog. While it was sweet it also could be problematic. Animals didn’t always take well to our kind. They could sense that we were different, predatory.

“I’m afraid to say Mittens might not be as fond of you as he once was.” I said slowly, not wanting to lie but also not wanting to hurt her.

“Nonsense.” She said matter of factly. “Mittens will still love me.”

I watched as Audrey walked into the bedroom to retrieve her suitcase. Her head was still high as she walked to the door. I sighed and followed her out. I guess it couldn’t hurt to see. If the animal refused to come to her then I would do my best to comfort her. Perhaps it would want to stay with her elderly neighbor. 

As I closed her apartment door Audrey was knocking on the door across the hall. A feeble voice called out from behind the door.

“Come in, Audrey. I’m in the kitchen feeding Mr. Pudgy.”

Audrey pushed the door open and stepped in leaving her suitcase at the door. Unfortunately her neighbor had worded that invitation just right and I was unable to follow. Audrey looked over her shoulder at me in confusion. She turned back and came to the door.

“What are you doing?” She whispered quietly.

“I can’t enter without an invitation.” I quietly whispered back.

Her eyes widened and a look of surprise raced across her beautiful face. She then smiled.

 “The more you know.” She whispered again. “Hey Mrs. F. would you mind terribly if my friend Dean came in?”

“Oh honey, any friend of yours is a friend of mine. He can come in.”

I sighed and walked across the threshold. I wondered if the elderly woman had any idea how dangerous it was to just invite in anyone. I posed no threat to her but there were others out there that did. I followed Audrey through the living room and around a corner to the kitchen. Mrs. Fitzpatrick wasn’t elderly, she was ancient. Though younger than myself she had to have been in her early to mid 90s. She was seated at a small table with a large ball of fur sitting in front of her. The feline must be Mr. Pudgy.

“Hello deary, I was so thankful that Nichole and Gideon were able to find you. We were all so worried about you. They said you were going away for a bit to clear your head? Are you needing me to keep Mittens for you? He’s no trouble. If you leave your key I’ll pick up your mail as well. Give this old lady something to do.” She gave Audrey a grandmotherly smile.

“Well, I thought I’d just take him with me. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone.” Audrey started.

It was at this point Mrs. Fitzpatrick looked my way. She cringed slightly but recovered quickly changing the cringe into a glare.

“You had better not hurt my Audrey boy or I’ll skin you like a cat. No offense Mr. Pudgy.”

I wanted to laugh at this frail woman’s threat but was too warmed by her protective instincts toward Audrey. I smiled at her and assured her I wouldn’t. She seemed to believe me. Audrey whistled and a small black and white dog trotted in from what I assumed was the bedroom. Audrey smiled and bent down cooing at the animal. As I feared the dog’s hackled rose and it began to bark. 

Audrey stood abruptly and looked to me with tears in her eyes. I tried to give her a look that showed how sorry I was but she shook her head.

“Well, Mrs. F. it looks like Mittens might want to stay with you for a few more days. You know where the spare key to my apartment is. I’ll get the key to my mailbox out for you.” She pulled her keyring from her purse, unclipping a small silver key and handing it to her neighbor who was staring at the dog like it grew a second head.

“I’m so sorry sweetie, I wonder what’s gotten into him.”

“It’s ok Mrs. F. I’ll try not to be gone too long. I really appreciate everything you do for me.” Audrey said, holding in her emotions.

I wanted to hold her, to comfort her. I didn’t understand these feelings, it had been too long since I had felt anything outside of anger. But Audrey seemed to pull them from me as if they were threads on a sweater. She unraveled me. I began to fortify my walls. I couldn’t get any closer to her. The risk was too high. I would not allow myself to hurt her.

With a last goodbye Audrey stalked from the apartment and grabbed her suitcase. I followed her at a safe distance. Not trusting myself to get too close.