goodbye, aidan Who: Aidan and Sylvia Where: Sylvia’s House When: Night
As soon as he’d finished up at the bar, Aidan headed out to Sylvia’s house. He was worried more than ever that he was under some kind of spell, but he didn’t know what he could do about it other than wait it out. In the meantime, it felt vital to tell Sylvia about the werewolves, especially since they could hear a person’s heartbeat and she didn’t have one. It was getting late when he arrived at her house and this time he knocked at the door, rather than letting himself in. Hopefully she would be home.
Sylvia had packed up some of her things. Things she wouldn't want to be without, though in reality, she didn't want to leave anything in her house. She wanted to take it all. But that was impossible. So, she had narrowed things down, and packed them into a battered suitcase and her school bookbag, both so stuffed that they were rather unwieldy. It was very much impractical, but she wasn't paying attention to that. Her mind was too preoccupied, even with music playing softly from the turntable. ...I could sleep....I could sleep...I could sleep...when I lived alone, is there a ghost in my house? ...when I lived alone, is there a ghost in my house? My house.... were the lyrics drifting in the air, set to moody background music. When the knock came on the door, she froze for a moment, before she drifted closer to the door. She rubbed at the back of her hand, at the burn there, kicking up bright pain to help clear her head. Padding silently to the side window, she peered through the sheers, and saw Aidan out there. Her breath caught a moment, and she bit her lower lip. She was at once glad to see him, and upset. She debated not answering the door at all, but in the end found herself doing so. She cracked it, eyeing him outside in the darkness. She didn't greet him.
He’d expected her to open the door, not just crack it, and at least open it once she saw who it was. When it stayed that way he was left to wonder why, to deal with the feeling that she didn’t want him there, that he’d probably overstepped his boundaries the night before. Having had time to think about it, maybe she thought this was a horrible idea. It was more doubt than he was used to dealing with and it left Aidan silent for a second, staring back at her. “Can I come in?” he finally asked.
Sylvia really probably should have had an answer for that before he asked it. She couldn't help but search the area, eyes trying to take in the entire place and every shadow within view all at once. She shut her eyes, and tried to listen for anything out of the ordinary, or someone else breathing. She didn't hear anything but animals, though. Bugs, buzzing around, crickets. And Aidan. Opening her eyes again, she stared at him, then opened her mouth. "You should go home." she told him. It was far more difficult to get that out of her mouth than she would have liked.
Aidan looked back at her, tongue twisting in his mouth as he tried to figure out what to do now. Should he even be that hurt at being turned away? It was probably a good thing, considering her age, and maybe all he was feeling was due to some magic in her bite. Yet he couldn’t just walk away, not without knowing what had changed between last night and now. He turned to follow her gaze, looking out into the darkness, then back to Sylvia. “Darcy followed me last night. I didn’t know until I got home.” He licked his lips, looked at the ground, then back up at her. “Why don’t you want to see me?”
Sylvia was looking at the darkness again, feeling so vulnerable. Was she out there? She'd been eavesdropped on in what was likely the most intimate, vulnerable moment of her life. And clearly, that had impacted her even more than she'd thought. She didn't feel safe. Not even to just talk. It was like an itch under her skin. "...things are likely false." she said carefully. It was true, though it wasn't that she didn't want to see him. She did. She was having quite the war with herself. She also didn’t get into the million other reasons she was doing this. All of which had to do one way or another with Darcy.
He had no idea what she meant in her response, so he turned and looked into the darkness, wishing he had the hearing that Lochlan or Patrick had. Then maybe he’d know if someone else was out there, so he could reassure her that they were alone. He turned back to Sylvia, wondering if she knew, how she knew, what had transpired in the last twenty-four hours. He took a step closer and ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated to still be outside. “If you don’t want to see me, there are still things you should know. Those bitten by wolves are now werewolves. They can hear heartbeats, as well as a lack of one. Please be careful, Sylvia. The full moon is coming.”
Her expression changed then. She stopped scanning the area and her blue eyes landed on him, locking there. That expression said a lot, even if it wasn't full fledged fear and a sick dread, it was an approximation of one. For Sylvia? That was huge. Her hand clutched to her chest over her still heart, and she took a few steps backwards. Now there were werewolves? Normally she would have been fascinated. Absolutely entranced. But with his warning along with it, it just served to terrify her. Now it wasn't just Darcy possibly trying to prove she wasn't allergic to the sun to worry about, or her leading an angry mob to burn her house down, now there were werewolves, who would be able to tell what she was just by crossing paths with her? It felt like her lungs locked up, like she couldn't breathe. It stuck in her throat and she backpeddaled too quickly and without her usual care, tripping herself on the suitcase she'd set in the entryway.
It wasn’t news that he’d wanted to give her in her doorway, but if she wouldn’t see him, then it was the only place he had. The look she wore said it all, even if it wasn’t loud like most people’s, it was the most fear he’d ever seen her have. Then she stepped back and fell over and Aidan did what came naturally-- he moved to help her up. No, he wasn’t a gentleman, but he wasn’t the kind of guy that left a girl he liked on the floor. “Are you okay?” he asked, even if he knew she couldn’t get too hurt from such a fall. His eyes landed on the suitcase, then moved back to her. “Where are you going?”
She took the help to sit up, skirts a little puffy as she did so, and she realized belatedly that she was hyperventilating. So she squeezed her eyes shut tight, clenched her injured hand into a fist, and made herself stop breathing. She dug her fingernails into the burn on her hand again, and she let out a yelp. But it did the trick, it pulled her out of her panic mode. She'd never done that before. She wasn't even sure what happened. His questions came to her as if from the bottom of a well. No. The opposite. Like she was at the bottom of a well, Aidan gazing down at her from the top. She had to try and mentally rewind, but only really managed to latch onto the gist of the last question. He was talking about her suitcase. "Away." she answered, hoping her voice came out normal, but that wasn't quite the case.
Aidan didn’t know how to help a hyperventilating vampire. He didn’t even know it could happen, since he wasn’t sure they needed to breathe. All he could do was rub her back and try to sooth her, which seemed to be the opposite of what she was doing to herself. He wanted to protest, but instead he just hissed softly, imagining the pain. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said, brushing her hair out of her face. She looked dazed, lost. The answer she gave him made his heart beat faster and didn’t clear up any of the confusion. “But where?” he asked. “Why?”
Sylvia didn't know what to tell him. She imagined if she told Aidan about what had happened with Darcy, that it would make matters worse. Darcy had attacked her for not telling her what she wanted to hear--would it not be a million times worse if she tattled on her to the very cousin she was trying to protect? She'd been willing to pick a fight in a public place, with little provocation. What would she do next?
"I don't know." she answered truthfully. "Somewhere else." God, she had no clue where. Someplace no one would find her. "And...reasons." she told him, which she knew would be unsatisfactory. "You may keep the skull key."
“I don’t care about the skull key!” Aidan said before shoving his reaction back down. He didn’t want to come across as mad at her, but he was confused and frustrated. She wasn’t giving him answers and something was obviously wrong. “Reasons that came up between now and when I left last night?” he asked. “If you want to go somewhere else, at least let me help you get there. I can carry your suitcase.”
It made her a little sad that he didn't care about the skull key. It had been her way of giving him something meaningful. She was quiet for a moment, composing herself. When she spoke again, her voice was her more normal tones, more detached than most people's, though she couldn't make herself sound disinterested. "It would defeat the purpose, should you help me to my destination." she told him. Plus she didn't even know what it was. And maybe Darcy was out there listening, just waiting for her to say. When she continued her voice was so quiet it was difficult to hear over the music. "I believe you are being influenced by something supernatural. This is distressing for me. I did not mean to do that to you, I apologize, and feel it's best if we cease all contact." Compartmentalizing was always something she’d been good at, so she focused in on those reasons alone for this, not bringing in her other suffocating fears brought on by his cousin.
“I don’t want to cease all contact,” Aidan softly, fearful that she was right. That he cared too much about her due to some supernatural draw that she couldn’t help. And he had no way of reassuring her that she was wrong when all signs pointed the other direction. “You’re supposed to steal the key back,” he said weakly. It felt like he’d been punched in the gut and now he didn’t know what to say. “You don’t have to leave your home because of me. If you don’t want me coming around, I… I’ll stop.” He didn’t want to, but he would, since he’d never wanted to chase her off.
"I no longer feel safe here." Sylvia said, not something she really wanted to say, but he looked heartbroken. Which was distressing. She didn't really want him to sound like that, look like that. It reaffirmed why she was doing this in the first place, however. Noah echoed in the back of her mind, the idea of death being better than being under a supernatural thrall. Why had she agreed to test it with him in the first place? Now she was alone. She'd never minded being alone until she wasn't anymore, and now it was back to the metaphorical library with her. It was a crushing, empty sensation. Possibly fitting, for someone who was as much of a shell as she was in the first place. She lacked the meat most people did. She wanted to tell him that she wanted to steal the key back as well, but would at this point never go anywhere near his home in the first place. And that she didn't desire no contact, it was mere necessity. But she didn’t think it was a good idea.
“Why?” Aidan said, becoming so agitated that he ran his fingers through his hair, then shuffled back and forth, a small pacing. “Is this because of Darcy? Did you know about that? How did you know? Did she say something to you?” It was all he could think of that would have her packing her bags and cutting him off. There werewolves might have scared her, but she didn’t know that before he’d arrived there. “If it’s a spell, it’s got to wear off,” he said more softly. “Everyone you bite can’t become… I mean, it feels good, but I’m not here because of that. I was going to suggest you not for a while, just to make sure. I don’t want you feeling unsafe in your own home. At least tell me if there’s something I can do to help.”
She shouldn't have said the part about not feeling safe. But she couldn't fix it now, all she could do was ignore the question. "I don't know that it will wear off. You don't either. And being around you, I want to bite you. Even now, I do, regardless of the fact that I don't need to. I'm fed. I'm not hungry. I'm fine, but I still want to." she admitted. "I...I am uncertain of my levels of control." she said, which was true. "I feel it best to remove myself from the equation for a number of reasons. Please respect my decision." she said, not looking at him as she spoke.
“Dammit, Sylvia,” he said, taking a step back from her. She had to throw that line in there. Respect her decisions. He wanted to punch someone, but he had no idea who. Not her. But it would be so much easier if he had a way to work out the anger that was building inside of him. “What would it take for me to convince you I’m not under a spell?” he asked, trying to figure out that answer for himself. Would it take him showing interest in another girl? That didn’t happen often enough for him to go seek one out and try to make it happen. It could be months before someone else peaked his interest. Would he need to not want her to bite him? Because he enjoyed it too much for that to change. “I talked to someone today that knows stuff, knows someone like you. He said he thought it always feels good, but he wasn’t sure about a spell. Can you at least try to find someone like you and see what they say?”
"I wish I knew." Sylvia said. "At current, I believe there is nothing that will. I do not know what sort of evidence it would take." she told him, honestly wishing she could give him some definitive answer. But then again, there was the other thing too. The part she wasn't telling him. About Darcy, and her role in all of this. And she wouldn't. Because that was going to make it worse. So she landed it all at her own feet instead. She listened to the rest, hesitating, but in the end she imagined it wouldn't change enough. And she still didn't feel safe.
"Perhaps." she gave him. She wouldn't not talk to another vampire, but she didn't know how to seek one out, either. "But I'm still leaving." Her fear had built and built, and now with the werewolf threat present, she simply couldn't stay there. She would leave a note for Noah, apologizing. She knew he would be angry, but she couldn't sleep, she was feeling like every moment she was being violated, observed when she couldn't see or sense another's presence. Unsafe. She hadn't felt this unsafe since the early days with Noah, when they were fighting tooth and nail for every breath they drew. And she didn’t have any offensive skills. She’d never developed them, and Noah wasn’t there at her side anymore to take up that role. Not only that, but he was with the ‘enemy’ to start with.
Aidan stared at her, not sure what else he could say. She didn’t feel safe because… because of something she wouldn’t tell him, but he was going to ask Darcy about it anyways. And she wanted him out of her life because she didn’t trust that he wasn’t under a spell. “I don’t want you to leave,” he said quietly. “But if you feel that’s necessary, I won’t stop you.” He bit his lip, then took a few steps back, then stopped and looked at her again. “I’ll come find you eventually. When I can prove you’re wrong. Or when I think it’s safe.” He wasn’t abandoning her. He wanted her to know that. But if she wanted him out of her life, he didn’t couldn’t really stop her.
Sylvia watched him, wanting to say more. Or to let him know that she felt...something. She didn't know how to describe it, but the idea that he wouldn't give up was evoking a positive reaction. It felt warm. An internal sort of warmth that she didn't know how else to quantify. In the end, she nodded, knowing that just as he wasn't going to be able to talk her out of this, the conviction in his tone told her that she would be just as ineffective in deterring him. And, part of her simply didn't want to. The idea that she would be worth finding to him was again, foreign to her, indescribable, but...nice. "Goodbye, Aidan. I do hope you stay safe."
He didn’t like the word goodbye. It sounded so formal. So final. But he was also starting to learn that was the way she spoke and that she might not mean it that way. He had to hope that she wasn’t trying to get rid of him, but rather figure out what was real or not. That part her understood. It was frustrating to think his attraction to her was only due to some kind of spell she’d put over him. And not feeling safe… that bothered him. It was something he was going to have to look into. “I’ll see you later, Sylvia,” he said, trying to give her a small smile. “I hope you find some place where you feel safe.” That was all he could offer before he turned and headed back towards home, already feeling the loss. At least he’d caught her before she’d disappeared. He couldn’t imagine how it might have felt to not know she was going at all.