T I M E L E S S

           a YELP of surprise soon turned into  P A I N  as the blonde forcefully tugged at her hair, her neck cranking with the SUDDEN movements, something she wasn’t prepared for. “— CELIA.” her voice shook, a TYPICAL human reaction, but it wasn’t like she meant for that to happen. “you’re hungry.” she stated as if it was obvious, but had she been NORMAL she probably would of scream for her life, begged and pleaded with the pretty blond. “and you are B E A U T I F U L.” she spoke HONESTLY, not bothering to struggle against the woman, her hands only clasping around her wrist to steady herself. “if you’re hungry you can feed. it’s OKAY. i won’t be mad.” she offered, as if T H A T would be a good idea, as if T H A T would stop the blonde from tormenting her. “i don’t know. he didn’t tell me a secret, he just kissed me and then took me to the lake. i LOVED the lake.” she SMILED, remembering. 

Celia scoffed at the human girl. It was so EXPECTED. She’d been so intriguing before, it was a bit of a let down to have her turn so normal. “OBVIOUSLY. We’re always hungry.” She grumbled. “However, I don’t exactly feel like eating Angelus’ leftovers... not yet at least.” There was still more purposed that she could serve, Celia thought. With her free hand, Celia flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I know.” She smiled. “But I’m not human. You can’t see it,” her eyes trailed along Olly, up and down. “But there’s something so beautiful about human LIFE. We’re beautiful in a way that makes capturing prey easier. You’re pure–the waif is always beautiful even if she’s  P L A I N .” Celia sighed and in a flash dropped the brunette’s hair. Just as quickly though, the blonde pushed her against a nearby tree. “STOP making assumptions. They’re more annoying than the QUESTIONS. You don’t know me or what I want.” Celia blinked. TYPICAL. It sounded much like what his disgusting incubus friend would have done. PATHETIC, Celia mentally corrected herself. “Adorable,” she quipped. “What happened after the dance? He looked DISTRACTED.” She was curious, but mainly bored. Agitating Angelus was no longer a concern of hers. Even with her humanity off she’d treaded on glass before when it’d concerned him, now she couldn’t be bothered.

LAUGHTER bubbled past his lips at her. “— UNFORTUNATELY, unless there is a bed between us, i don’t wrestle with pretty girls.” he teased lightly. “haven’t you ever heard the term simple is best ?” he shook his head. “come here then.” he murmured, patting the warming grass between his out stretched legs.

“If you would have dragged a bed out here we would’ve done a lot more than wrestle by now” She teased back. “Doesn’t mean I agree with it.” Celia paused for a fraction of a second before moving toward him. She nestle easily in front of him and grinned, lazily throwing an arm around him to support herself. “Well this is a little more fun, I’ll give you that.”

        ‘ it CERTAINLY sounds more interesting, does it not ? ’ he was not SHORT to notice the emptiness in her laugh. ‘ & what is wrong with THAT ? i personally don’t see a problem. ’ of course, he was BIASED. his pride was tangled with the supreme guilt that had tormented him & DECEIVED HIM whenever he thought it was lost. ‘ he never WANTS to tell anyone anything, but all you’re giving me is EXCUSE for why you should give up. ’ he had given himself the SAME EXCUSES before, but he was a fighter & forced them to STAY DOWN. ‘ oh, come on, celia. when you were BORN you were born to live, not to be with my brother. that is not your PURPOSE. what your purpose is, is to leave your mark. make people REMEMBER YOUR NAME & tremble when they hear your footsteps. your parents didn’t KNOW my brother so therefore you were not CREATED for him, or for whatever reason surrounds him. so ENOUGH. ’ he had become tired of all talk she was giving. ANGELUS had his flaws but at times like this, those FLAWS were forgotten & as his brother, aleks WOULD NOT let a bad word be spoken about him.

“Nothing WRONG with that, that was not my intention when saying that.” She laughed. “You’re quick to defend them. It’s sweet.” Celia looked down at the scarce remaining liquid in her glass. There wasn’t enough in the building to satisfy her NEEDS. Granted, she had some of the strong stuff at home waiting for her. “You’re not LISTENING. I’m not giving you EXCUSES. I’m telling you the answers & the truth. I love your brother more than my own life and he’s SEVERED the connection between us. I can never give up on him. But it’s heartbreaking to see him give up on me. You have to understand. Him killing me the first time was a  M E R C Y  killing. I WISH he would do the same again if he’s finished with me this time.” She fell silent for a few minutes. She wanted to let Aleks words sink in, but even as they did she knew it was  p o i n t l e s s . “You’re wrong.” Her voice was quiet. If not for their enhanced hearing, it would’ve been lost within the noise of the crowds. “He made me what he wanted me to be. He DESTROYED every shred of the human girl that I was. He BROKE me so much that for at least two centuries proceeding I was NOTHING but his.” She looked at Aleks then with an expression so broken and blank. “He is why I live, I cannot forget that.” Then she gave him a wistful smile. “You cannot understand the love of your creator when you were the first created.”

“i don’t want to talk about losing because we’re NOT going to fight. friends don’t fight. besides, i don’t want to SHOW you what i can do.” his stern expression crumbled. “that’s rubbish, celia, that’s ATROCIOUS.” he flinched and moved her arms back to her sides. “i’m not being stupid, but i can’t deny there’s something OFF about you right now.”

Celia frowned. “So you don’t want to play any games is what you’re telling me. Friends fight all the time, Dawson. When things get boring or tough or whatever you want to call it, you don’t just SIT THERE. You do something about it.” She shrugged. “It’s the truth, it’s not a lie. By the time they were dead I missed them so much, but that didn’t mean a part of me wasn’t sad I didn’t get to be the one that did it.” She pouted as he removed herself from him. “There’s nothing off about me you’ve just never seen me like this.” A sly smirk crawled at her face. “There’s plenty of ways you haven’t seen me though.”

‘’again, with the whole DOGS thing. too original.’’ jude points out, shaking his head. he shrugs, motioning her to follow him. ‘’we can CLEAR out a bar if you’d like, you can have all the variety alcohol you want. sound good ?? ‘’

She shrugged. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” She winked. A wicked grin filled Celia’s face. “Sounds great. I’ve been dying for something to do. I could kill for a bloody anything right about now.”

❛ maybe you need STRONGER evidence, then. you can’t blame me— you rejected me, remember? and i don’t make propositions twice. you wanted over, it’s over; so stop complaining. and from what i recall MY insecurities weren’t the problem. ❜ bitterness coats his tongue— he was not VOID of emotion, though keeping them buried had been a skill he spent years mastering. ❛ oh, by all means— if you want to become a PATHETIC PUPPET, an empty shell, go right ahead, can’t stop you… WOULDN’T, even if i could. ❜ thick lashes flutter open, RESPONDING to her touch, his icy gaze seems to skim over her soul, prying into its depths. there’s a lack of empathy EVIDENT & undeniable. ❛ funny you mention that scared little girl… you remind me a lot of her right now. ❜ sharp CANINES exposed, daft hands quickly capture her wrists— forcefully removing her hands from his chest. ❛ don’t— ❜ it STUNG, that woman even being mentioned; enough to draw out a reaction from the stoic prince. ❛ you have NO IDEA what she’s capable of… don’t go there… i WON’T be able to pull you back. ❜ his eyes WIDEN as he hears the familiar sound of thick droplets peppering the floor, his blue-eyed gazes travels down in awe, noticing the crimson NAILS digging into closed fists had brought to surface. ❛ damned… ❜ he utters a MUFFLED curse— recoiling to avoid her gaze. he wants to BREAK the walls only to cease feeling this overwhelming anger, this lack of control… & above all else, he LOATHED the fact it was all because of her. ❛ …get out.. ❜ chest set aflame, he manages to growl out the words FEELING the fire spread wide throughout his being. ❛ GET OUT before i HEW your head myself… ❜ it’s more of a warning than a threat— as he feels acid pouring down his throat & boiling in the pit of his stomach; CONTROL slipping from slender fingers like sand.

“CORRECTION. I loved you. You fear rejection and will see it in anything you can.” Her smile was a striking juxtaposition to the venom flying from her lips. “I’m not complaining in the slightest, darling. For the  F I R S T  time in my life, it doesn’t matter what you say or what you do. Like you said, you don’t make propositions TWICE. I knew that when I dropped down the rabbit hole. You were gone and suddenly my world was EMPTY.” Her voice held a feigned sadness she didn’t feel. She wanted to laugh more than she wanted to cry. “ANGELUS, I was your pathetic puppet before. You made me what you wanted me to be. What difference does it make to you now that you’ve cut the strings? You couldn’t even you wanted to.” She whispered, pausing to bit down on her lip and try to muster the look she used to give him before. She couldn’t pull from the real source, but she could fake feeling things for him. It was easy enough. Celia let him pull her hand away from his chest and raised a slow brow. “And here I thought I was the one with parental issues... but you weren’t talking about MY mother just then.” Celia tilted her head. “Were you?” Celia didn’t even cast a glance at the spilled crimson. Her eyes were on Angelus alone. “I would love to go where you couldn’t follow. Where you’re AFRAID to see me go.” Celia doesn’t heed his warning. She doesn’t CARE what he has to say. It’s her turn now. “I was wrong.” She crossed her arms and began to pace around him. “Before, when I thought you didn’t love me. I was wrong.” She giggled, a childish, chilling laugh. “I thought you didn’t love me so wouldn’t even kill me when I pleaded you to. You didn’t CARE enough. But I how wrong I was. I see now in your eyes that you did love me. And the funny thing is: your brother tried to convince me that I didn’t understand you. He was right. I couldn’t see it before. Being unable to feel emotions has made me quite good at reading them.” Celia turned on her heel and waved without looking back. “Don’t make empty threats, love. They don’t suit you.”

“You think that in a world where vampires, werewolves, demons, and witches exist that there is no possible way that God does? The world may be cruel, but even I don’t think it could be that cruel. And besides, without God there is no hell. Where am I supposed to party once I finally die?” Catherine could only shake her head at the blonde. “I’m up for anything. Well, anything other than mass panic. That’s too much for two of us to handle at the moment.”

“Of course not. No one would ever plague the world with all that and leave poor little humans to fend for themselves.” Celia laughed. “Then you haven’t see the cruelest parts yet. Once you fall down the rabbit hole there’s no going back.” She shrugged. “I believe in sinners not saints. There can very well be a hell without a god as far as I’m concerned.” She rolled her eyes at her old friend. “Well you’ve gotten boring but FINE, we can think of something else to occupy our time. Feel like hitting up a bar and burning it to the ground?”

❛ i do not MOVE ON, moving on is a thing for fickle creatures with a short lifespam, such as humans. i can afford eternity & therefore would rather keep the memories of those who entered my life as opposed to forgetting them. not to mention… i’ve never been good at letting go of things, or so they claim… i still do have my childhood bear in storage, so i’m inclined to believe my brothers just this one time. ❜ not that he was ALL TOO HAPPY about that, either; it hid in the details of his seemingly stoic features, irritation corrupted small details, adorning his eyes & lips. ❛ if you are going to MOPE at every loss as an eternal being, i’d suggest walking towards the sun— it will be less painful. ❜ he turns his face AWAY, closed eyes avoiding her gaze to remain composed as SHARDS OF ICE slipped from his tongue. ❛ it doesn’t mean you shut it all off… it has consequences, cece. we are BUILT with emotions for a reason. i might not understand all of them… but i do know they are needed for us to function properly. otherwise… we cease to be who we are. ❜ 

“Oh but you DO forget. Or at least you forget all evidence pointing in one direction if it doesn’t agree with your insecure little view. I mean I never did ANYTHING that could cause you to  d o u b t  the fact I loved you and you still pushed me away. That, regardless of how many BEARS you keep, means you DO forget.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Well this is a simple solution. Now I won’t have to MOPE! Ever again. I spent far too many centuries doing that over you.” She laughed. “WHO WE ARE?” She exploded, grinning wildly. The blonde walked over to her maker and rested a hand on his chest, leaning in. “And WHO AM I, Angelus? The poor, pathetic human who couldn’t even escape to a CONVENT to get away from you? The one who descended into hysterics when you BROKE her? OR am I the DOTING, loyal little vampire? Trotting around from place to place, wreaking as much havoc as I can to try and draw your attention in a way you would NEVER give me? Because if those are the options I’d rather pull my own heart out of my chest.” Her smile had dropped as she’d begun speaking about her past. Now, it slowly pulled back onto her face. “And by the way, my MOTHER called me Cece. This isn’t a succession line. You don’t get to take the title just because you KILLED her. The name is Celia to you.” She laughed. “AND speaking of FAMILY. Where is yours? I mean, Aleks is fun when HE’S off the wagon, and MAX, well he doesn’t even need to turn it off to be blast. HELL, maybe I’ll even give SILAS a ring. He’s like a brother to you and he’s one  h e l l  of a time if you want chaos.”

“celia, STOP IT. you’re twisting my words around. the last thing i want to do is start an ALTERCATION.” his chest tightened at her GRUESOME threat, but he was fed up with being weak, and eager to prove that he possessed the soul of a man. “well i can do something too. i ━━━” anxiety stunted his sentence; he just couldn’t do it. his soul was just as empty as hers. dawson stepped back, but he refused to break eye contact. “i KNOW you wouldn’t kill me.”

“I’m not TWISTING anything, yet.” She rolled her eyes. “Because you’d lose, and you know it. NOTHING you can do would match me at this point, darling.” She creased her eyebrows and broke into laughter. “I wouldn’t? Then you know fuck all. Because I would kill my own PARENTS at this point if they weren’t already dead.” Her arms moved to drape lazily around his neck as she cocked her head. She sighed. “Everyone thinks they know me. How stupid of them to assume. Don’t be stupid, Dawson.”

‘’ I N T E R E S T I N G. ‘’ he shrugs, looking her over with a smile. ‘’there’s one to YOURS as well. i LIKE you.’’ pointing at her playfully, jude’s smile grew. ‘’ there is definitely something about you.’’

“I like me, too.” She jested, grinning at her own joke. “But thanks for the compliment, JUDE. Maybe all puppies aren’t SO bad. But to keep this going I’m going to need more alcohol. Perhaps we should take this elsewhere.”

Catherine wasn’t used to this Celia, not at all. It was typically her that was out of control, unable to keep herself in line, but now it seemed that the roles had been reversed. And she was unsure of how long Celia was going to be in this state, all she knew was that she couldn’t push her to change. She just had to be there through the whole situation, until Celia decide to turn on her humanity on her own. “Thank God.” Catherine grinned and turned, linking her arm with Celia’s. “I don’t think a mass attack is needed at the moment, but if you have something else in mind I’ll join in.”

“Isn’t it funny how we throw that name around a lot.” Celia wrinkled her nose. “GOD. We know he can’t exist––not in this world. Yet, we keep thanking or cursing him. It really is peculiar.” She mused, barely even speaking to Catherine. There was a long pause before Celia shrugged and turned her attention back to Catherine fully. “Everyone is simply so boring though. No one is panicked.” She sighed. “If you have any better ideas, I’m all ears. I just want something to occupy my time. Something FUN.”

❛ as so i RECALL, you never complained about my ability to give any kind of heads before. did you flipped the switch too? ugh… that’s UPSETTING. ❜

“The operative word being BEFORE.” Celia laughed. “Oh come on. You’re not upset. You’ve already moved on, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? You, then Aurora, I imagine it would’ve been any other human I cared about at that point so why not have fun instead of watching them all drop like flies. Hey maybe I should do the dropping...”

          any other HUMAN would notice that the tone that dripped from F A L S E smiles was sharp, almost UNFRIENDLY beneath the facade, and well, even then it’d be hard for a normal human to pick it up. HOWEVER, olly was not a normal human, there was something wrong. THIS WASN’T SAFE. but it was if her feet were glued to the floor. she couldn’t find it in herself to move. “ — CELIA.” her name fell from parched lips as a frown furrowed along her brows. “why does it matter if i’m human ?” her head tilted once more, but soon she was in the blondes INESCAPABLE grasp, her child locked tight between what once could be called DELICATE hands, now they were strong, harsh and unforgiving against her SUPPLE flesh. pupils expand, her lips forming words without a THOUGHT. “i stumbled upon him drawing. he T O L D me he had a secret to share. he KISSED me.” she recited mechanically.

Celia’s hands flitted back to Olly’s hair. She twirled a few strands around her fingers before DIGGING in & GRABBING. She pulled, and not too kindly, at her hair for a moment, forcing the brunette’s head back. “MORE questions.” Celia muttered in a tone that conveyed her puzzled amazement at Olly as she smiled. “Really though, I do suggest ANSWERING them instead of asking.” The vampire also took that moment as Olly’s head was pulled back to run her gaze across her face, then along her neck. “I used to be beautiful like you when I was human.” Ignoring the girl’s question. “But that  S C E N T, that’s what’s so human about you. I can’t BLAME anyone for being entranced by that.” She let go of her, but continued to hold her gaze. She shrugged. How boring of Angelus. “And what was that SECRET?” She prompted, somewhat annoyed that she had to at all. Celia would likely be snapping Olly’s neck before the end of their conversation so it didn’t REALLY matter what she’d done with Angelus in the PAST.

           “ — DARLING.” he chuckled, her words a little more amusing now. “i’d like to see you try.” he told her honestly. “and you agreed to be here, that’s not my fault you find sunsets boring.”

Celia turned more eagerly, a grin forming. “Do want to wrestle and see me try?” She frowned once again. “Fair enough, however, I didn’t anticipate sunsets being THIS boring. I just thought you’d have more planned than sitting here.”

           “ — god please GO FUCK YOURSELF, because lord knows you need it.” SELF ENTITLED BITCH, was the only phrase that came to mind as she stared at the other blonde. “i don’t have to be where Y O U  want me, i’m perfectly fine right here.” she smiled. “how about i SHOW you what i HAVE LEARNT ?” she grinned darkly.

“DARLING, don’t you worry about me. I’m fine. I mean GOD, could you be anymore childish? This is the stupidest conversation I’ve literally ever been in and I didn’t think anyone would be able to top some of the one’s I’ve already had.” Celia patience was thinning. She was not in the mood to deal with PRISSY, entitled children DEMANDING their way. “Go right  a h e a d. What you’ve learnt couldn’t tally anything worth my actual attention.” With that Celia’s drink arrived. “I genuinely don’t give a FUCK.”

❛ HUMANITY ON, humanity off… my family’s like a defective light’s switch & it’s giving me headaches… ❜

“Are you really the RIGHT person to be talking about GIVING PEOPLE HEADACHES? There’s too much irony there.”