The Augury, chapter 2:
This is the second chapter of a collaboration fic called 'The Augury'. The idea is that each chapter is written by someone different, and this is my contribution. HUGE credit to hermyam for thinking the whole thing up, and for her wonderful first chapter!
Here's the link to ch. 1:
http://hermyam.livejournal.com/4323.html
(Teensy spoiler for 5:55)
Henry knew that she was hesitating. He looked down at the street below before turning to face her. He seemed tired, and he held himself with less of the confidence and assurance that he usually displayed. Vicki looked between the owl and the vampire, wondering what it was she was there for.
“So, you called?” She tried for light and airy, hoping to seem casual.
“Yes. Maybe we should sit down.” At this particular moment the owl swiveled its head around to glance at Henry. If any signal passed between them Vicki didn’t catch it, but the owl suddenly took flight, soaring up and away from the balcony into the night sky.
“Vick, there’s something that I need to talk to you about, and before I start I need to know that you’re not going to…Just hear me out, ok?”
She nodded, looking slightly confused; what was going on? And why was Henry being so…serious?
“I don’t know if you’re familiar with the mythology surrounding owls? Well, they’re often associated with death, and it’s told in some cultures that if you’re visited by an owl that it foretells that you’re going to die. These myths, as is often the case, are based on truths…The owl, out on the balcony, is an old friend of mine. I had thought she would be gone by the time you arrived…She is a sort of seer, in a sense, and she saw…” He paused, allowing the realization to sink in for her before he had to actually say it aloud, “my death.” He saw the finality of it all settle in her eyes, and the paradoxical uncertainty with it. It was more upsetting to him to see her trying to accept it than it was for him to do so himself; after all, he had lived nearly five centuries. He had had time to accept that death is a part of life. Tears threatened in her eyes, and he tentatively placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off.
“Why are you telling me this?” Hiding behind anger; he had expected this might happen. It was her way.
I’m telling you because she came too early. She did it on purpose, to give me a chance to change it, if I could.”
“So…you’re telling me you’re probably going to die sometime soon, you don’t know when, and…what? You want me to organize your funeral? Take care of your affairs?”
“No, Vick, that’s not why. Actually, I want your help.” He looked her directly in the eye, watching her reaction. The anger that had built disappeared, replaced by something else, something he couldn’t quite place. She was silent for a few minutes, thinking about what, exactly, that implied.
“You want my help?”
“Yes…”
“But…why?”
“Because I trust no-one as much as I trust you.” He watched as she took in this information and began to look just a little uncomfortable. “You’re the only one I can trust with this; you know what I am, you’ve seen me at my most vulnerable…And I know that you would do everything you could if it came down to it.”
She sat in silence, mulling over what he had said. Of course she would do everything she could to protect him if needs be, she would do the same for anyone she cared about. Just like she did for Mike…She closed her eyes, willing the memory of his death that night away; it had all come right in the end. And she would not sit by and watch Henry die; she wouldn’t allow it.
“I’ll do it. Can’t have you up and dying on me…” She cringed inwardly; why did she say it like that? But Henry understood.
“Thank you, Vicki.”
At that moment they heard a quiet tapping on the glass of the balcony door. Henry went to open it, and the owl swooped in and landed on the edge of a chair.
“Vicki, I would like you to meet Clodia.” The owl bobbed her head and Vicki, even though she felt a tad silly, greeted her with a ‘hi’. Henry half-smiled at the comical expression Vicki wore as she did it.
“So, has Clodia told you how you were supposed to…” She trailed off, unable to get the words out. Not that it mattered; she was going to stop it no matter what it took. She was looking at Henry expectantly, but he said nothing. Instead, a moment later, a female voice answered her. Vicki swung around in her seat, wondering whether the owl could talk. Hey, she had seen a lot in the past while, and a talking owl certainly wouldn’t be the strangest. But there wasn’t an owl there anymore; standing just in front of the chair the owl had been sitting on was a tall, olive-skinned woman clad in a flowing garment of various shades of cream and brown. The colouring reminded Vicki of the owl’s feathers, and she put two and two together.
“Unfortunately I am unable to give any more detail; I have already broken rules to come here so early. I have told Henry all that I can.”
“I see…” Vicki began to postulate as to what might happen in the next two weeks that could cause Henry’s death. Well, his second death; the first hadn’t slowed him down.
Clodia looked toward the window, then back to Henry and Vicki.
“I have to go now, but I may contact you again. Good luck, Henry. Goodbye, Vicki.”
“Thank you, Clodia. Goodbye.” Henry smiled gratefully at her.
In the blink of an eye the woman had disappeared, and the owl was flying out the balcony door.
“So…how, exactly, is it that one befriends an owl-person? I mean, if you meet them as an owl, you’re not gonna start a conversation…”
Henry almost laughed at the comment, but thought there was likely a real question behind it. So, taking a deep, unneeded breath, he began...
And here's a link to chapter 3, written by Sindee1982, in which we (including me - it's very exciting!) discover where Henry met the mysterious Clodia:
http://sindee1982.livejournal.com/22575.html