#sofiedupont

Time had never been something Sofie had really considered. 

Everyone seemed to appear on the universe’s timeline at their own pace, and left it in the same fashion. She’d never really wished to have been born at another time. She’d found contentment in her life, experiencing the things and people she’d met. 

They had been sipping coffee when a family had gone by. Two doting parents with a rambunctious little boy between the two of them. A smile tugged at the corners of Sofie’s mouth as the boy squealed with laughter as his parents swung him between the two of them. 

It was the kind of thing that always warmed Sofie’s heart to see. Except this time, the smile was a little sad. 

It wasn’t until hours later, curled up on her couch with Cassius that she even began to allow herself to consider it. “Do you ever wish,” she asked quietly. “That you had been born in another time?”

____

Cassius watched as the young family walked past the window, a strange tugging at his heart made him feel something he had repressed for years. He hadn’t had a family in so long that he had simply stopped allowing himself to feel anything for it. Sure, he had a makeshift family with Richard once upon a time, but that ship had sailed as well. Seeing a happy family, it reminded him that no matter what, he could never have it. He was dead. Dead things didn’t get a happily ever after. Willing himself to forget about it, he settled on the couch with his latest novel that he had picked up from the local book store.

Now halfway through the book he was reading, Sofie interrupted Cassius’s reading to ask him a simple but loaded question. He thought for a moment. “I find that if I wish for things that can never be, they only make me feel sad.” He answered, looking to her with a curious gaze. “I wish I was born after the creation of modern medicine.” He decided, putting his bookmark in the book and snapping it shut. “Where’s your mind at?” He then inquired, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

He had a point, of course. Wondering about what could have been only made what was sting. Even if what was, was good, and if she had to live all three hundred years again to get to this exact spot, there were few things, if any, that Sofie would change. She did manage a soft laugh. “Yes, you were quite lucky in that regard. Inoculation was only just starting to catch on when I was a young woman.”

She was not certain where this conversation might go. But she wouldn’t lie. She was far too old to be anything but honest. Especially about the complicated things. And yet, it wasn’t a particularly easy conversation to have. She closed her eyes a moment as gentle fingers brushed her hair back. “It’s silly.” Sofie started, trying to downplay it. “I just see families sometimes… like the one from earlier. And I wonder. That’s all.”

___________

Cassius frowned as she explained her woes, and it made him stop and think to his earlier thoughts. “Being what we are comes at a price,” he began, setting the book down on the end table beside him and turning to her. “When I was alive, I would picture myself with a family. When I woke up undead, that was one of the first things I had to learn to come to terms with.” He took her hand, a subtle look of sadness of in his face. 

“It’s hard not to wonder what could be if the situation was different.” He began, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. “There are a lot of things I wish I could do. Being able to bask in sunlight being the biggest one out of them. But the situation is as it is, and there is nothing that can be done to fix it.” Cassius shrugged, wishing he had a better solution. “We can’t change what is, we can only look to the future and hope for what will be.” His gaze was hard to read, most of it calm, but some of it as if a storm was brewing behind those words. “We are what we are. I’ve come to accept what that comes with.”

He had a point. Of course he did. He had been alive nearly as long as she had- a person didn’t come to be that old without a few pearls of wisdom. A few things that they had learned to accept. But when he said it was one of the first things he had to accept he had lost, something in her chest tightened. Some ache she couldn’t set aside. Maybe it was trying to picture him with someone in his own time. Little children with poet’s hearts like their father. He took her hand, and she held it tight. 

“I thought it was easy for so long… living without things. I was an old maid by the standards of my day. Six-and-twenty, and still unwed? I’d have to care for my parents in their old age, or work as a lady’s maid the rest of my days… I never gave much thought to having a family when I was young.” Her voice was quiet. As if it wasn’t a truth she admitted freely it often. Sofie closed her eyes as he mentioned the sun, pretending that if she wished hard enough, she might still feel warmth against her skin that wouldn’t spell out her demise. She looked back at him, and there was something about that expression… the calm before the storm, perhaps. She wanted to push. To ask what had the storm rolling in. She didn’t voice it aloud, but her eyes asked the simple question ‘what is it?’ 

______

Cassius hummed, giving a slight shake to of his head to shake away his thoughts. “It’s just hard to stay looking forward when little moments you know you can never have rear their head in front of your eyes.” He spoke in return the look she gave him with only her eyes. Of course he could read his face like an open book, for he only let himself speak true around her. The pain he felt in his chest was only emotional, but knowing that didn’t make it hurt any less. 

“I’ve come to accept things because if I don’t, it’ll make me feel miserable.” He spoke, shaking his head as he picked up his book. “I’m sorry, I don’t like talking about this.” He pulled his hand away and opened the book to the marked page he had left off on. Sometimes these things were just too hard to put into words, so he withdrew.

And once more, he had a point. And Sofie cared for him far too much to speak of things she knew would make him miserable. But that didn’t make the ache in her chest go away. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.” Her voice was a whisper. She tugged a blanket from the arm of the sofa onto her lap. She didn’t need the warmth, but there was something comforting about the weight of it. He withdrew into his book. She wouldn’t force his hand. Sofie wanted to say something more. She wasn’t sure what. Maybe just to know that if they had met in another time, under different circumstances, if they could have had that. 

_____

A few hours had past since they had spoken. But in the back of his head, there was a nagging that demanded him to face what he could never had. Cassius didn’t look up from his book as he spoke. “I lied.” He spoke simply, staring at the words at the page, but not taking them in. “I think about having a family all the time. I think about what it would be like to have children and a normal life and doing little things out in the sunshine because I can.” He finally looked over to Sofie, taking her hand. “I think about these things with you. And it hurts that it can never be.” He confessed, brushing his thumb over the back of her hand. 

Seeing happy families, as cute as they were, hurt him a bit. It reminded what he could never have and what had been ripped away from him. But at the same time, he woudln’t have had it either way. He wouldn’t have made it to see himself with a family. “Perhaps we should get a cat.” He suggested with a coy smile. “It’s not a child, but we could definitely treat it like it is.” He chuckled, thinking to how caring Sofie would be with a pet in the house. “Or even a dog, if you’re into that. But not being able to walk it when it needs to be walked sounds like a bit of a downside.”

She had slipped into silence easily enough. The only sound was the occasional turn of a page. It lulled her into her thoughts. So when after time had gone by, she was startled by the sudden sound of a voice. Sofie looked up at him, confused. Lied? He was talking to the book at first, but the words were clearly meant for her. The words were both a burn and a salve. The pain was the same, and there was some comfort in that. In knowing that they would both want the same thing. He took her hand, and she held onto it tightly. “I like to think,” she sighed “that somewhere in the multitudes of universes that have us in them, that in at least one of those we met before. And that we could have that. In some place and time.”

There was that smile. It tugged at her heart, and her face slowly warmed into one to match his. “A cat.” She contemplated the idea for a moment before nodding slowly. “I think a cat suits our personalities far better anyhow…” Sofie grinned. “And what would you name a cat, Cassius Hawthorne. This is an important, and entirely serious question.” Her tone and the delighted gleam in her eyes said anything but. 

_____

A faint smile took over Cassius’s lips, leaning in to press a kiss to her temple. “I have no doubt that in the multitude of universes, you and I are together in every one.” He murmured against her before pulling back. It was a hopeful thing to think about, the idea of different worlds, and in that world that he would be human and he would be happy. His mind flicked to Richard, what if in another world– no. No thinking about that. He blinked once, willing the thoughts out of his mind and back onto Sofie. 

He thought for a long moment about the idea of a cat. A living breathing thing that he would take care of. “I want a black cat,” he declared with a smug look. “I like the name Nocturne.” He mused, lost in thought of the idea of being a goth vampire with a black cat. It really tied all the stereotypes together in a neat little black bow. His eyes then lit up with all the possibilities. “Or something from Shakespeare,” he then suggested as he leaned forward, lost in thought as he cycled through the names of several characters that the playwright had created. “Desdamona, Ophelia, Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby…” he trailed off, quite amused with his last suggestion.

She relaxed as his lips pressed against her temple. Sliding her arms around him, she pulled herself closer, to the point where she was practically sat in his lap. Sofie noticed his gaze grow distant. She tipped her head up, placing a kiss just under his jaw. “I like the sound of that.”

Sofie laughed, nodding slowly. “A black cat, alright.” She liked that he leaned into the stereotype. The black clothes, the poetry… a black cat would be the cherry on top. “Black is the badge of hell, the hue of dungeons and the school of night.” She mused. “You could borrow one of their names. Kit instead of Christopher. After Marlowe.”

_____

Cassius kept thinking of names but all his brain wanted to do was come back to Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby. “I really like my last suggestion.” He murmured with a playful expression, eyes alight with excitement. It wasn’t a child, but it never would be. That was a dream that he had learned to give up long ago. But the idea of an animal that they could care for together sounded quite nice. “Whatever we name it, it shall be spoiled rotten.” He decided as he pulled out his phone, making straight-faced eye contact as he opened Amazon on his phone and began to search for various cat supplies they would need and adding it to his cart. “Spoiled.” He repeated as he added a cat tree to his cart.

“I suppose we’ll need a solid place to live first,” he suggested as he stopped adding things to his cart with wild abandon. “At least, me not living where I do. I feel like a cat wouldn’t like a windowless crypt to live in very much.” He thought for a moment, knowing he’d have to seriously start looking into it. “And as much as I hate the idea of helping the bastard, I’d like to have a basement where we can hide Richard. Last thing I need is him getting caught and killed by a bunch of hunters that realize he’s here.”

She snorted at the lengthy title. “His lordship. Derby for short.” It was ridiculous, and yet Sofie loved it. Peering over his shoulder at the screen, she pointed at little mouse shaped toys that the website claimed had catnip in them, as if to say add those to the cart for the lordling.

A new home and a cat. It was impossibly domestic. It was easy to forget all the chaos that had been the last few months. Slayers, disappearances, reappearances of elder vampire sires…. She had to admit she liked this better. It felt impossibly human. A basement for Richard though. The thought of the elder vampire lurking beneath the floorboards wasn’t a thrilling one, but he was still important to Cassius. “I can look for a house… find a realtor or something.”

_______

Cassius smiled at the nicknames, thinking of all the possibilities that his life had the option of going in, but he found himself with Sofie, someone he felt he would have never deserved if he gave himself the opportunity to truly think about it. He knew he was lucky, but he also knew that he had lived a very long life full of a lot of nothing. Sofie lived her life full of opulence with other people that she had seen as a family. He had lived running from place to place, only really knowing Richard. He never got the opportunity to truly live his life until he was finally on his own. And even then, it took him a long time to finally be okay with that.

She had gone out for an evening stroll.

Of course, the woods in the late spring evening probably weren’t the best idea, but it wasn’t as though Sofie had a great deal of options in regards to time. She rather liked not being burnt by the sun, even if she did miss the warmth of it’s rays on her skin some days. 

But lighting wasn’t her current issue. 

The issue was that she was fairly certain that she was being followed. 

The vampire had picked up her pace, heading out of the woods, She’d get out of the woods, head to the Masque, and then go home with two red eyes. It’s fine Sofie, stop being so skittish…

A branch snapped behind her.

Sofie choked back a scream and whirled around, expecting to see a monster. Instead, she saw a man.

A man that she had seen before. 

“You,” She said, immediately taking three steps back, her hand searching for the small knife Cassius had given to her to carry. “I’m not bothering anyone, and I’ve already told you as much as I know. Please, just let me go home.” ______

Why did people still go into the woods in this town? How many ‘missing’ posters would it take to finally dissuade hikers from wandering out among the trees, becoming one with nature or whatever it was they liked to do out here? It was stupid. There was no fucking point to any of it.

But it paid the bills, anyway. Emilio had had a few clients come to him recently with missing loved ones who’d last been seen in this part of the woods, and while he had little hope of finding any of them alive, he figured if he could find out what was killing them he could stop it from killing anyone else. 

When he spotted another person wandering in the woods ahead of him, he was entirely prepared to tell them to get the hell out before they wound up something’s dinner. But then he got closer, and that familiar shiver went down his spine. Undead. Suddenly, he couldn’t help but wonder if this stranger was the one responsible for the disappearances. 

Deciding to follow to make sure, he stayed a ways behind her. But then —

A branch broke. She turned around, and familiarity flooded through him. Shit. “I’m not looking to —” Wait. A branch broke. Emilio faltered. That wasn’t him. 

It was the only thought he could form before a hulking mass appeared from the woods to their right, letting out a low chortle. It was a hodgepodge of different things, one of the ugliest goddamn chimeras he’d ever seen. And it clearly wasn’t just animals, either; Emilio spotted a face in the midsection, one of the ones that had been staring up at him from a file on his desk for days now. Shit. 

“Maybe you should go home now,” he said dryly, turning to the vampire with a frustrated glare. “Before you get in my way.”

—

He started talking, saying something about not looking to do something. Given her recent track record, Sofie wasn’t so sure she believed that. She looked confused as he cut himself off. Then she understood why.  

Sofie wasn’t sure what it was exactly. She did know that it was massive, and that it was perhaps the single most horrifying thing she had ever set her eyes on. A startled shriek rang through the trees as she took several steps back on instinct. Faces and limbs that jutted out at strange angles- everything in her told her to run. 

Her gaze pivoted to the slayer, who was glaring at her?! Why was he glaring at her? She’d done nothing wrong! “Believe me, I don’t want to be in your way.” She said, taking a few slow steps backward, her eyes back on the creature in horror. One of its faces swiveled and locked onto Sofie. And much to her dismay, it decided it was more interested in her than it was in the slayer. It started for her. 

She hissed, spinning on her heel to run, fishing her knife from her pocket. “I think it’s a bit late for that now, though!”

_____

It was clear that she didn’t believe him, though Emilio couldn’t bring himself to care. She might not have been involved in the massacre that killed his daughter, but she’d still broken bread with the people who were. She’d still stayed in their homes, still made small talk with them around the house. Guilty by association might not be enough to justify him putting a stake through a heart, but it was certainly enough for him not to care if she thought he was a threat to her.

Mostly, he wanted her to go. Seeing her here felt like a reminder of a thousand things he’d rather not remember, the grief and the rage swelling up in his chest all at once. Sometimes, he let himself forget all the things he’d lost. He closed his eyes to it, he pretended it was nothing. But in moments like this? With someone who knew, even if he’d only said the words in a fit of anger? That became much harder.

In a way, the chimera was almost a relief. At least it gave him something else to focus on, some other beast to fight. He’d always done so much better with things like this; when the monster only existed inside his head, slaying it became an impossible task. 

But, of course, things still couldn’t be easy. If things were easy, the vampire would have run. And maybe she’d been about to, before the chimera started her way. Emilio would have been lying if he said there wasn’t a part of him that, for a moment, considered just letting the beast tire itself out killing the vampire. For a moment. But the moment didn’t last as long as it would have a few years ago, because they never did anymore. He hadn’t been cold since Flora was born, even if he’d tried to earn that coldness back after her death. He couldn’t let the goddamn vampire die, even if he was supposed to. Even if it was what his mother would have expected.

So he surged forward, kicking its tail and grabbing its spine to jerk it back away from the vampire and towards him instead. It turned one of its terrible heads, and he found himself looking into the eyes of that girl whose picture was still on his desk. At least he could probably get her family something to bury, depending on how he played his cards here. “Lo siento,” he told the head quietly. It opened its mouth and let out a screech that sounded half human, half animal. Emilio ducked the swing of one of its many arms. “You might need more than a small knife if you’re going to stay. El fuego es bueno, for these things.” 

______

He grabbed the beast so she could… run? She blinked rapidly as she thoughts raced to catch up with the present situation. Sofie was no fool. She knew the man probably wouldn’t care if she was killed by the thing in front of them. But then why was he helping her? Maybe he wasn’t trying to help at all and was just going for the kill. But he’d pulled it’s attention away from her. She couldn’t just leave him there. 

She glanced down at the knife and then back up at the beast. He probably had a point regarding the size of the knife. “Kurwa mać,” Sofie hissed before digging through her bag. She knew she had a lighter somewhere- she’d taken to carrying one in the twenties and never broken the habit. She cursed until her hand met metal in the depths of the bag. 

In her distraction she wandered too close, narrowly missing a well aimed swipe by the… whatever the hell the damned thing was. Cursing with a renewed vigor, she searched for something to light on fire. “ogień,” she muttered to herself over and over, half distraction, half plea for something flammable. Her eyes fell on a large stick. That would work. She hastily tore fabric from the bottom of her shirt and wrapped it around the end of the stick. Moments later, it was ablaze. “Now what?!”

———

He was a little surprised that the vampire didn’t turn tail and run the moment she had an opportunity. Just as Emilio had no reason to care if she lived or died, she owed nothing to him. If she were smart, he thought, she’d already be halfway back to town by now, leaving both man and beast behind her. Maybe this meant nothing beyond the fact that she simply wasn’t very smart, then. 

He continued to wrestle with the chimera as she rummaged through her purse, grunting as it sunk teeth into his arm. It was the teeth from the human mouth, at least; there was an alligator mouth attached to another part of the body that would have done far worse damage than the duller teeth of a human girl, not designed for ripping flesh. 

The light of the fire seemed unnaturally bright, perhaps due to the slayer’s night vision. Emilio, with the chimera’s teeth still locked around his arm, looked up to the vampire with an expression of disbelief. “Now what?” He repeated the question, with a shake of his head. “Fucking kill it, that’s now what. Find a part that looks like it’ll burn and burn it.” He yanked his arm free at last, taking a few teeth along with him when the beast refused to let go. Were teeth an acceptable piece of remains to deliver to a next of kin? They might be the only thing of the girl that was salvageable when this was finished.

— 

She had just looked up from her bag when teeth sank into flesh. She let out a yelp, and moved faster. He was fine. Probably. He was a slayer, he probably dealt with worse things than giant horrifying amalgamations of dead people and animals biting into his arm all the time, right? Sofie didn’t quite buy that lie. He may have been terrifying, but he didn’t deserve to die a horrific death. 

But then he was yelling at her in disbelief. The vampire scowled back at him. “Excuse me if it’s my first time fighting a fucking monster!” She hissed as she sized up the monster, looking for a section that seemed flammable. Sofie didn’t want to think about it too much. She got as close as she dared, and held the flames to a particularly hairy patch of the beast, hoping the flames would catch. 

It let out an animalistic howl of pain before lashing out, catching Sofie in the chest and sending her flying back onto the forest floor. She wheezed, looking back at the make-shift  torch. It was still burning. She scrambled to her feet and moved to try again, tossing the lighter in the direction of the slayer. “It’ll go faster if it’s burning in more than one spot.” 

_____

“How the fuck is this your first time fighting a monster?” How old was she? Did it matter? Even if she was only as old as she looked — something Emilio doubted, given her demeanor — she was more than old enough to have experience with this sort of thing. The first time he’d fought a ‘monster’ in the vaguest sense, he’d barely been old enough to stand. He didn’t even remember what it had been. 

(He remembered being afraid, though. He remembered winning the fight, but being punished anyway. And he’d deserved that. Slayers weren’t supposed to be afraid. He’d known that, even then.) 

Someone had failed her, at some point, if she’d made it this far without learning to fight something like this. Especially in this town, as often as things like this popped up. Someone had failed her, but that was hardly important now. What was important now was killing this son of a bitch before it killed him, because dying in the woods in front of someone who had broken bread and made small talk with his daughter’s murderers didn’t sound nearly as tempting as going home and getting a drink. (There were days when it would have. He knew that.)

He caught the lighter as she threw it to him, deciding not to mention that he had one of his own in his pocket. He fumbled for a branch, ripping off his shirt and wrapping it around the wood before setting it ablaze. “Two directions, then,” he told her, shooting her a glare through the smoke and the flames. “You from your end, me from mine. Hit it until it stops moving, and don’t burn the fucking forest down. You can handle this?”

—

“What do you mean ‘how is it my first time’?!” She hissed, dodging out of the way of a rather sharp pair of claws that looked like they may have belonged to a bear at one point. “Chyba sobie kurwa żartujesz,” Sofie muttered, shaking her head. “This has more limbs than the monsters I’m used to!” The monsters that held stakes and knives and crosses, the monsters that looked like him. 

He caught the lighter as Sofie dodged the blows the monster tried to hit her with. Being faster than a human helper in these scenarios, she decided. Otherwise, she’d be half eaten by that crocodile head by now. 

“Two directions,” she echoed. She could worry about whether or not he would just kill her after he killed the more imminent threat later. For now, they just had to survive the next few minutes and burn this thing without burning themselves to crisps alongside it. “I can handle it.”

Slipping closer with preternatural speed, she held the flames to it once more, not daring to stay in one spot longer than a few moments. Horrible screams echoed into the night as the flames started to catch. “It’s working!”

_______

“I mean, how is it your first time?’” Emilio repeated the phrase with a grunt, ducking to avoid another swipe of claws. Was that arm from a bear? Jesus. He made a note to check up on Nora, even if it was a ridiculous notion. He knew she was fine, just like he knew the arm on the chimera’s body wasn’t from a bugbear. Something in him ached anyway. “You have to be, what, a hundred? And you’ve never fought a monster like this? Ay, this is kid stuff.”

Kid stuff that kept coming dangerously close to getting those reptilian jaws around him. And that sweeping tail was unfamiliar — something supernatural? That was worrying. There was no telling what kind of hidden abilities this thing might be packing. Their best hope at making it out of this shit was to kill this monster as soon as they could.

Which, he could begrudgingly admit, was easier done when coming at it from two directions was a possibility. The vampire (Christ, he didn’t even know her name) moved in with her torch, and Emilio moved in with his. Burnt flesh of various kinds sizzled, the scent filling the air. As disgusting as it was to think so, it almost smelled like barbecue. 

“Don’t let up,” he barked the order at the vampire, holding his own torch in closer. The chimera screamed and writhed, swiping at them both, but it was too far gone to do anything. Already mostly on fire, already too late to be saved. That wouldn’t stop it from going down fighting, though. That bear arm, now aflame, swiped towards him again, claws sinking into his side. Emilio let out a grunt as they tore themselves free, stumbling a little. Ah, shit. Blood dripped onto the ground, and the chimera kept on swiping. Dodging was getting more difficult. “I need to back out,” he yelled, perhaps an octave too high. “I’m — Shit. If you don’t keep on it, it’ll probably kill me.” It wasn’t a request, wasn’t a question. It was almost like he was offering her a choice — keep on it, or let him die. Keep carrying that risk, or run away. He honestly wasn’t sure which option she’d go with.

—

“Just turned three hundred-fifteen, but who’s counting.” She shot back, with something vaguely resembling a smile. “I’m scared to ask what you’d consider ‘grown up stuff’.” It wasn’t really the time for jokes, but they could both be eaten by the thing writhing and lashing out in the clearing in the next few minutes. So it seemed as good a time as any. 

A human hand lashed out, blunt nails scrabbling to grab purchase before Sofie yanked her arm away, batting the limb off with the torch. The smell of the smoke was wretched. Each new burn on the beast was a reminder of how flammable she was. And just how bad it would be if she didn’t get out of there when the beast was finally nothing but an ember in the woods. 

Her eyes went wide as claws tore into the man’s side. That was very bad. The scent of blood caught her nose. She was too focused on not getting murdered to keep her eyes from shifting hue. Red eyes stayed focused on the flaming, writhing mass in front of her. “Go on, I’ve got this.”

Sofie wasn’t certain if it was a lie or not. What she did know was that if he stood there, bleeding out and wounded while he tried to dodge blows, he wouldn’t survive the next few minutes. And she’d already died once before. And perhaps, in whatever small way, helping him might help to absolve her of the sin she hadn’t known she’d committed. 

She could do this. she could last a few more minutes.

Sofie dove out of the way of a set of teeth she couldn’t waste time to identify, whacking the head with the torch. She lit up a tree branch, ripping the branch from the limb as the leaves crackled and sparked. The beast let out a frustrated screech as it continued to be engulfed in flames. She took the branch and jabbed it at one of the heads, trying to get its eyes. The howl she heard served as confirmation that it worked. The flames grew higher and higher, and as the vampire dodged she noticed its attacks slow until it collapsed in a firey heap, unmoving. 

She ripped her sweater off, she followed her nose to find where the slayer had gone. She moved cautiously, as though she were approaching a wounded animal. Sofie held out her sweater. “To staunch the bleeding.”

____

“It’s not scary if you’re a grown up,” he snorted, half a joke. Most people didn’t find his humor particularly funny, but he still did. Maybe it was okay, sometimes, if you were the only person laughing at your jokes. Target audience and all that. 

He saw the familiar shift in her expression when the smell of his blood hit the air, though he’d learned not to worry about such things. A slayer’s blood wasn’t exactly what a vampire would consider a tasty snack, given the way it burned going down. Emilio had weaponized his more than once. Something told him he wouldn’t have to do so today, though. For all that he disliked her, he didn’t consider her a threat. Not anymore.

And, in any case, he was in no state to fight. He stumbled back without really waiting for her to confirm that she’d keep the fight going. Whether she did or didn’t, there wasn’t much he could do about it on his end. Either she’d run and he’d die, or she’d stay and he’d live. It was entirely out of his control.

It seemed she’d chosen the latter, though. Emilio forced himself to stay on his feet despite how badly his legs wanted to give way underneath him, watching her finish off the chimera with gritted teeth. When she turned to move towards him, he made an attempt to wave her off with a bloody arm. “I’m fine,” he snapped, letting his uninjured arm fall down to cradle his side. With his shirt already removed to make his torch, the wound was fully exposed. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it certainly wasn’t good. She had a point about needing to stop the bleeding.

Emilio glanced around, eyes falling on the burning corpse. Cauterizing it would be better than holding a sweater against it. He yanked out a knife, marching passed the vampire to hold the blade to the flames, stubbornly avoiding the alternative she was offering in the form of her sweater. 

—

Sofie raised an eyebrow. “No, you very clearly are not.” She said stubbornly. “You were just slashed up by whatever that was- the bear paw, if I’m not mistaken?” Despite the blood, she managed to get her eyes closer to brown than they had been moments before. Thank goodness she wasn’t particularly hungry… and she’d had a few centuries to have a modicum of self control. 

Alarm bells rang in her head as he moved toward the fire. She was no medical expert, but that would definitely hurt. And would still need bandaging. “Please just let me help you- I understand that you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself, but just take the sweater. So that the smell of you cooking doesn’t send more of it’s friends our way. 

The vampire held it out, her eyes pleading. It was worth a shot. “Besides, you should go to the hospital. If that wound goes deeper than you can cauterize, what are you going to do then? You’ll still bleed to death, even if you’re not leaving a trail. You can use this as a tourniquet.”

__________

“Sí, sí,” Emilio confirmed, “a bear paw. It’s a chimera. The…” He waved a hand at the smoldering corpse. If she’d killed it, she at least ought to know what it was, right? And besides, the conversation seemed to be shifting her back from her hunger pangs. Even if his blood wouldn’t taste great, he wasn’t looking to lose any to her hungry teeth. He was losing enough to the ground as it was. 

He stared at the fire and the knife turning red as she spoke, gritting his teeth against both the physical pain of the injury and the irritation in her concern. She wasn’t supposed to be worried about him. What was with the undead in this town? Her, the vampire nurse who kept trying to help him… Couldn’t any of them leave well enough alone? 

He laughed sharply at her suggestion of a hospital. “That isn’t going to happen.” Even if he wanted to go to a hospital, they’d ask questions he didn’t want to answer. Hospitals asked for things like insurance and social security numbers… neither of which Emilio had. After all the shit he’d been through, he wasn’t going to let something as silly as deportation be what sent him back to the country where everything wanted to be the thing to kill him. He continued holding the knife over the fire, but turned to shoot the vampire a quick glare. “If I take your sweater, you won’t mention the hospital again? I’m not going. And I don’t need to go. I’ve had worse than this on my own.” 

—

A chimera. The image of a beast with the head of a lion, a serpent for a tail, and a body that of a goat floated through her mind.  A thing of myth  from ancient times. Sofie looked back at the smoldering heap of limbs and faces that twisted into a hulking mass. None of it matched, and that was perhaps the only thing that reminded her of the old myths. So she supposed the name fit. 

She watched as the flame made the metal blade glow. Her frown grew by the second as he stood there, bleeding, and determined to fix it by causing himself more pain. There were better ways to fix it. 

She blinked, not expecting the final question. It seemed he was relenting. “I will stop talking about hospitals if you use the sweater as a tourniquet instead of burning yourself, yes.” Sofie lifted the soft fabric once more, holding it out as though it were a peace offering. “Here.”

_____

The fact that she was still here at all was something of a surprise. Making sure he didn’t die was one thing — strange, sure, but not entirely incomprehensible — but staying to chat afterwards? He’d made it pretty clear he didn’t care for her, and he was confident the feeling was a mutual one. So why was she watching him prepare to cauterize his wound with such concern? Why was she urging him to go to a hospital? Why was she handing him her damn sweater?

His nostrils flared in quiet frustration as he dropped the knife to his side, taking the metal away from the heat and letting the Maine air cool it again. “Fine,” he grumbled, removing the hand that was clasped over the wound to snatch the sweater from her. He pressed it against his bloody side with enough pressure to make him see stars, vision graying out for a moment before finding a new equilibrium. Emilio grunted, jaw tightly clenched. He refused to let the pain show on his face, though the way he’d paled certainly betrayed some discomfort.

Looking up at the vampire, he gestured to the sweater soaking up blood on his side as best he could without displacing it. “There. Happy? I’m ruining your pinche sweater for you.”

—

For as uneasy as she was around hunters, she was fairly confident that this man was not about to plunge a stake into her chest. The poor thing had more important things to worry about. Like the fact that a bear claw had torn into him. He paled as he pressed the sweater into his wound and Sofie watched him carefully. She wasn’t about to leave the man in the woods for dead. She wondered how difficult it would be to get the man back into town by her own in case he went down… perhaps Zane would be able to help with the man’s reluctance to go to the hospital. And Sofie certainly couldn’t blame him for that- if she went to a hospital, she’d turn into a walking experiment. 

“It is just a sweater.” She said calmly. “I can get a new one. It’s better to lose a sweater than it is for you to die. Do you think you can make it back to town, or shall I call for help?” It was a strange sort of calm. The sort that creeps in during emergencies, or times of uncertainty. But Sofie would gladly take calm over fear. 

———

At the thought of her calling for help — one of her contacts, most likely, since he doubted she’d trust any of his — Emilio’s heart kicked up a beat in a way he hated. Paranoia tore through his chest, whispering warnings in his ears. Trap. That’s a trap. She’ll call someone to finish the job so she can keep her hands clean. It was a nonsensical fear; if she wanted him dead, she would have just run and let the chimera do it. He reminded himself of as much, even if it was hard to do around his screaming mind.

“I can make it back,” he ground out, still pressing that sweater to his side. “Don’t call anyone.” He didn’t comment on the rest of her statement — that she’d rather lose her sweater than watch him die. He didn’t understand it. He didn’t understand a lot of things, these days. It was easier when the world was something black and white. There were times when Emilio still missed it.

—

She realized she still didn’t know the man’s name. He was bleeding in the woods since he had to contend with another person being present for a chimera attack. But then, maybe it was a good thing that someone else had been there. He’d gotten hurt, after all. If he hadn’t had backup, he might have died. Sofie took a step back, nodding. 

“I won’t call anyone… do you need a phone to call someone you know?” Of course he didn’t trust her, even if she hadn’t made a move to harm him. But she could still try to help. “I’m Sofie…” she wasn’t sure if a name would work. If an introduction would do something to humanize her. It was worth a shot…

_______

“I have a phone,” though he wasn’t sure who to call. Rhett, probably, though he was likely to complain even as he stitched Emilio up. Things with his brother still felt tense, uneasy. He couldn’t help but remember their fight in Mexico, when Rhett left and Emilio let him. Maybe Owen would be a better bet, or even Nora. Both were likely to mock him, but it would feel better than the stifling nature of Rhett’s concern, the kind of worry that could only come from someone who knew you a little too well. 

In all likelihood, he knew, he’d call no one at all. He’d go home and deal with his injuries the same way he always did, and they’d heal into messy scars a little slower than they might if he knew how to care for them properly. In any case, he didn’t want the vampire — didn’t want Sofie wasting either of their time with her concern. “Emilio,” he grunted in response. “I don’t think I’m giving you your sweater back.” There was no way all this blood was coming off, and it’d be a cruel trick to give her something covered in his blood when his blood would hurt her. Especially if she really was just trying to help. “Stay out of the woods,” he advised. “There are things out here scarier than you. They’ll kill you if you don’t know how to fight.”

—

“Alright,” she’d really done all she could. Especially since he’d reject all of her offers, save the sweater. At least he’d taken that much. It made her feel like she’d helped him at least a little. 

Sofie looked at the blood soaked fabric with a little shake of her head. “Like I said, it is just a sweater. It isn’t important. Throw it away. Keep it. Use it the next time you need a makeshift torch. It doesn’t matter. Life is more important than a sweater.” 

She was less afraid of him, now that he wasn’t a nameless shade stalking her on the streets at night. He had a name now. And a face. “That doesn’t surprise me… I am not so scary, I don’t think.” It was an attempt at a joke. The barest hint of a smile flickered on her face. “Do you want me to walk with you out of the woods? In case something catches the scent…” Sofie gestured to his side. He wasn’t in much of a shape to keep fighting. He could use someone to watch his back.

________

She wasn’t scary. That was the problem. People could stay in a house with men who would rip a toddler to shreds days later, could tell jokes with them and chat around the breakfast table, and they could do it all while being harmless. Emilio thought of Lucio, who’d never directly hurt anyone he loved but was responsible for all their deaths anyway. He thought of himself, not harmless by any stretch of the imagination, not even towards the people he’d never wanted to harm at all. 

He closed his eyes at her offer, feeling just as nauseous at the idea of walking alone as he did with the idea of being with someone. The options warred in his mind for a moment until he shook his head, letting his eyes slide open again. “No,” he replied. “I’m fine on my own.” If something caught the scent of his blood, it would kill him. But most days, Emilio felt dead already. What was the risk? “You should go.” She should have gone a while ago, before the chimera found them at all. She never should have been here to begin with.

—

She knew she should stay, but he wouldn’t want the help of a vampire. Sofie knew as much. She wouldn’t be trusting of a slayer holding out their hand and promising aid either. She nodded, taking a few steps back. “Be safe, Emilio.” There was no sarcasm, no ill will. 

Sofie disappeared into the woods, but she stayed nearby. Close enough that she could watch him as he made his way out of the woods. Close enough to intervene if he needed help. He might not accept her aid, but she couldn’t leave him wounded to fend for himself. It wouldn’t sit right with her conscience. She  He hadn’t left her to fend for herself with the chimera, so she owed him that much. 

——

He couldn’t tell her the same, couldn’t tell her to be safe when he still wasn’t sure how much he’d mean it. Emilio didn’t particularly like lying, even to people he disliked. So he only nodded, ducking his head and walking away. 

He could feel her following him, but it didn’t feel like a threat. More of a precaution; an attempt to make sure he’d actually get back to his apartment without getting himself killed in the meantime. It was a little irritating — he was fine, he didn’t need anyone, he was doing fine — but he knew she meant well. He paused when he finally stepped out of the woods and back to the edge of town, glancing behind him as if to prove some great accomplishment, as if to say I told you so. But wherever she was, she was out of sight. So Emilio sighed, still holding that bloodied sweater against his side, and trudged on. 

It was a beautiful clear evening. The sun had gone down, and a cool spring breeze blew in off the water. Sofie took in a deep breath, letting the cool salt air wrap her up in its embrace. It wasn’t often she missed home- her first home, to be specific. But since moving to Wicked’s Rest, she’d found that heading over to Harborside helped soothe the ache in her chest that pulled her hundreds of miles away. It was quiet out, not many people out and about. She supposed maybe it was still a bit too cold out, but if being a bit chilly hadn’t bothered her for the past two hundred seventy years, it likely wouldn’t start bothering her now. 

She’d decided to wander the boardwalk a bit further, down to the docks. It was an older section, and she wasn’t really paying attention to where she was stepping as she made her way to the edge to take in the view. Sofie was far too busy looking up at the night sky. And then her foot fell through a rotted board. 

The water was rushing up to meet her as she flailed, trying to grasp onto the dock as she fell. She had no such luck, and fell into the water with a tremendous splash. Down, down, down- the one good thing about this was that she wasn’t on the clock to get her head above water. She looked up as she let herself sink a moment, watching the moon ripple from beneath the waters surface, when she saw a flurry of motion coming toward her

________

Marcus was near the shoreline, attempting to meditate as best as he could. He had been much less focused as of late. The effects of being without his pelt were beginning to present themselves to him, and he knew that he needed to get it back in order to be his normal functional self again. Without it, Marcus felt as though he was incomplete, and losing more and more of himself with each passing day. It had been almost a month since his pelt was stolen, and it was only a matter of time before these symptoms became unmanageable. Already his muscles ached in a manner that could not be ignored. 

He tried once more to tune everything out and only focus on his breathing. Figuring out a plan to reclaim his pelt would only happen if he was focused. He was somewhat annoyed when a splashing sound broke his concentration, only for him to realize that someone may have fallen in. Marcus immediately got up and ran towards the shore to see if he could spot anybody in distress, but there was nothing. Not even any bubbles from somebody losing the last of their air. He thought this was strange, but decided to go into the water to investigate anyway. 

Marcus dove deeper under the surface of the water until he spotted her. A woman slowly sinking further into the deep. He figured she must have been about 1,500 feet away, a daunting swim for some. But he needed to get to her, and fast. Strangely, although she appeared both alive and conscious, she seemed to make no attempt to return to the surface and save herself in any way. Marcus figured this must have been because of the heavy looking clothing she was wearing, although the lack of air bubbles certainly did throw him off. 

With no time to dwell on the topic too much, he cut through the water with impressive speed. In a matter of only 20 seconds or so, he reached his target. He grabbed the woman by her underarms and, seemingly effortlessly, brought her back up to the surface. 

------------------------

A man. That was strange. What was stranger still was the speed at which Sofie watched him swim toward her. She’d let herself drift quite some way from the surface, just enjoying the way the lights danced above the surface, and the next thing she knew, a stranger was streaking through the water and attempting to drag her back up to the chilly evening above. She supposed she’d give him a hand- it was only polite since he seemed to think he was saving her. She kicked along, more in a rush to get the stranger some oxygen than she was for herself. It wasn’t as if she actually needed it.

They breached the surface, and she was sure to make a good show of drawing air into her lungs, coughing and sputtering as was befitting of someone who had recently taken an unexpected swim. She blinked rapidly, lifting a hand to swipe the water from her eyes so she could see better. “It just fell out from under me,” Sofie flailed an arm in the direction of the rotted board that now dangled off the edge of the dock, a chunk of it bobbing in the surf below. She grimaced as her waterlogged sleeve poured water off it. “It just fell- do they not do maintenance on these docks or something?” It was a fair question, and one that someone probably shouldn’t be asking after what could have been a very grave situation. 

Typically, she was a good swimmer, but the heavy knit of her sweater had become very water logged. Not to mention her very ruined shoes. While Sofie didn’t doubt she could make it back to sure on her own, the mystery man who had jumped in after her would probably get her there faster at the rate he swam. “I’m sorry, I should be thanking you.” She realized at once. It was very bad manners to not thank someone for rescuing you from drowning, even if you couldn’t drown. “Thank you-“ a well timed wave to the face cut her off. This time, Sofie sputtered for real. At least this up close and personal experience with the water had temporarily cured her of her homesickness. 

_______________

Marcus broke the surface and was pleased to see he still had the woman safely in his arms. He heard her mention the board of the dock seemed to just fall out from underneath her. He glanced at the wood and noted that it had begun to rot considerably. He cringed inwardly a bit, as this was something he probably should have spotted and brought to somebody’s attention already. He could only nod his head when the woman questioned the amount of maintenance that went into the dock. 

Marcus was relieved when he heard the woman thank him. Or, rather, begin to thank him. A massive wave cut her off, and he couldn’t help but laugh at her situation. He quickly stopped himself, hoping she hadn’t heard him and taken offense. After a rather rough swim back to shore, it wasn’t easy carrying another person and about 40 pounds of sopping wet clothes, they finally made it back to shore. 

He looked over at the woman and remarked “I have to apologize about the board, it’s a good thing I was here to step in. I’ll make sure someone knows to do a little maintenance around here. In the future, I’d advise not to get too close to the water in clothes that heavy. It’s like your whole outfit is actively trying to drown you”. It always baffled Marcus how normal humans seemed to underestimate how deadly the water could be to them. Of course, it held no danger to him, but he had heard of and seen many drownings first hand. 

“I’m Marcus, by the way” he said while extending a hand to the woman who looked a bit disheveled in her soaked clothing and runny makeup. He figured she probably wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries at this point but still figured it would be rude not to at least introduce himself to somebody after saving their life. 

-------------------------------------------------------------

She sputtered, her head coming back above water to hear laughter. Laughter. Sofie tried not to bristle at being the butt of a joke. A pathetic wet-cat mess being dragged back to shore by what she could only assume was a lifeguard with how well he swam. She supposed she’d see the humor in it when she wasn’t getting a mouthful of sea brine. 

“Well I wasn’t planning on going for a swim.” She knew it sounded petulant, but she didn’t care. “I was walking, and the sea decided to attack me.” Definitely petulant. Maybe it was because she had been thinking of days gone by when she was a much younger thing. Sofie hadn’t fallen in the water since she’d been a little girl, so the petulance was only fitting. 

“My outfit is protesting inhumane treatment.” Her shoes were destroyed, and given the slippery slide of seaweed against her heel as she walked ashore, one of them was also missing. He did have a point. Her clothing hung heavy around her, streams of water puddling onto the earth. Sofie began to ring her hair out, grumbling as her fingers caught in tangles. 

Her focus shifted back to the young man who had rather selflessly jumped in to rescue her. She mustered up a grateful smile. “I’m Sofie.” She sighed, setting her wet hair in a damp knot atop her head. “Thank you for coming in after me- how on earth did you learn to swim like that? I didn’t think we had any Olympic athletes in town.”

______

Marcus froze a bit, understanding he had been a bit sloppy. Of course, he was in pretty good shape and had a history in the navy, so being a naturally strong swimmer wouldn’t be unbelievable. It certainly wasn’t anything that would make the average person presume any supernatural involvement. 

He gave a smile and simply said “I’m far from an olympic athlete. Just did a lot of swimming growing up, and my time in the Navy definitely helped strengthen my swimming abilities too. We had to learn and train our bodies to move ourselves through the water wearing fatigues and heavy equipment. I’ve also had to go in and save a few drowning comrades in my time. Needless to say, you definitely picked the right person to drown in front of.” He looked again at the drenched woman, trying desperately to dry herself off. 

“I apologize that the sea decided to attack you so viciously. Old sailors would sometimes say that the ocean herself was possessed by a violent spirit who relishes in carrying souls to a watery grave. Waves lashing out as if they were fingers, pulling in whoever it can. Why it had such a problem with you in particular, I’m not quite sure.”He, of course, was trying to make some light-hearted conversation by adding in a little humor and history trivia. He decided to add some rationality to his point so the woman before him didn’t think he was crazy for actually believing a giant body of water had a mind of its own. “Of course that’s just what old sea dogs would say to each other to add a little spice to their journey. And to make the occasional shipwreck and drowning make a little more sense and be more bearable. You were probably just unlucky. I’m sure you’re miserable standing there soaking wet like that, is there anything else I can do to help you?” Marcus asked expectantly. He had saved the woman’s life yet she seemed more annoyed with him than anything. He didn’t want to end this whole ordeal on a bad note and genuinely wanted to make her more comfortable. 

------

She paused in her movements, inspecting him with a curious eye. She wasn’t so convinced that doing a lot of swimming would explain the way he’d cut through the water. The Navy- now that might explain it. But maybe… Sofie focused in on her senses, trying to discern what he smelled like through the salty evening air. There was still something salty about the way he smelled but there was something sweet about it too… Not quite as sweet as the fae, perhaps. Maybe a bit like saltwater taffy? Curious…

“I certainly did,” She finally allowed herself to smile a bit. She wasn’t annoyed with him, and the poor thing probably thought she was. Sofie was, however, very annoyed at whoever had constructed the dock, no matter how long ago the offending board had been nailed into place. “I can’t imagine swimming in clothing, let alone heavy equipment.” Out of the water, her clothing felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. Under the water it hadn’t been much better. 

She laughed, amused by the idea of it. The violent spirits of the sea would have been very disappointed to find that they couldn’t kill Sofie. It was hard to drown what already wasn’t breathing. The realization made her tense for a moment. Thank god he hadn’t tried to check her pulse. He would have been very confused by a walking talking woman with no pulse, and Sofie didn’t think she had it in her to ensure someone who had attempted to rescue a woman from drowning didn’t run off screaming about the walking dead. 

Looking down at herself she tried to assess what she might need. One bare foot on the ground made it glaringly apparent what the first desperate need was. Wet clothes could wait a bit- it wasn’t as though she could catch her death. “I don’t suppose you have a spare set of shoes lying about, do you?” Sofie asked with a sheepish smile.

-------------------------------------

Marcus looked at the woman before him. She certainly looked a complete mess. Now here she was, one foot bare, there was no way he could have just let her walk back home without offering her something to wear. 

“I don’t live too far, just up the road actually. I could give you a pair of mine to walk back in. Although I do have to warn you, they’ll look like clown shoes on you. But they should at least make do for the walk back home for you, just be sure to give them back after you’re done with them. And maybe make sure you get rid of any excess water in them before you give them back too”. While Marcus enjoyed the water, there was nothing worse than the constant squish with every step when trying to walk in waterlogged shoes. 

Before Sofie could respond, Marcus grabbed the woman in a fireman’s carry and seemingly effortlessly carried her up the road so she wouldn’t have to walk in bare feet. He was surprised with how light she felt, almost as if she were skin and bone. But from what he could tell, she looked like she was a healthy weight. Maybe he wasn’t getting weaker after all. He continued carrying the woman, who definitely seemed caught off guard by the action, for only a few minutes until they arrived at his home. There, he set her down and told her to wait just a moment before going inside to find a pair of shoes. He turned the porch light on for her, and noticed how pale she looked. Sure, she was drowning for a bit there, and didn’t seem like she saw much sun to begin with. But she seemed extremely pale, almost like a corpse. He gave a wary look to the woman before darting back into the house for the smallest pair of shoes he could find. 

-------------------------

“Clown shoes are preferable to no shoes, I suppose.” Sofie sighed, stooping to pull her lone remaining shoe off. “If they’re too waterlogged, I’ll buy you a new pair. It’s the least I can do for the water rescue.”

She let out a surprised yelp as her feet left the ground, her hands flying to grab purchase on Marcus’s shoulders so she wouldn’t fall. Sofie certainly hadn’t expected to get a free ride back to the man’s house. It wasn’t as though walking the way barefoot would have hurt her. But of course, he didn’t know that. When her feet hit the porch, she resumed her efforts to straighten herself out.

Sofie noticed him look at her just before he walked in. Almost assessing her… But there was something in his eyes that made it clear he knew something wasn’t right. She made a conscious effort to look as though she was shivering. Maybe if she played human a bit better, she could blend in. A human would be cold after the events of the evening, if not from the water, then from the shock. She made certain when he came back out she looked the part. “Thank you again, it’s very kind of you.

___________

Marcus could sense something wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t place his finger on it. A woman, fully conscious, making no attempt to swim up and save herself or even releasing any sort of breath while apparently drowning. Dressed in period clothing and pale as a sheet. Either she was trying very hard to emulate an18th century French aristocrat, or she was an 18th century French aristocrat. But that was impossible, right? He couldn’t tell. So much crazy shit had already happened to him since coming to this town he wouldn’t question it if his damsel in distress turned out to be more than she appeared. 

It didn’t quite matter at the moment. She was cold, barefoot, soaking wet, and in need of some help. She clearly didn’t pose any kind of threat to him. He set his mind back on the task of finding a pair of shoes for her. He didn’t have much in the way of spare clothes to give. When he jumped ship, he only had the clothes on his back with him, and he hadn’t been able to buy very much since arriving in town since that also left him with no money. He found a pair of boots with a high back, figuring they’re much less likely to slip off of her feet. It would just be very awkward trying to walk in them. Oh well, he figured, beggars couldn’t be choosers and it wasn’t like he had much better to offer anyway. 

He made his way back towards the front door, pleased to see his guest still standing outside where he left her. He was sure the temptation was probably strong for her to peek her head through the threshold and look around, it was a natural inclination for most people to be a little bit nosy. However, she stood stock still, giving somewhat exaggerated shivers every now and then. Funny, he thought, I don’t think she was doing that before. He decided to run a little experiment. 

He approached the threshold of the door and held out the shoes in his hands, but still inside of the home. For a normal person, this would be a minor inconvenience, having to reach their body partially inside of the house to grab the shoes. But if she was what he thought she was, then that fact would quickly make itself obvious. One thing about selkies is that they have very rich blood, which makes them a target of many different predatory creatures. One of the most dangerous of these predators being vampires. For his own survival, he had learned how to identify one and evade them properly. He wasn’t entirely convinced she was one yet, but he did figure a little testing couldn’t hurt. 

------------------------------------------------------

She watched out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes trained ahead, Sofie kept glancing back to see if anything had changed. To see if they’d returned with shoes in hand. And she silently swore to herself as she watched his hand stop just short of the threshold of his house. 

She kept her gaze away from the door for a long few moments, just waiting. Maybe he would come closer. Maybe he’d step just outside. Maybe he’d turn away and she could vanish into the night. Unfortunately for Sofie, none of the hypothetical scenarios she tried to will into existence came to pass. 

The vampire turned as though she heard a creak of the floorboards. She flickered her eyes from the shoes, to the floor, to her still dripping wet frame. “I don’t want to get your floor wet.” She said apologetically. 

_____

A reasonable enough explanation, Marcus thought. But still, it wasn’t like she’d get his floor wet reaching a hand just past the threshold of the door. Still, rather than be overly rude with the woman and push the issue further, he figured he had all the intel that he needed. She clearly wasn’t in the mood to hurt him at that point, and he was already safely in his home. He’d need to be wary of her in the future, but for now he was safe to let the poor soaked woman go.