While Christina
soon took up a business job, hoping that this was where she would meet the most
successful and attractive men, Britney decided to stay home and pursue her
writing career from there. After she had given up her job in their old home
town, she desperately needed tasks to get her through everyday life. Deciding
not to stay with all of her children, she had deprived herself of busy days,
and she partly regretted it now. She felt empty. Her oldest daughter spent many
hours at work, and didn’t come home straight afterwards, either, therefore
Britney was in the house all by herself most of the time. Cooking, baking and
cleaning were all nice distractions, but they couldn’t keep the loneliness from
occupying her heart.
She didn’t
understand why Christina wasn’t willing to spend more time with her mother.
After all, it had been her who had provided this new place in a promising town,
and it had also been her who had saved her daughter from a supposedly wrecked
life. She knew Christina, and she knew that her eldest couldn’t have made it on
her own. The girl with the body as big as her imagination was not independent
enough to represent the family appropriately, but she would have ended up a
failure instead. Britney had worked long and hard for her family to gain a good
reputation, after her somewhat strange mother had stranded in Appaloosa Plains
many years ago. The early death of her beloved husband had made her a
comparatively young widow, which meant she was the talk of the town. Everybody
believed that she would cave, and she had heard rumours about her abandoning
her children more than once. People talked loudly when they thought that no one
else was listening, and she therefore knew what they thought of her. She was
not going to let those rumours destroy her life. It had been a better choice to
move to Moonlight Falls with her entire family, and to stay with the eldest to
make sure that she didn’t screw up.
Christina
usually didn’t get home before midnight, spending most of her free time in shady
bars. Alcohol was not the best solution, but it kept her head from exploding.
Ever since her mother had told her that the main reason she was the family’s
heir was that Britney wanted to stay in control, Christina had not talked to
her at all. Having been a journalist for so long, Britney was a smooth speaker and
therefore had been able to hide her true colours behind nice phrases and
complimentary descriptions. She wanted to be there for her daughter, she said.
She wanted to provide support now that she had lost a part of her family when
Karim died. She wanted to make sure Christina used her full potential. Lies.
All lies. When Christina sat at home late at night, gulping down whatever food
was left over, she thought about this discussion a few weeks ago. Her life was
so messed up she didn’t even know where to begin, and she sought comfort in the
men she encountered.
Argus Brown
was a doctor with a very dark aura. She felt that there was something dangerous
about him, but that attracted her even more. They often hung out in the bar
where they first met, drinking and talking. His yellowy eyes seemed to glow
when she started talking of her messed-up family, and whenever he pulled her
into his strong embrace, she felt protected.
She spent
some time at his place, where he lived with two roommates who she didn’t meet
for quite some time. There they hung out, talked, laughed and got to know each
other better. He was not quite what she had been looking for in the first
place, which was physical closeness. The other men she surrounded herself with
seemed more mellow, and interested in her body instead of her mind. Since it
had taken her a long time to come to terms with her outer appearance, Christina
greatly appreciated the desire those men expressed, and didn’t say no to a
flirt or more. However, when she was with Argus, she felt different. He seemed
to get her, but at the same he seemed distant, like there were two souls in his
body.
One night,
close to the full moon, she understand the full extent of this thought. Right
in front of her eyes, Argus transformed into a wild animal with burning eyes
and teeth so strong they could rip a raw steak into pieces in a heartbeat.
Although she had felt that there was something dangerous about them, she was
shocked that he had revealed the truth about himself without a warning. Was she
strong enough to be around the beast inside of him? Was she able to accept his
true colours, the part of his existence that he tried to hide in everyday life?
She had to make a decision, and quickly.
Christina
took him by the hand and led him into the living room, where there was more
space for the two of them. Then she took a deep breath, stretched out one hand
and tickled Argus’ tummy. He giggled like a small child, dropped down to the
floor and allowed her to continue. She started laughing. A werewolf was not
that different from a dog, after all, and if this was the extent of this
transition, she could easily deal with it. When both of them were tired from
laughing, she helped him get up and explained what thoughts had been rushing
through her mind. A moment later, she regretted this decision.
The wild
expression in his eyes, the one that she had witnessed right after the
transition, was nothing compared to the fire that was burning inside of them
now. He stretched out his claws and growled in a terrifying volume, causing her
to let out a shriek of fear. This, he explained then, also was a part of his
nature. Having been hurt by women before, he advised her to leave if she was
not able to handle this, because it would be even harder to do so once they had
gotten closer.
Right when
Christina opened her mouth to say something, a snort made them look towards the
door. One of Argus’ roommates, Dante, had just come entered the house and was
watching her with blatant antipathy. Confused about why he would be mad at her,
Christina introduced herself and expected him to calm down.
He didn’t.
Instead, he stepped forward, scowled and slapped her hard. For a moment,
Christina couldn’t see straight. Black and white dots were dancing in front her
eyes, lowering her vision and clouding the man who was still looking like he
would literally kick her out of the house in a minute. He shouted at her,
demanding that she left immediately and never returned. In his eyes, she was
nothing but a girl looking for an adventure with a bad guy, and he didn’t want
his best friend to be hurt by one of those once again. Too often he’d had to
witness Argus sitting at home, weeping on his shoulder and complaining about a girl
who had broken his heart by leaving. Christina stood there in shock and asked
Argus to say something. She was not some floozie to him, was she?
Argus had
turned away from the scene. The girl he had started to fall in love with and
his best friend were eyeing each other suspiciously, and to see that broke his
heart. It broke his heart because his friend was always right. Ever since he
had found out Dante was a vampire, he had made use of his mind-reading
abilities when it came to women, and that’s why he most certainly was right
now, too. Dante had never let him down, and he trusted him completely. His
friend was always going to look out for him, no matter what. He couldn’t say
anything right now. Christina took the hint, walked past the furious Dante and
went home alone. Somewhere, deep down in her soul, this felt like a déjà vu. A
guy protecting his best friend from throwing away his life for a woman… it felt
like she, or one of her ancestors, had been through this before.
Author's Notes: Christina dives into the world of a grown-up, and experiences disappointments from the start. Her mother doesn't seem to trust her abilities to lead a life on her own, and the man she falls for doesn't stand up for her when she needs him to. Poor girl. It's easy to understand why she is losing her faith in men.
Bonus picture of Dante Morganthe returning from the summer festival, because he just looks so darn cute (have you seen a vamp-bunny before? I haven't) :
Author's Notes: Christina dives into the world of a grown-up, and experiences disappointments from the start. Her mother doesn't seem to trust her abilities to lead a life on her own, and the man she falls for doesn't stand up for her when she needs him to. Poor girl. It's easy to understand why she is losing her faith in men.
Bonus picture of Dante Morganthe returning from the summer festival, because he just looks so darn cute (have you seen a vamp-bunny before? I haven't) :