Plans were quickly laid then Aidan rose to leave with a nod of agreement to Alex Mabon. Stepping out of the cathedral, she looked down at the mark of the cross seared into her hand. A new sense of determination came to her. The hunter was right and she knew it. It was time for her to do what she had never considered and perhaps had been a little too afraid to do before. She had to go and find herself and the sort of person she wanted to be. The question was how Erik would take it.
'Le Coeur Noir' knew where she had been and had stayed away for the very reason Aidan had guessed he would. The place was far too holy for him to even attempt to step foot inside. From the moment she had seen him hovering over that boy and screamed he had felt her starting to pull away from him. The way she had looked at him on the street as though he were a stranger was seared into his mind. He didn't know how he could bring her back. How was he going to explain it all to her? The very thing he had feared most had happened and all because of those two walking excrements, Rabon and Madirakshi. He would make them pay. Ohhh, how he would make them pay.
He had not been idle though. In an attempt to assuage his own anger and frustration he had fed upon the first human he could find. The unfortunate victim was a poor man who had drank far too much alcohol and passed out as he tried to walk home. The vampire usually passed up such potential humans because intoxicants that permeated the blood would pass into them and he preferred his wits about him. Fueled by his anger and hurt over what had happened, the vampire's needs for blood overrode his caution. Within moments the man's blood passed into Erik as did the alcohol content that had been flowing through his veins.
Returning to Osrik house, Aidan was reaching for the door knob when a feeling of dread poured over her. She could feel Erik's presence inside and could sense that he was angry as well as terribly intoxicated. No doubt whatever poor soul he had fed upon had drank more than a few mugs of ale at the local tavern. In fact if she had to guess she would have said that the victim had been paggered for sometime and passed out in a back alley somewhere. She had known that her decision to strike out on her own would not sit well with Erik, but she was determined not to back down or cower before him.
Walking into the sitting room, her eyes looked around, but at first she couldn't see him. All of her senses were on high alert and she could feel his presence as well as his emotions permeating the room. She didn't have to physically see him to know where he was. He was seated across the room, in a high back chair that was turned away from her. The sudden movement of his legs beneath the chair confirmed that.
"You've been busy tonight," his voice was calm as he spoke.
"Yes, I have," Aidan answered as she stepped further into the room. Coolly he rose from his seat, but his steps were unsteady as he moved silently towards her.
"Tell me; is the Rose window at Westminster as beautiful as they say it is?"
"I wouldn't know." The vampiress watched the crackling flames and thought of the large detailed window. She didn't doubt that it was spectacular in the daylight, but it was night and she had not gone far enough into the cathedral to see it. Not only that, but that window, with all its colors and detail, had been the farthest thing from her mind while she was there.
"Wouldn't you?" Erik growled. He was trying to think clearly, but his mind was clouded by the heavy spirits flowing through his blood, making his anger and hurt much worse. He was certain that she was lying to him and before he could give any thought to what he was doing the vampire lashed out, grabbing the side table and throwing it as hard as he could, narrowly missing her. The shock of it caused her to fall to her knees, but he was oblivious to what he had nearly done. His only thought was to expose her perceived lie. Swiftly he grabbed her hand and forced it open revealing the marks left by the cross and the rosary still burned into her flesh. He then showed his own corresponding hand revealing the tell-tale red outline of the same mark. "Do you have any idea what you have done tonight?" he asked as he stood back up, only to stagger backward and fall against the side of his high backed chair
"I had a conversation with a man . . ."
"No." He threw her hand aside then forced her to look at him. "Not a man but a hunter." He growled, his face inches from hers. She could see flecks of red glowing in the depths of his eyes. "His kind walks the earth seeking to destroy us and it will not matter if you are compassionate and generous or hard-hearted and cruel. There is no middle ground for them, only black and white. You should have ripped his throat out the second you saw him." At his words Aidan remembered all the things Rabon had told her about Erik's past.
"Which one are you?" she asked as she stood back up and faced him.
"You forget yourself, little girl," he hissed.
"Not so little, that I can't play whore to 'The Dark Heart'. Now, who is it that shares my bed?" She waited, but he didn't answer. "Rabon has told me things, but I would rather hear the truth from you in your own voice."
"You want to know me?" he asked, a dark threatening shadow falling over his face and his eyes changing to a bright fiery red. Forgoing his normal whispered voice, Erik began to speak in his true voice. The sound was a rasping, grating and growling voice that sounded as though it came from hell itself. "I assisted in the massacre of the innocents in Jerusalem so Herod would have no rival and fed Emperor Caligula's paranoia and insanity ensuring death and tyranny for the Romans. I paid off Charles VII of France to keep him from intervening in the trial of Joan of Arc. I took the axeman out drinking in taverns all night so he would still be intoxicated and turn Thomas Cromwell's execution into butchery. I drank the blood of Louis-Charles the Dauphin of France when he was only 10 years old to ensure he could not be rescued from prison and reclaim the throne. There are many other things I have done throughout the centuries and for each act I have been paid exceptionally well. My vast fortune has been built on blood. I feel nothing towards the human race. They are mere pawns to move at my whim. Is that what you wanted to hear?" She turned away, as new tears began to well up in her eyes. He grabbed her face and forced her to look at him again. "I am also your master and the man who saved you from death. I made you everything you are and you will do exactly as I say."
"Then I am a monster," she said softly. Like an arrow her words struck straight into his heart forcing a roar of anguish to erupt from his throat. With both hands he overturned his chair then proceeded to upend the entire room sending various items crashing to the floor. He desperately wanted to lash out, his fury needed a victim, any victim. Quickly he left Osrik house in search of prey and satisfaction.
Alone, Aidan put back what furniture she could then went up the stairs and began to pack her things. She took only the clothing that had been brought here from the home she had shared with Patrice Claudel as well as the few meager items from her childhood. She then went back down the stairs and was about to leave when she remembered the gold ring on her finger. Silently she walked back to her bedroom and removed the gold bauble and set it on her dresser. All of the jewelry he had given her and all the fine gowns remained where they were. She took one last look around then hastily departed the manor house and went straight for the docks where Alex was waiting for her with a large crate
The entire scene at Osrik house had not been as private as Aidan and Erik might have guessed. Hiding in the shadows and watching through the windows with sadistic glee was Madirakshi. Everything seemed to be working out exactly as her and Rabon had planned. Once 'Le Coeur Noir' had left she continued to watch his mistress pack her things then followed her to the docks, eager to see the red-headed beauty leave permanently. Knowing the end was in sight the dark vampiress smiled as she paid a street urchin to deliver a message to Rabon then flew back to Osrik house to await Erik.
Before Aidan could discuss her departure there was one crucial step that had to be performed or all of this would be pointless. Sitting down on a bench, Alex held a candle before the vampiress which she stared into pulling herself into a trance. She blocked out the memory of Erik and their time together leaving herself the knowledge of who and what she was. She also implanted an awareness that someone would be looking for her and she would have to keep moving lest she be caught. Alex blew out the candle bringing her out of her trance then handed her a leather bag of money. He then explained that the crate was her coffin so she would be safe on the voyage during the day. There were enough crew members for her to feed on that she should be able to make it to her destination without worrying that she might have to resort to killing any of them.
Aidan hugged the hunter and thanked him for his help and his kindness. She had never had a father and couldn't help feeling like this man was as close as she would ever know. She asked him what he was going to do and he promised he would follow after a while and make sure she was doing alright. Aidan assured him she would write and let him know how she was doing then hugged him before fading into smoke and slipping inside the crate, then into the coffin. Alex handed her bag of belongings to one of the sailors instructing him to keep it close to that crate.
Even as Aidan was embarking on a new adventure, Erik was falling into an old pattern of death and bloodlust. He had found a victim, the blood quelling his fury and replacing his alcohol-laced meal from earlier. For a brief moment clarity came to him and he knew he had made a terrible mess of things and he would need to explain everything to Aidan. Hopefully she would forgive him and he even had some confidence that she would. Taking a deep breath he turned to go back to his home only to have that clarity and certainty come to an instant halt as the psychic and emotional connection between him and Aidan suddenly stopped. It was as though half of himself had been taken away.
