“The heck was that? She looks rich as hell!” Naira asks as she stands up and watches as Asha gets into an expensive-looking sports car.
“What do you mean who is she?” Emory spits in disbelief. “That’s Asha. I’m surprised you haven't heard of her. She was one of the bellwethers in the movement for Other-American rights. She’s one of the earliest Legacy vampires, but she hasn't even started her family yet. In her book, she details how she used to be a slave, until one day, a vampire came and murdered her master and his family, freeing her and turning her into a vampire before running off into the night. You have got to read it, it's unbelievable and kinda romantic! She’s pretty wealthy now, so she just does art now,” Emory explains as she looks at Asha’s card in awe.
“She seems really nice, elegant too,” Randy says.
Just when Emory is about to speak again, they’re interrupted by the sight of Rurik and Fleur walking back inside, Rurik approaching Credence. “Hey, I um… I drank a bit before the ceremony. I'm not usually like that. I just wanted to say I’m sorry… not only to you, but everyone here,” he says, talking louder. “Addy, what you said was true. I don't know how I can ever call myself a doctor again after this. I know I've hurt some of my friends and I will do whatever it takes to learn and grow past this nasty side of me.”
“I get it, we're cool man.” Credence answers while rubbing Naira’s hand. The heavy air clears, and everyone continues to talk and eat. As they’re finishing, Rollo volunteers to drive Addebowale home, to which she feigns an uninterested reply, yet her cheeks glow red.
“Come on, let's get you home,” Fleur says as she guides Rurik out after saying their goodbyes. Cole and Randy leave after paying the tab for the table, and Credence and Naira decide it's time they got going too. In the lift home, Naira scrolls and texts on her phone while resting her head on Credence's shoulder.
“Hey bro, could you turn this up a bit more?” Credence asks the driver who nods and does so.
“I didn't know you liked this kind of music,” Naira says as she looks up at Credence.
He decides to address the elephant in the room and turns back to Naira. “I don't. But it works.”
“Work for what?” She cluelessly asks.
Credence takes a deep breath, and looks her in the eyes. “Emory told me you know about what happened.” Naira just nods, not knowing what to say. “Guess that explains why you've been acting so weird. I was gonna let Rollo tell you, but I don’t wanna have this go on any longer than it needs to. Buckle up, it's a long story,” he warns, his tired eyes looking over to her, and Naira puts her phone away. “About five years ago, I was walking through the woods. I had just gotten out of a pretty bad relationship, and I just needed somewhere quiet to think. The walk was uneventful till I sensed someone was following me, so I leaped into a tree. Figured it might've just been a curious bobcat or something. I decided I’d just chill in the tree and wait for whatever it was to come out, the view wasn't too bad either so I wasn't complaining. But then, the whole fuckin tree got pushed over. I couldn't even get up before my whole torso was in this thing's mouth. I swear I thought I was gonna die right there. I tried using my Semblance to get away, but I’d already lost way too much blood. Then, just when I thought it was gone, a huge bear came rushing outta the woods and slashed the big ass dog's neck, it damn near cut its head off. The thing just laid there, slowly shifting back into a human. And to this day, I can’t really explain what came over me, but once I smelled human blood, it's like I went into survival mode. I bit into his arm and ripped out the biggest chunk I could, it felt like I’d been walking in a desert for days without water, and I'd finally found some nice cold water. The blood stopped pumping after a couple of minutes, so I just kept taking chunks out and squeezing the blood into my mouth… I was desperate” Credence looks over, expecting to see a frightened Naira, yet finding the exact opposite. She looks intrigued by every second of his story. The car stops right outside Naira’s gate, they thank the driver and stand out in the cold breeze while Credence finishes the story.
“Anyway, the bear that saved me was Rollo. We’ve been friends ever since, the dog turned out to be some tweaker that didn’t like people in ‘his’ woods,” he shakes his head and laughs quietly. “Look, it’s not like we wanted to hide anything, it’s just that when we went back for the body, it was gone. And we just sort of swept it under the rug,” Credence confesses as they approach the gate to Naira’s apartment.
She nods. “Woah”
“I get it if you think it’s weird and don’t want to-”
“No,” she interrupts him softly. “It’s weird, But I get it you had to defend yourself. It’s not like you scared me or anything I just didn't know what to think and had to be sure you were who I thought you were. I was right about you being a good guy. I should've trusted my gut,” she adds while hugging him.
“It’s all good, I’m actually glad I got this shit off my chest.”
The two continue walking past the large black gates of the red brick apartment, holding hands. Naira looks up at Credence who stares up at the large apartment. “I’m sorry about Rurik, he’s such a dick,” Naira says with an upset expression as she tries to find her key card in her purse.
“Why the hell are you sorry? You didn't do anything wrong” Credence asks with a confused smirk.
“You're right, I didn't do anything. I shouldn't have even invited him. Now that I think about it, I don't even think I did. Fleur’s just gotta be the peacekeeper all the damn time,” Naira complains with an upset expression as she opens the door to her apartment.
“Don't beat yourself up over it, kid. With the way Addy and Cole laid into him, I almost felt bad for the guy,” Credence says, with a pitying smirk as the two walk up the stairs, their footsteps echoing through this apartment that looks to be older than the both of them combined.
“Yeah, they’re scary smart on their own, but together, oof,” she opens her eyes and lift her eyebrows, “it's a different ball game. It’d be scary if they ever decided to argue with each other.”
Credence chuckles and stares down at the cracked tiles on the steps as he continues up.
“I can tell that guy still cares a lot about you, Naira,” Credence says with a sullen look.
“Sounds like a personal problem. He just doesn't know how to care about people without hurting them. His dad’s the same way. It just got worse when his mom left though. Now that I think about it, that’s around the time when he started shutting me out,” she says while approaching her door as she turns to him.
“Yeah, that’ll do that to a guy,” Credence answers with a knowing nod.
“It’s like when he got mad he’d yell at me but… it always seemed like he wasn't actually yelling at me but past me. He’d get so damn angry to where he’d only calm down if he broke something, or if he just cried. It was that constant whiplash of him blowing up to the point I was scared he’d actually hurt me, or he’d get so so sad to where I was scared to leave cause I thought he’d like hurt himself or something. I don't want to admit it but I was kinda happy when we broke up, that kind of emotional baggage was fucking destroying me,” Naira explains with a guilty expression.
“You shouldn't feel bad about that, I get that you care about him and stuff but he needs some help, Naira. Therapy’s free. He should look into it.” Credence suggests rubbing Naira’s hand to calm her.
“We tried. He wouldn't listen to anyone but Fleur. I'm guessing it's because her parents kind of had their own divorce when she was younger. He went there with her, it only lasted like twenty minutes before he ran out the room and made her take him home.”
“What’d he almost kick the therapist's ass or something?” Credence asks with a soft chuckle.
Naira shakes her head, unable to match Credence’s mood. “No… he wasn't mad this time, she said it almost looked like he was scared. I’m the only one who’s ever seen him cry before, but she said it looked like he was gonna lose it on the ride home,” she adds, concerned.
“Damn, that's rough.” Credence says as he kisses Naira. He jokes around with her to calm her down until he gets a smile out of her, and she walks in. He runs down back to the waiting car, he sees Naira’s light flicker on while pulling away. Credence puts his headphones in before slouching back into his seat and enjoys the night sky during the drive. I was scared to leave cause I thought he’d like hurt himself or something. Her words echo in Credence’s mind as he stares blankly at the night sky.
Naira opens her door and sees Emory in the kitchen. “Hey… did you and Credence talk about it?”
“Yeah, super wild story,” Naira tells her with a soft laugh.
“That's one way to put it.” They both laugh before Naira steps into her room and falls into her bed.
***
Naira jolts awake at 4 AM. She's getting a call, and she hears a frantic Randy at the other end of the line.
“Hey, Naira, please tell me Cole is there with you. I haven't seen him since we left the restaurant. He said he’d get some groceries and told me to go back to the house and wait for him,” he speaks too quickly for her to understand.
“Huh? What? Did you call him?” Naira says groggily while rubbing her eyes.
“I have! I've tried everything, but no one’s seen him. I guessed he was pissed at me about something, but this isn't like him. He would never ignore my calls,” he desperately adds, “I'm reporting him missing.”
“Okay, Randy, take a few breaths man. I’m getting dressed, I’ll meet you at the police station.” Naira put on her slippers and ran to the police station in her pajama bottoms and a big puffy coat.
Randy arrives before her, and she sees him in tears, visibly upset pacing in the lobby. “These motherfuckers won’t hear me out. They think we just had a fight and he’s being pissy,” he says, eyes wide open and tears flowing freely. “Naira, please just tell them Cole isn't like that, he could be in trouble, we’re wasting time!” He panics.
Naira hugs Randy and tells him to come with her. “We’ll straighten it out,” she assures him, rubbing his back. The police station is quiet, aside from the hiss of walkie-talkies. Naira can hear the squawk of a bird out of her view.
“Ma’am, it's like we told your friend here. Cole Liadon is a grown elven man, he’s only been gone for about, what? Ten hours? Tops. You can file a missing person’s report, but we have more urgent things to attend to, so I can't promise we’ll be able to comb the streets as thoroughly,” a cop says while scrolling through his phone, the squawking of the bird coming in erratic intervals.
Holding herself together, she barely contains the anger waiting to burst from her mouth. “Okay, yes. While I get that you all clearly have more important things to do, we’re simply asking that you try to send at least one cop out there to search for Cole. I heard the longer we wait, the more danger missing people are in,” she holds Randy’s hand.
“Mr. Liadon, we’d like to see your husband back home just as much as you do, and we will do what we can, but there are young and vulnerable people who are in actual danger and are without a doubt missing. And as he is half-elven and a grown man, we can’t-”
“Fuck you!” Randy yelled, interrupting the officer, “and fuck this fucking station you all sit on your asses each and every day, not doing a goddamn thing about the people that constantly go missing! Others are harassed and murdered, and you sit here and tell me the reason you can’t get off your lazy pig ass is that my husband is half elven?!”
The officer finally looks up from his phone, his stare is icy as the bird lets out a final shrill squawk. “Mr. Liadon, would you like an escort out of the precinct?”
“If you touch him I sw-” Naira is interrupted when she hears a deep voice speak out from behind her.
A terrified look bathes Randy’s face, and a pissed one takes over Naira’s.
“There will be no need for such bestial behavior. Mr. Liadon, Ms. Ayad, please follow me,” a tall and beautiful elven person speaks, standing beside them. Their eyes were catlike and opal in color, their silver hair with blue, orange, and green highlights tied up into a neat top knot. Randy and Naira followed the stranger into an office in the back of the precinct. The office was almost unreal. There were mirrors and flowers neatly placed on every wall, and the furniture was made of an unknown and seemingly glowing material. Aetherune perhaps?
A large white bird with six wings the size of a dog climbs into the man's lap as he sits down. After rubbing itself against this man's chest, it turns its gaze to the two, its eyes white with flashes of gold. Naira finds herself lost in the bird's seemingly electric eyes until the man speaks, breaking her out of her trance. “Take a seat, please,” he gestures at the two chairs in front of his desk. “As the officer elucidated, this is an Other matter, so we will treat it as such. Apologies for his diminishing behavior. My denomination is Bellstrum Filverel, son of Mindartis and Theirastra.” His eyes move from Randy to Naira, he looks her up and down. “You track square with the hybrid, correct?” Bellstrum asks, his eyes piercing Naira with a coldness she’s never felt before.
Noticing that Naira’s struggling to answer, Randy interrupts. “M-mr. Filverel, will you be able to help us find my husband?”
Bellstrums eyes slowly drift back to Randy. “Unequivocally,” he professionally answered. The room falls silent. “I’ll just ask that you continue about your lives as if nothing is out of place and leave this in my hands.”
“Sir, with all due respect, how exactly am I supposed to just pretend that my husband isn't in danger?” Randy asks, heartfelt.
“It's a very unambiguous task. I expect that you do what you would do on a mundane day with Cole, only without Cole.” Bellstrum replies instantly.
It was clear the detective wasted no time when replying, a trait that Cole and himself had in common. After a few minutes of them going in circles, there were still questions that went unanswered and even more doubts, he decided to explain a bit further.
“Mr. Laidon, if you expect this precinct to do more than what they are required to do, you will be placing your husband in grave danger. I am the only person capable and willing to help the half-blood. So, when I tell you to do something, you will do it. Or else, you can consider Cole as good as dead. Do I make myself clear?” he says as he watches Naira and Randy nod. “I’ll keep in touch.”
Randy, petrified, thanks the detective and he drives Naira home. “He’ll be back sooner than we think, you’ll see,” she says, trying to give them both peace as she gives her friend a tight hug.
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