Over the past week or so, Annie had refound her love of the simple things. Even brushing her teeth felt less like a chore and more like a fun sort of game. Running up and down stairs made her heart race. She sweat when outside in the sun for too long.
It was beautiful. Having decided that she had had enough of leggings for the time being, she was decked out in a bright blue sundress and (this was the best part) strappy sandals. It was nice to be able to do rather than simply watch others.
"Be careful," she warned with a smile and laugh to the man at the bookshelf as she passed through. "It keeps trying to sell me on trashy vampire novels, which is just silly. Its got a sense of humor, that thing."
There was Annie for you, moving too fast to see what was right in front of her. It was so odd to see her in something other than the gray hang-around clothes she'd died in though that Mitchell just stared for a second, transfixed. She was alive. Really, really alive. And in technicolor.
He shook himself out of it and picked up his grin again. "What, you think vampires can't be trashy and romantic?" He tsked and struggled to keep from laughing. "One flubbed kiss and you're down on the whole kind. Bit close-minded of you, Annie."
"I never said that!" Annie defended with a mild flail of her arms as she grinned in return and took a step nearer to him. It was absolutely baffling that she had been screaming and terrified at the hands of Kemp not too long ago while Mitchell had been blood drunk and scary in his own right at the same time. He was here and did not seem to be keen on chomping at anyone.
"And you said it yourself. A kiss failure and a bit of a weird one given that we were both dead at the time," she pointed out. "Besides I'm not being closed-minded. I used to go for that sort of thing before I lived it and realised it isn't romantic to want the object of your affections to suck the life out of you. Literally."
The smile faltered only so Mitchell could pull a face. "Ugh, they want that?" He'd never read the literature and the movies had taken a bad enough turn after the 80s that he'd just stopped watching.
"I guess it's for the best that there's no vampires here," he pointed out, obliquely referencing the heart beating in his chest, the life in his eyes, the breath in his lungs. "And I hear you're not squishy any more."
Annie nodded, trying her hardest to be serious but it was bit hard given that this was Mitchell and the three of them here meant that this place had gotten better in a very small amount of time.
Not that she knew what it was like to be only one from home here, but she was certain that George would agree with her. Speaking of, where was he? He should have been metaphorically suctioned on Mitchell about now. Walking over, she leaned against the pool table and give her arm a pinch. "Not even a little bit. I heard that there are other former vampires mucking about. Maybe you should have a club or something."
"That'd be cozy," he said, grinning. But there was only so long he could hold out.
"More cozy than this, anyway. Are you gonna give us a hug or what?" he demanded with a laugh, spreading his arms wide. He'd take one if she didn't give it in two seconds.
Rubbing the reddened skin of her forearm, she felt a bit shy for a moment and looked at the ground. It was silly, of course it was, but somehow being made of flesh and bone rather than whatever she had been made of before changed things.
Not a lot, but enough to make her nervous for split second. "Course I am," she said her smile returning as she moved over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I think I scared George."
It wasn't the kind of joyous reunion that Mitchell had hoped for, mad laughter and maybe some tears, but it wasn't right for it to be that way. He'd just hoped.
He wrapped his arms around her tightly, just relishing in the feeling of being two regular, normal, warm human beings holding onto each other for a second. "I heard," he said quietly. "I came from... there."
Ducking his head, he smudged a kiss against Annie's temple. "I felt you go." His voice broke, just for a moment, and he swallowed it down.
That crack was almost enough to send Annie over the edge that she had been so carefully avoiding. Peter had called this Paradise and she wanted so firmly to believe that this place had been what Gilbert saw. All good things and warmth and sun.
Being alive again without any of the dangers. "Did you?" she asked in a soft voice. It touched her and it might her smile despite the tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry. He made me go. I'd changed my mind."
"I know," he said, but it occurred to him that he hadn't known. He had just assumed that they were all fooled and, if they figured it out, they'd be fighting for their lives. That he had to fight for them. But he'd been too busy getting revenge to help Annie.
"I was going to kill him," he murmured. He kept his voice low, for her ear only, because that wasn't figurative. He had been about to rip his chest open and tear him to shreds and he meant to do it. "George talked me down."
That news made her stiffen slightly. She had known he was capable of death, had seen him after violence and drunk off blood. It was another to imagine it being done to someone who had in a weird way hurt her.
"Good for George." She swallowed hard and nodded her head slightly. "Kemp deserves something worse than death. I never did like priests."
"He'll get it. I'm sure of it." Some of the cold fell off in his words, those an assurance that he couldn't follow through on. Feeling her stiffen at what he'd said, Mitchell felt rather happy that he couldn't.
"I'm sorry," he said, releasing her from the hug so he could look down into her face. "For that and for how I was acting, for what I was doing. I shouldn't have-- I was being a fool, letting it all get the better of me. I let you both down."
Annie hoped that whatever the men in the corridor had been planning to do with her, that it was twice as bad for Kemp. A dark part of her wanted him to beg for the mercy of the God he had used for cruelly.
Sniffing she smiled slightly as she looked up at his face. "It's alright. I'm here now and you're here and George is here. Everyone's fine and I'm sorry too. I, shouldn't have left George a voice message telling him I was getting myself forced over."
It was taking a lot of effort to pretend it had just bee this silly thing she had considered for a moment. It was anything but.
"You what?" His hands dropped to her shoulders, holding her in place as he searched her face. I'd changed my mind, she'd said, but Mitchell hadn't thought about what that could mean, that Annie might have wanted--
Annie simply stared at him for a moment before turning her head away. It was coward's way out, but not looking felt safer than wholly owning up to what she had been prepared to do.
Licking her lips she pressed them together for a moment steeling herself before telling why. It didn't matter now. Now she was whole and human and had what she had been missing.
"I was going to be alone forever," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. Turning her gaze back, she continued. "George was moving on, you had Lucy and all of the others, but I was stuck. I was going to be stuck forever. I wasn't human anymore and I couldn't even pretend."
He shook his head, almost desperately, wanting to tell her no, that wasn't the way. But what could he tell her? Don't and be like him? Hold on to what you had while you had it, and then pretend to carry on without? Watch those you care about wither away and die and find new ones to care about when they're gone?
"Annie, I was stuck too," he said instead. "Even with Lucy, even with Josie I was just... making the best of what I had. That's not moving on. That's... Even so, you always had us. You will always have us. Don't let us go and we'll never let go of you. Even when I'm being a dick and need a kick in the head, I came back for you, didn't I?" Came back too late and for some revenge on the side, but he had come back.
It was beautiful. Having decided that she had had enough of leggings for the time being, she was decked out in a bright blue sundress and (this was the best part) strappy sandals. It was nice to be able to do rather than simply watch others.
"Be careful," she warned with a smile and laugh to the man at the bookshelf as she passed through. "It keeps trying to sell me on trashy vampire novels, which is just silly. Its got a sense of humor, that thing."
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He shook himself out of it and picked up his grin again. "What, you think vampires can't be trashy and romantic?" He tsked and struggled to keep from laughing. "One flubbed kiss and you're down on the whole kind. Bit close-minded of you, Annie."
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"And you said it yourself. A kiss failure and a bit of a weird one given that we were both dead at the time," she pointed out. "Besides I'm not being closed-minded. I used to go for that sort of thing before I lived it and realised it isn't romantic to want the object of your affections to suck the life out of you. Literally."
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"I guess it's for the best that there's no vampires here," he pointed out, obliquely referencing the heart beating in his chest, the life in his eyes, the breath in his lungs. "And I hear you're not squishy any more."
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Not that she knew what it was like to be only one from home here, but she was certain that George would agree with her. Speaking of, where was he? He should have been metaphorically suctioned on Mitchell about now. Walking over, she leaned against the pool table and give her arm a pinch. "Not even a little bit. I heard that there are other former vampires mucking about. Maybe you should have a club or something."
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"More cozy than this, anyway. Are you gonna give us a hug or what?" he demanded with a laugh, spreading his arms wide. He'd take one if she didn't give it in two seconds.
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Not a lot, but enough to make her nervous for split second. "Course I am," she said her smile returning as she moved over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I think I scared George."
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He wrapped his arms around her tightly, just relishing in the feeling of being two regular, normal, warm human beings holding onto each other for a second. "I heard," he said quietly. "I came from... there."
Ducking his head, he smudged a kiss against Annie's temple. "I felt you go." His voice broke, just for a moment, and he swallowed it down.
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Being alive again without any of the dangers. "Did you?" she asked in a soft voice. It touched her and it might her smile despite the tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry. He made me go. I'd changed my mind."
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"I was going to kill him," he murmured. He kept his voice low, for her ear only, because that wasn't figurative. He had been about to rip his chest open and tear him to shreds and he meant to do it. "George talked me down."
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"Good for George." She swallowed hard and nodded her head slightly. "Kemp deserves something worse than death. I never did like priests."
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"I'm sorry," he said, releasing her from the hug so he could look down into her face. "For that and for how I was acting, for what I was doing. I shouldn't have-- I was being a fool, letting it all get the better of me. I let you both down."
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Sniffing she smiled slightly as she looked up at his face. "It's alright. I'm here now and you're here and George is here. Everyone's fine and I'm sorry too. I, shouldn't have left George a voice message telling him I was getting myself forced over."
It was taking a lot of effort to pretend it had just bee this silly thing she had considered for a moment. It was anything but.
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"Why? Why would you do such a thing?"
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Licking her lips she pressed them together for a moment steeling herself before telling why. It didn't matter now. Now she was whole and human and had what she had been missing.
"I was going to be alone forever," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. Turning her gaze back, she continued. "George was moving on, you had Lucy and all of the others, but I was stuck. I was going to be stuck forever. I wasn't human anymore and I couldn't even pretend."
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"Annie, I was stuck too," he said instead. "Even with Lucy, even with Josie I was just... making the best of what I had. That's not moving on. That's... Even so, you always had us. You will always have us. Don't let us go and we'll never let go of you. Even when I'm being a dick and need a kick in the head, I came back for you, didn't I?" Came back too late and for some revenge on the side, but he had come back.
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