You saved me (6/?)
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.
AN: I haven't re-watched the second season so I know I'm taking many liberties and making up a ton of things. But anyways, this is not intended to be clinically accurate but to give us an idea of what could have been.
Don't be shy and leave a comment. Tell me what you think and what you don't like, that will surely encourage me to keep on writing.
Thanks to everyone who has commented so far and shared your wonderful ideas with me.
---
"Oh my god! Where were you I was worried sick!" George's shriek welcomed them to the house as he ran down the stairs in his robe.
"Were you really George? I came home and she was going out and you didn't even notice us leaving. Was Nina showing you too much of a good time?" Mitchell was suddenly consumed with exasperation, taking out on his friend all the emotions of the night: from work, to Annie, to vampire politics.
"Ahem…" Nina cleared her throat coming down the stairs in a more natural manner, fully clothed as opposed to her boyfriend.
"Sorry. I didn't see you there Nina…" Mitchell apologized and turned back to his friend. "But it was irresponsible!"
"I'm sorry, I thought we were supposed to be in the house, not that we had to have her in a 24-hour watch!"
"I'm here you know? You don't have to refer to me as 'her' when I am present. I am ghost but I do not appreciate being ignored!" Annie yelled getting her friends' attention.
"Well, that was serious!" Mitchell turned to justify himself.
"And everything was fine." Annie reminded him crossing her arms over her chest.
"Everything? Really? You call that fine?" Mitchell was now closer to Annie.
"Stop right there Mitchell. 'That' was about you, not about me." She said poking his chest with her finger. "No ghosts, no doors. That was just your garden variety vampire problem." Annie countered.
"That? Vampires? Can we drop the comedy act for a minute and tell George, your housemate, what the hell happened?" George intervened.
"Sweetie, please do not refer to yourself in the third person. It's not attractive." Nina asked coldly.
"Nina!" he replied looking offended in the direction of his girlfriend before turning back to his friends.
"What is Annie talking about Mitchell?" He asked placing his hand on Mitchell's shoulder.
"I would have preferred to keep this from George, Annie." Mitchell said turning his face slightly and opening his eyes wider signalling something to Annie.
"Keep what for me?" George asked pulling him to look at him.
"Oh, you can't be serious." Said Annie. "This directly affects him. It affects us all. It even affects Nina."
"Mitchell?" George pressed.
"Alright…We ran into a vampire I knew from some decades ago. Herrick banished him because he was a loose cannon, that's all in a nutshell." Mitchell voice was attempting at lessening the importance of what had just taken place.
"Oh, that is nice to know. If Herrick, of all people, banished him for being a 'loose cannon' I can't imagine what it means in normal people terms. Did he have a some sort of problem with you?"
"Ah, yes… no… not much more than with anyone else under Herrick." Mitchell replied shrugging.
"Tell him Mitchell." Annie added and Mitchell stared at her visibly displeased before giving in and explaining to George and Nina.
"He heard about Herrick and he came back. I guess everyone else Herrick crossed also figured out that Bristol isn't under any sort of administration. Vampire administration, that is. Power is up for grabs."
"And what would anyone have to do to take said power?" George asked needing to hear out loud what he was already guessing.
"George…" Mitchell looked down.
"Mitchell I think I can take it."
"Well, in vampire terms it would mean to defeat whoever else is a contender… And…"
"And?" Nina prodded now.
"And take out whoever killed the last one in charge."
It was all out in the open now.
"So… They're coming for me."
"It doesn't have to be that way. You are not a vampire, and you're not asking for Herrick's territory." Mitchell added.
"But it would make a nice demonstration. Wouldn't it?" George was smiling that sad grin he had every time he remembered his curse. His hands were on his head and Nina hugged him burying her head in his chest.
"I guess it would."
"Oh, George." Nina sighed.
"I won't let them." Mitchell said in control.
"Could we not have five minutes of happiness around here? So just this month we've had retaliating ghosts and now vampires." George added.
"Just to make sure. There is not a werewolf mafia going to come and knock on the door, right?" Nina asked.
"We can only hope." Annie replied.
"What happened with the vampire?" George asked turning back.
"Vampires." Annie added nonchalantly.
"I beg your pardon?" George inquired.
"It was two of them." Annie explained.
"Two? Mitchell?"
"I only knew Arthur. The other one, the girl, she must be young. She came with him." His friend explained.
"And what happened?" Nina asked still close to George.
"I took care of Arthur."
"Is he…?"
"No. I threatened him. He won't be coming after you, or Nina, or Annie." Mitchell reassured his friends.
"You mean he won't be coming after your property." Annie added remembering her prior dislike of Mitchell's choice of words.
"Yes, Annie, he won't be coming after my property." Mitchell said exasperated. "I'm sorry it offended you, but those are terms vampires can understand. It doesn't make quite the same impression to ask 'Oh, by the way, would you terribly mind not killing my BFFs?'" His voice was now higher and he was throwing his arms in the air.
"Oh, you… stupid vampire." Was all that Annie could say. Meanwhile she pursed her lips and decided to get her point across without words.
A vase burst.
"Jesus Christ!" Mitchell yelled ducking to avoid the shards.
"Annie! And then you wonder why we can't have nice things around here. You have to learn to control yourself." George admonished her.
"Oh, do not get me started wolf boy. That wasn't me losing control. I fully intended for that to happen. Notice it was the one closest to Mitchell." She said lifting her hand in direction of the vampire.
"That reminds me. What was that back there?" Mitchell said remembering Annie's better poltergeist accuracy.
"What do you mean?" George inquired with his interest piqued.
"Annie took out that Holly girl with a rubbish bin." Mitchell explained.
"Annie?"
"Oh, that trashy girl came charging at me. And I was already mad. That friend of yours had quite the potty mouth. I may be a lady but I'm no pushover." She explained.
"So, Mitchell. What do you suggest we can do?" Nina asked.
"We're not going to do anything Nina." George said.
"Well, of course we have to do something. They want to get you." Nina replied.
"I'm going to take care of it. I promise you George will be fine Nina." Mitchell promised.
"And how do you plan to do that?" Annie asked lifting one eyebrow.
"I need to go to the undertakers." He said avoiding his friends' gaze anticipating already their dislike of the idea.
"Oh, hell no." Annie screamed.
"Do you think that is a good idea mate?" George seconded.
"That is the only way."
"Going directly into the lions' den? Excuse me, but that is mental." Annie added.
"There is much more at stake right now. You three are my priority, but without Herrick there are many more liabilities. Without any structure humans are at greater risk."
"Well, I don't think you should be going there. And I'm putting my foot down." Annie said crossing her arms again.
"Unfortunately love, it's not your decision to make." He said looking directly into her eyes.
"Oh, do not 'love' me John Mitchell. I do not appreciate your condescending tone. And just like that? You will not consider our opinion?"
"Do you agree with her?" Mitchell said looking towards George.
"I rather you didn't go, yes." He responded.
"Well, I'm old enough to make my own decisions." He said avoiding their stare again.
"And I'm not?" Annie asked baffled.
"What do you mean?" He asked truly confused.
"So before it was, 'who let Annie out of her cage? Don't you know she's 12 and useless?'"
"You're over dramatizing. This is not a prison and I'm not your jail keeper."
"But I do get told what I can and cannot do, isn't that right?"
"Annie… We didn't mean that. It was for your own good." George tried to appease her.
"And I appreciated you being with me while I was scared, but I'm not anymore, and you still tell me what to do."
"You were going out on your own anyways." George added.
"Oh, you guys are infuriating." She popped out while a discarded mug exploded.
"Really mature." George said calmly.
"I can still hear you! And yes, I meant for that as well." Annie yelled from upstairs.
Nina slapped George on the head.
"Nina!" His voice was now at its highest.
"And that goes for you too Mitchell." She said pointing at him.
"Really Nina, this is none of your business. You don't understand what's going on here."
"Oh, I understand fully well what you're doing to that girl. I have two eyes."
"What do you mean?" The vampire asked confused and not too innocently.
"You both treat her like she's some kind of bizarre Tim Burtonesque undead Snow White! And don't give me that look. She's in the kitchen early in the morning making you breakfast before you two go to work while she tidies the house. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't see you off at the door with a kiss on the forehead and your lunch in a paper bag. What do you think she does all day? That she sings and the birds and squirrels help her wash your pants? And what do you do in return? You leave her warning her: 'Don't open the door to strangers dear, unless it is a creepy old lady giving away dodgy apples!' and then what? You march down your merry way."
"We do not do that… much." George said.
"It is time you both realize that she's not your daughter, she's not your mother, she's not your little sister and she's definitely not your wife. I should get going now." She said sighing at the end of her rant.
"Nina, I rather you stayed here. With everything Mitchell said… I don't want anything happening to you… That is if you agree of course." He added fearful.
"I'm not in the mood to fight with you George. I'll stay just because it's quite late and I'm knackered."
The three of them went up the stairs to the bedrooms. Mitchell walked past Annie's room and hesitated while reaching for the knob.
"Give her time Mitchell." George advised.
And so he went to his room to think.
--
Annie heard them going to bed. She could hear Nina and George's muffled voices, she couldn't make out their words but the tone alone let her know that those were the words of a couple in love, worried about their future and comforting each other with kisses and caresses.
She felt lonely and dead.
She had also sensed Mitchell's hand on the doorknob before George told him to give her time.
It had been both relieving and disappointing.
Their relationship had been changing a lot. And no longer she could fool herself into thinking they were just friends. She had been remembering: his taste, his voice when it got low, the texture of his stubble against her sensitive skin, his presence in her.
And then there were the other daydreams, the 'what if's and the promise of a non-existent future.
Because she had no future and neither did he.
The future had been the place where she lived during most of the conscious hours of her very short life. The future had been the refuge while her reality with Owen didn't match the script in her mind.
Living in the future meant that she didn't have time to live in the present nor in the harsh reality of Owen's true self.
And now she couldn't afford living in the future because it didn't exist anymore. Sure, it looked like she was going to be around for a while now. But eternity had that nagging habit of forcing you to live one day at a time.
Mitchell didn't think of the future, she was sure of it. He didn't live on his past either.
What was the point to think of those ghosts then?
She realized that her obsession with the future in her mind, of how things ought to be was one of her worse traits.
She had that nagging habit of creating prisons in her mind where she caged those she loved.
The thought caught in her throat.
Owen's voice hissed in her ear.
She was poison.
She made people do horrible things. And it was because in her mind she had to put together a reality so perfect, so unreal that life, true life had to become hell. Oh, she had started falling back into her old habits. Looking at him and grinning, needing his touch all the time. Imagining that her opinion would be law to him.
It didn't even matter.
She knew that she couldn't do that. Not anymore.
Mitchell cared for her. Loved her even in some way.
She was sure of that.
But she was a burden, she was a responsibility.
A nice pet.
Someone to look after, to save.
Maybe even to find redemption.
They had such a great friendship and she had tarnished it.
They had too much at stake right now and she couldn't let that get in the way.
'That' being her non-beating heart.
--
"Morning." Annie said to George as she came into the kitchen. He was already having his breakfast and reading the paper.
"Morning Annie. Are you feeling okay? You are normally up and about a lot earlier than anybody else."
"I'm only up and about early because I don't go to sleep George." She said sadly.
"You know what I mean Annie. Were you in your room?" George asked worried at her unusual melancholy.
"Yes. I didn't feel my normal sunny self."
"Listen, I'm sorry Annie. Nina was kind enough to open our eyes last night. We get so out of line when it comes to you. You are a wonderful, strong, grown woman who is more than capable of taking care of herself. That been said, we love you to pieces. I love you to pieces and we are petrified that you may leave us. We'd be going mental without you."
"Because you wouldn't know where the ironing board is? You should really consider it George. You'd never run out of tea nor have to wash so many mugs." She said as she poured hot water from the kettle into a mug not worried of making the tea. She didn't even feel like going through that pantomime. She just wanted the warm on her hands this morning.
"I'm not joking silly." George said placing his hand on her arm reassuringly.
"I know." She said smiling sadly.
A little tear escaped her eye.
"Where is everybody else? Are they gone? I didn't hear anyone mocking our corniness." She said wiping away the stray tear quickly.
"Nina left early, with tonight and everything, she needed to check on her place before work."
"Time of the month?" She asked.
"Yes, tonight. We get to deal with our own supernatural burden. Mitchell left as well. I guess you know where to. Listen Annie, I have work today and at night… But I can make sure I come by before, to check on you… Only if you want of course."
"I'm okay George. I really appreciate it but you don't have to, you already have too much on your plate as it is." She left her mug on the table and placed the other hand on top of George's.
"Mitchell should be back before it gets dark." He added.
"I can take care of myself George. Like you said, I'm a big girl." She said letting go and going back to her cup and looking away from her friend. "Just to be safe I won't go out. And anyways, I'm getting the hang of the poltergeist thingy. I think I'll practice more. I sense we'll have more vampire confrontations in our future."
"Along with another trip to Ikea to buy more mugs and vases?" George asked nudging her to make her smile.
"The type of problems we always have warrant a few broken pieces, don't they? And besides, we make such a kicking ass fighting team." She said now smiling properly.
"The world gayest ninjas strike back?" He said mimicking her grin.
"Oh lord." She said laughing now.
"Thank god for Mitchell then." George added making the hollow in her chest return.
"I guess…" She said looking out the window.
--
For having spent close to two years of her non-life devoid of most human physical feelings it seemed to Annie that lately her mind had been quite busy filling in the gaps of stimuli and giving her ghost sensations. She wondered if it was like what they say about amputees feeling pain from their missing limbs. There were a number of feelings and symptoms of humanity she had been experiencing quite a lot recently: stomach butterflies, blinding headaches from worrying too much, that horrible feeling you get when air gets sucked out of your lungs, the dizziness you experience when you come to a terrible realization, the sleeplessness of unrequited love… Or maybe that last one wasn't necessarily something new. 'How can any ghost figure out if they're losing sleep because they spend their time figuring out what are all those conflicting emotions they have for a certain someone when you don't really need to sleep?' She wondered.
That's what she had done to make time pass: an inventory of all the new things she had started doing since her death, and of all the new feelings and experiences.
She decided that while death was clinical with the rigidity of all the things she couldn't do, humanity was complicated and complicating.
It had been one long day she spent alone thinking, it was already night time and the full moon was hanging proud in the sky. She silently said a prayer for George and Nina, who at the very same time were going through their horrible monthly death. The other side of her heart meanwhile had been worried sick about Mitchell who hadn't come nor called.
The door finally slammed shut downstairs around midnight. She chose to walk instead of using her powers because of her fear of the state he would be in. By the time she came out of her room he was at the top of the stairs.
His eyes were still black and he had a smudge of dried up blood on his jaw.
He looked at her, and despite the darkness of his eyes, she sensed his desperation as he extended a hand for her.
AN: I haven't re-watched the second season so I know I'm taking many liberties and making up a ton of things. But anyways, this is not intended to be clinically accurate but to give us an idea of what could have been.
Don't be shy and leave a comment. Tell me what you think and what you don't like, that will surely encourage me to keep on writing.
Thanks to everyone who has commented so far and shared your wonderful ideas with me.
---
"Oh my god! Where were you I was worried sick!" George's shriek welcomed them to the house as he ran down the stairs in his robe.
"Were you really George? I came home and she was going out and you didn't even notice us leaving. Was Nina showing you too much of a good time?" Mitchell was suddenly consumed with exasperation, taking out on his friend all the emotions of the night: from work, to Annie, to vampire politics.
"Ahem…" Nina cleared her throat coming down the stairs in a more natural manner, fully clothed as opposed to her boyfriend.
"Sorry. I didn't see you there Nina…" Mitchell apologized and turned back to his friend. "But it was irresponsible!"
"I'm sorry, I thought we were supposed to be in the house, not that we had to have her in a 24-hour watch!"
"I'm here you know? You don't have to refer to me as 'her' when I am present. I am ghost but I do not appreciate being ignored!" Annie yelled getting her friends' attention.
"Well, that was serious!" Mitchell turned to justify himself.
"And everything was fine." Annie reminded him crossing her arms over her chest.
"Everything? Really? You call that fine?" Mitchell was now closer to Annie.
"Stop right there Mitchell. 'That' was about you, not about me." She said poking his chest with her finger. "No ghosts, no doors. That was just your garden variety vampire problem." Annie countered.
"That? Vampires? Can we drop the comedy act for a minute and tell George, your housemate, what the hell happened?" George intervened.
"Sweetie, please do not refer to yourself in the third person. It's not attractive." Nina asked coldly.
"Nina!" he replied looking offended in the direction of his girlfriend before turning back to his friends.
"What is Annie talking about Mitchell?" He asked placing his hand on Mitchell's shoulder.
"I would have preferred to keep this from George, Annie." Mitchell said turning his face slightly and opening his eyes wider signalling something to Annie.
"Keep what for me?" George asked pulling him to look at him.
"Oh, you can't be serious." Said Annie. "This directly affects him. It affects us all. It even affects Nina."
"Mitchell?" George pressed.
"Alright…We ran into a vampire I knew from some decades ago. Herrick banished him because he was a loose cannon, that's all in a nutshell." Mitchell voice was attempting at lessening the importance of what had just taken place.
"Oh, that is nice to know. If Herrick, of all people, banished him for being a 'loose cannon' I can't imagine what it means in normal people terms. Did he have a some sort of problem with you?"
"Ah, yes… no… not much more than with anyone else under Herrick." Mitchell replied shrugging.
"Tell him Mitchell." Annie added and Mitchell stared at her visibly displeased before giving in and explaining to George and Nina.
"He heard about Herrick and he came back. I guess everyone else Herrick crossed also figured out that Bristol isn't under any sort of administration. Vampire administration, that is. Power is up for grabs."
"And what would anyone have to do to take said power?" George asked needing to hear out loud what he was already guessing.
"George…" Mitchell looked down.
"Mitchell I think I can take it."
"Well, in vampire terms it would mean to defeat whoever else is a contender… And…"
"And?" Nina prodded now.
"And take out whoever killed the last one in charge."
It was all out in the open now.
"So… They're coming for me."
"It doesn't have to be that way. You are not a vampire, and you're not asking for Herrick's territory." Mitchell added.
"But it would make a nice demonstration. Wouldn't it?" George was smiling that sad grin he had every time he remembered his curse. His hands were on his head and Nina hugged him burying her head in his chest.
"I guess it would."
"Oh, George." Nina sighed.
"I won't let them." Mitchell said in control.
"Could we not have five minutes of happiness around here? So just this month we've had retaliating ghosts and now vampires." George added.
"Just to make sure. There is not a werewolf mafia going to come and knock on the door, right?" Nina asked.
"We can only hope." Annie replied.
"What happened with the vampire?" George asked turning back.
"Vampires." Annie added nonchalantly.
"I beg your pardon?" George inquired.
"It was two of them." Annie explained.
"Two? Mitchell?"
"I only knew Arthur. The other one, the girl, she must be young. She came with him." His friend explained.
"And what happened?" Nina asked still close to George.
"I took care of Arthur."
"Is he…?"
"No. I threatened him. He won't be coming after you, or Nina, or Annie." Mitchell reassured his friends.
"You mean he won't be coming after your property." Annie added remembering her prior dislike of Mitchell's choice of words.
"Yes, Annie, he won't be coming after my property." Mitchell said exasperated. "I'm sorry it offended you, but those are terms vampires can understand. It doesn't make quite the same impression to ask 'Oh, by the way, would you terribly mind not killing my BFFs?'" His voice was now higher and he was throwing his arms in the air.
"Oh, you… stupid vampire." Was all that Annie could say. Meanwhile she pursed her lips and decided to get her point across without words.
A vase burst.
"Jesus Christ!" Mitchell yelled ducking to avoid the shards.
"Annie! And then you wonder why we can't have nice things around here. You have to learn to control yourself." George admonished her.
"Oh, do not get me started wolf boy. That wasn't me losing control. I fully intended for that to happen. Notice it was the one closest to Mitchell." She said lifting her hand in direction of the vampire.
"That reminds me. What was that back there?" Mitchell said remembering Annie's better poltergeist accuracy.
"What do you mean?" George inquired with his interest piqued.
"Annie took out that Holly girl with a rubbish bin." Mitchell explained.
"Annie?"
"Oh, that trashy girl came charging at me. And I was already mad. That friend of yours had quite the potty mouth. I may be a lady but I'm no pushover." She explained.
"So, Mitchell. What do you suggest we can do?" Nina asked.
"We're not going to do anything Nina." George said.
"Well, of course we have to do something. They want to get you." Nina replied.
"I'm going to take care of it. I promise you George will be fine Nina." Mitchell promised.
"And how do you plan to do that?" Annie asked lifting one eyebrow.
"I need to go to the undertakers." He said avoiding his friends' gaze anticipating already their dislike of the idea.
"Oh, hell no." Annie screamed.
"Do you think that is a good idea mate?" George seconded.
"That is the only way."
"Going directly into the lions' den? Excuse me, but that is mental." Annie added.
"There is much more at stake right now. You three are my priority, but without Herrick there are many more liabilities. Without any structure humans are at greater risk."
"Well, I don't think you should be going there. And I'm putting my foot down." Annie said crossing her arms again.
"Unfortunately love, it's not your decision to make." He said looking directly into her eyes.
"Oh, do not 'love' me John Mitchell. I do not appreciate your condescending tone. And just like that? You will not consider our opinion?"
"Do you agree with her?" Mitchell said looking towards George.
"I rather you didn't go, yes." He responded.
"Well, I'm old enough to make my own decisions." He said avoiding their stare again.
"And I'm not?" Annie asked baffled.
"What do you mean?" He asked truly confused.
"So before it was, 'who let Annie out of her cage? Don't you know she's 12 and useless?'"
"You're over dramatizing. This is not a prison and I'm not your jail keeper."
"But I do get told what I can and cannot do, isn't that right?"
"Annie… We didn't mean that. It was for your own good." George tried to appease her.
"And I appreciated you being with me while I was scared, but I'm not anymore, and you still tell me what to do."
"You were going out on your own anyways." George added.
"Oh, you guys are infuriating." She popped out while a discarded mug exploded.
"Really mature." George said calmly.
"I can still hear you! And yes, I meant for that as well." Annie yelled from upstairs.
Nina slapped George on the head.
"Nina!" His voice was now at its highest.
"And that goes for you too Mitchell." She said pointing at him.
"Really Nina, this is none of your business. You don't understand what's going on here."
"Oh, I understand fully well what you're doing to that girl. I have two eyes."
"What do you mean?" The vampire asked confused and not too innocently.
"You both treat her like she's some kind of bizarre Tim Burtonesque undead Snow White! And don't give me that look. She's in the kitchen early in the morning making you breakfast before you two go to work while she tidies the house. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't see you off at the door with a kiss on the forehead and your lunch in a paper bag. What do you think she does all day? That she sings and the birds and squirrels help her wash your pants? And what do you do in return? You leave her warning her: 'Don't open the door to strangers dear, unless it is a creepy old lady giving away dodgy apples!' and then what? You march down your merry way."
"We do not do that… much." George said.
"It is time you both realize that she's not your daughter, she's not your mother, she's not your little sister and she's definitely not your wife. I should get going now." She said sighing at the end of her rant.
"Nina, I rather you stayed here. With everything Mitchell said… I don't want anything happening to you… That is if you agree of course." He added fearful.
"I'm not in the mood to fight with you George. I'll stay just because it's quite late and I'm knackered."
The three of them went up the stairs to the bedrooms. Mitchell walked past Annie's room and hesitated while reaching for the knob.
"Give her time Mitchell." George advised.
And so he went to his room to think.
--
Annie heard them going to bed. She could hear Nina and George's muffled voices, she couldn't make out their words but the tone alone let her know that those were the words of a couple in love, worried about their future and comforting each other with kisses and caresses.
She felt lonely and dead.
She had also sensed Mitchell's hand on the doorknob before George told him to give her time.
It had been both relieving and disappointing.
Their relationship had been changing a lot. And no longer she could fool herself into thinking they were just friends. She had been remembering: his taste, his voice when it got low, the texture of his stubble against her sensitive skin, his presence in her.
And then there were the other daydreams, the 'what if's and the promise of a non-existent future.
Because she had no future and neither did he.
The future had been the place where she lived during most of the conscious hours of her very short life. The future had been the refuge while her reality with Owen didn't match the script in her mind.
Living in the future meant that she didn't have time to live in the present nor in the harsh reality of Owen's true self.
And now she couldn't afford living in the future because it didn't exist anymore. Sure, it looked like she was going to be around for a while now. But eternity had that nagging habit of forcing you to live one day at a time.
Mitchell didn't think of the future, she was sure of it. He didn't live on his past either.
What was the point to think of those ghosts then?
She realized that her obsession with the future in her mind, of how things ought to be was one of her worse traits.
She had that nagging habit of creating prisons in her mind where she caged those she loved.
The thought caught in her throat.
Owen's voice hissed in her ear.
She was poison.
She made people do horrible things. And it was because in her mind she had to put together a reality so perfect, so unreal that life, true life had to become hell. Oh, she had started falling back into her old habits. Looking at him and grinning, needing his touch all the time. Imagining that her opinion would be law to him.
It didn't even matter.
She knew that she couldn't do that. Not anymore.
Mitchell cared for her. Loved her even in some way.
She was sure of that.
But she was a burden, she was a responsibility.
A nice pet.
Someone to look after, to save.
Maybe even to find redemption.
They had such a great friendship and she had tarnished it.
They had too much at stake right now and she couldn't let that get in the way.
'That' being her non-beating heart.
--
"Morning." Annie said to George as she came into the kitchen. He was already having his breakfast and reading the paper.
"Morning Annie. Are you feeling okay? You are normally up and about a lot earlier than anybody else."
"I'm only up and about early because I don't go to sleep George." She said sadly.
"You know what I mean Annie. Were you in your room?" George asked worried at her unusual melancholy.
"Yes. I didn't feel my normal sunny self."
"Listen, I'm sorry Annie. Nina was kind enough to open our eyes last night. We get so out of line when it comes to you. You are a wonderful, strong, grown woman who is more than capable of taking care of herself. That been said, we love you to pieces. I love you to pieces and we are petrified that you may leave us. We'd be going mental without you."
"Because you wouldn't know where the ironing board is? You should really consider it George. You'd never run out of tea nor have to wash so many mugs." She said as she poured hot water from the kettle into a mug not worried of making the tea. She didn't even feel like going through that pantomime. She just wanted the warm on her hands this morning.
"I'm not joking silly." George said placing his hand on her arm reassuringly.
"I know." She said smiling sadly.
A little tear escaped her eye.
"Where is everybody else? Are they gone? I didn't hear anyone mocking our corniness." She said wiping away the stray tear quickly.
"Nina left early, with tonight and everything, she needed to check on her place before work."
"Time of the month?" She asked.
"Yes, tonight. We get to deal with our own supernatural burden. Mitchell left as well. I guess you know where to. Listen Annie, I have work today and at night… But I can make sure I come by before, to check on you… Only if you want of course."
"I'm okay George. I really appreciate it but you don't have to, you already have too much on your plate as it is." She left her mug on the table and placed the other hand on top of George's.
"Mitchell should be back before it gets dark." He added.
"I can take care of myself George. Like you said, I'm a big girl." She said letting go and going back to her cup and looking away from her friend. "Just to be safe I won't go out. And anyways, I'm getting the hang of the poltergeist thingy. I think I'll practice more. I sense we'll have more vampire confrontations in our future."
"Along with another trip to Ikea to buy more mugs and vases?" George asked nudging her to make her smile.
"The type of problems we always have warrant a few broken pieces, don't they? And besides, we make such a kicking ass fighting team." She said now smiling properly.
"The world gayest ninjas strike back?" He said mimicking her grin.
"Oh lord." She said laughing now.
"Thank god for Mitchell then." George added making the hollow in her chest return.
"I guess…" She said looking out the window.
--
For having spent close to two years of her non-life devoid of most human physical feelings it seemed to Annie that lately her mind had been quite busy filling in the gaps of stimuli and giving her ghost sensations. She wondered if it was like what they say about amputees feeling pain from their missing limbs. There were a number of feelings and symptoms of humanity she had been experiencing quite a lot recently: stomach butterflies, blinding headaches from worrying too much, that horrible feeling you get when air gets sucked out of your lungs, the dizziness you experience when you come to a terrible realization, the sleeplessness of unrequited love… Or maybe that last one wasn't necessarily something new. 'How can any ghost figure out if they're losing sleep because they spend their time figuring out what are all those conflicting emotions they have for a certain someone when you don't really need to sleep?' She wondered.
That's what she had done to make time pass: an inventory of all the new things she had started doing since her death, and of all the new feelings and experiences.
She decided that while death was clinical with the rigidity of all the things she couldn't do, humanity was complicated and complicating.
It had been one long day she spent alone thinking, it was already night time and the full moon was hanging proud in the sky. She silently said a prayer for George and Nina, who at the very same time were going through their horrible monthly death. The other side of her heart meanwhile had been worried sick about Mitchell who hadn't come nor called.
The door finally slammed shut downstairs around midnight. She chose to walk instead of using her powers because of her fear of the state he would be in. By the time she came out of her room he was at the top of the stairs.
His eyes were still black and he had a smudge of dried up blood on his jaw.
He looked at her, and despite the darkness of his eyes, she sensed his desperation as he extended a hand for her.