Unfortunate Circumstances

[Elizabeth Coons]

Elizabeth Coons staring out a window at her grandparents’ lake house. Her elbows rested on the windowsill and her chin rested on her palms. The seat beside the window that she sat on was over-stuffed and covered in floral print. A deep, mournful sigh was exhaled. Other than that and the steadier rising and falling of her chest with her breathing, she made no movements. If she were here under any other circumstances, she would be gazing out the window with rapt wonder and an admiring eye. Unfortunately, she was here under more unfortunate circumstances. Since the death of her parents, Elizabeth has been in a numb shock state. The only thing that moved her momentarily from this daze-like state was the sadness Vara had in her eyes when she looked at her. For a few moments, Elizabeth’s old spirit returned, and she held her head and body confidently as she always had.

Her parents’ death had rocked her to her core. At least she had her friend…however unusual Vara was, and her grandparents’. Maybe she should get a dog too. Elizabeth had always dreamed of having a German Shepherd. Now that her parents were…no longer able to say no to her… this one dream might become a reality. It was pathetic attempts like these that she used to keep her mind from delving further into shock but being able to still think the words ‘parents’. Elizabeth heaved a sigh again as she continued to stare blankly out the window. She really should be doing something else besides sitting here and brooding, but she couldn’t really think of anything better to do in the small town. Maybe Vara would find some way to keep them entertained. The lake was obviously out, at least for Elizabeth. She was still able to feel the freezing waters. A small smile came to her face as she imagined a scene of her and Vara out at the lake, testing the waters.

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[Phoenix]

Phoenix Netlohcs arrived at Elizabeth's grandparents' lake house after school on the Friday following his most previous graveyard hunt. He knew he probably should have called to give a heads up but it was a little late for that, but Phoenix was often around in the summer time helping out the elderly couple with common yard chores for a little extra green. He rang the doorbell. He was so nervous; Phoenix wasn't sure what to say, when to speak, if Elizabeth even remembered who he was or if she still saw him as a childhood friend. And most importantly, when or even if he should tell her that he was a werewolf now because he most certainly wasn't when she had left Hush Hills. E's grandma answered the door. Phoenix said, "Good afternoon, Mrs. Coons. Um...I heard Elizabeth was back, though on some very unfortunate circumstances. Is she around?"

[Elizabeth Coons]

The doorbell rang at the front of the big lake house. If Elizabeth had ears that would swivel, they would have flicked back for only a second. As two more seconds went by, she contemplated whether or not she would go answer the door. She didn't know were her grandparents were, so it only took her two seconds to make up her mind to go answer it. Elizabeth heaved herself off of her seat, and trudged in the general direction of the door. Whoever it is will just have to wait a little Elizabeth thought, a little annoyed.

Ends up, they didn't have to wait, because her grandmother answered the door. E waited in a hall close to the door, listening to who it might be. She heard a male voice, and peeped her head around the corner just as her grandmother turned to yell for her. The yell was cut short when Elizabeth's grandmother saw her.

"Oh, sorry dear. Didn't know you were there. Gosh, your almost as quiet as Vara nowadays. Oh, but someone's here to see you." Elizabeth's grandmother looked exited, and slightly mischievous.

Oh great what now? Elizabeth thought, for she still could not see the guy who had rung the doorbell. Elizabeth's grandmother turned so let her view the doorbell-ringing-intruder. All there was was a slightly familiar guy standing there. He was about her age. Elizabeth cocked her head to the side in confusion, wondering why she knew him. Suddenly the possibility hit her.

"Nix?" Elizabeth asked hesitantly. Even though she spoke hesitantly, she didn't act hesitantly. She was dead sure it was her childhood friend come back to her, and she flung herself at him.

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[Phoenix]

"Hello E."Phoenix said as Mrs. Coons opened the door wider for Elizabeth to see who had rang the bell. Even though she was standing right in front of him and had seen her just a few nights ago he still couldn't beleive she was back. Nix had trouble containing the smile and finally allowed his pearly whites to show out of excitement. He stepped through the doorway and a couple paces toward E and in two swift steps, Elizabeth had jumped upon him and gave him the biggest hug he had received in a long time. "I heard you were back in town and I just had to find out if it was really possibly true! And I'm so glad it is...well, to a point anyway. The reason is tragic, but..you know what I mean."

[Elizabeth Coons]

Elizabeth sighed quietly but happily as she stepped back from hugging Nix. Her sudden outburst of exuberance gave her a sheepish grin and a shy glance upward to meet Nix's eyes. He was close enough to her that she could stare him in the eye and know that she was just giving him her full attention and not get nervous. But wait. Something was different with his eyes. Almost imperceptible, but since there had been a big time gap since they had last seen each other so she had a certain picture of his eyes. In spite of being happy to see Nix, she frowned slightly and unconsciously, wondering what had changed. Her eyes went out of focus as she thought hard about what could be wrong.

At last, she caught herself, and smiled again, though with slightly less enthusiasm. Her eyes snapped back into focus. Stupid... stupid.... he probably noticed that. There's nothing wrong with his eyes. Elizabeth kept smiling throughout the scolding she was giving herself. Within a second of hearing him go on about being happy she was here, she had forgotten about the slight difference in his eyes.
"Yeah I'm glad to be back. Having fresh air is nice!" Elizabeth laughed. Speaking of the actual reason she was here sobered her up a bit.
"Sucks." She said simply, pain filling her eyes.
"Just goes to show you how fragile humans are..." Elizabeth glanced down at the rest of his face to see if he found what she had said was weird. Yes she was being a bit paranoid, but it was important to her that she didn't give any indication that she knew about the immortals. Vampires.
"Yeah but anywa..." Elizabeth stopped and looked at him with slight suspicion. She had gotten a lot sharper since they last met.
"How did you know why I was here?" Elizabeth asked, suspicion in her eyes. Paranoid again E. It's a small town, news travels fast. Still... Elizabeth waited for him to speak again.

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[Phoenix]

Elizabeth pulled away from their embrace and she seemed to have gotten lost in his eyes for a moment. Likewise he got lost in her eyes too; getting absorbed in the brilliant brownness and wondering what all they had seen. Gosh, she was so beautiful. Phoenix was at a loss for words and all his thoughts were jumbled together like a word search. Should he tell her how he knew she was back. Should he tell her truthfully. Should he tell her about him being a werewolf. Should he --- wait... did E's grandma say someone was here by the name Vara?? He was too excited before to notice the unfamiliar scent. It was an odd scent, not one that a human typically smells of. Perhaps Grandma Coons was just trying a new dish so Nix just shrugged it off for the moment. Though what E had said of how humans were so fragile, typically a person would have said 'how we were so fragile.' Maybe she was a werewolf to. She didn't smell like one though, E still smelled 100% human. Nix decided it was way too early to tell her about werewolves; really he didn't have to tell her about him being one.
"I heard that there was a funeral service recently and since I couldn't make it to the service I headed out to Silent Hill to see who had been buried and I read that it was your mom and dad. I just thought that if you were back in town that your grandparents would be the ones who would be able to verify it and maybe give me a clue as to where you could be found. And obviously it was a very good place to start." Nix felt like that was the safest answer he could give at that moment.

[Elizabeth Coons]

Elizabeth nodded at his explanation, a bit angry with herself for suspecting that her friend would deceive her.

"Yeah, duh." Elizabeth chuckled at herself. "I haven't been here in so long, I forget how fast news travels." Elizabeth added. She kept a smile, but it had softened a bit and was a little crooked as she re-visited the fond memories she had of them. I can't wait until Vara meets him. I wonder if I've said anything to her about him before... E wondered. She glanced around for her grandmother, but the woman had disappeared to some were. Hmph. And she thinks I move quietly 'nowadays'. E sighed, looking back at Nix. She moved around him, shutting the open door behind him. On her way past him, she grabbed his hand, tugging him along into the living room.

"Common, let's sit down. We have a lot of news to trade." Elizabeth said, giving a merry laugh and flashing him a smile over her shoulder. When they reached the living room, she dropped his hand, and folded herself into the seat of a sofa. Elizabeth snuggled down more into the soft cushions, her legs tucked beneath her, waiting for Nix to pick a seat.

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[Vara Saraphine Grimmark]

Vara sat uncomfortably in the slick leather seat of her black 96 Camero. Inaudibly, she opened the drivers door and stepped out of her car. She rolled her eyes as she realized the time and noticed the bright light comming from the living room. I hope Elizabeth didn't wait up for me she sighed. It had been a long day and she had some urgent things to tell her best friend. Goose bumps trailed across the surface of her pale, smooth skin as she noticed a musty tinge in the chilly evening air. Stifling a low hiss she made her way, more swiftly than any human could, up the drive way and to the front door. A familiar vioce could be heard from inside the bright house. It was Elizabeth's voice conversing calmly with an unfamiliar male. This disterbed Vara for she was stuck with a difficult decision on her hands. She could either barge in and demand the visitor leave immediatly or just act as cool and as casual as any neive human would. "Ugh." she huffed. Of course it had to be the latter. If Elizabeth was in any danger of being harmed or maybe even eaten she would be dead already. Vara had to keep reminding herself that she needed to act as humanly mortal as possible. It's so tough being a vampire sometimes. she grumbled to herself.

Finishing the movement of unlocking the door with her key she then opened the door quietly and slipped in. The light from the living room made the shadows of its current inhabitants play across the dark walls of the ever so small foyer. Curiosity invaded her mind as she crept towards the closest beating hearts in the building. Elizabeth's heart beats were a peaceful thud and the foriegn male's seemed to beat nerviously beneath his chest. Wondering absentmindedly to herself she forced the thoughts through her open mouth, " It seems our guest is quite taken with the lovely Elizabeth." She smiled politely as she leaned casually against the arch of the hallway. Acting as if she had been standing there the whole time but really only wishing she had been. Vara cursed herself silently for leaving the Coons here alone.

[Elizabeth Coons]

Even though Elizabeth faintly heard Vara's Camero pull up, and she knew Vara would enter silently, she still jumped when Vara spoke suddenly. Elizabeth's head snapped to face Vara. She was exited, her friend would be able to tell in her eyes. The girl had an odd habit of changing her facial features often though. Like now, excitement vanished as she cocked her head to the side in question. Elizabeth knew that 'polite' smile. Polite as in, not ripping your spine out, even though she might want to. Vara would answer soon enough, even if it wasn't in words. They had this weird language, and all of it was with no dialog. E jumped up from the couch, a warm smile on her face.

"Vara! This is Nix...er... Phoenix, either one. He was my best friend when I lived here." Elizabeth explained for him, taking her hand politely and leading her over to the couch were she had been sitting. She promptly sat down, gazing at Vara.

"I told you about him right?" Her voice was imploring, begging Vara to tell her what about Nix bothered her when he left. Just act natural, Elizabeth willed. She didn't want to have not-so-fond memories of being reunited with her childhood friend again.

"And Nix, this is Vara. She's my best friend from Ohio." Now they were introduced, and less dull things were freed up for happening.

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[Phoenix]

Phoenix fallowed helplessly to where ever it was that Elizabeth was dragging him and when they she finally found the room and sat down he chose to next to her in the sofa. As they conversed and time walked by, Nix eventually heard a car pull up. By his guess it was a Camaro, possibly with a V-8 and more than likely a stick shift; but that was the unimportant stuff, he was more curious not of what was in the car but who was in the car. His ears became oblivious to whatever it was that E was telling him now and were listening for sounds coming from the Camaro driver. Nix barely heard the key slide into the lock and be turned. He then reached for his beverage brought to him earlier by Grandma Coons as an excuse to look in the direction of the entryway to the room. He took a dink, set the glass back down and continued to look in that direction for only a moment more. It's a good thing he had set the glass down before the Camaro driving intruder stepped into the entryway because he more than likely would have dropped it. The smell he smelt earlier suddenly returned stronger than before and a muscle twitched once...twice in his face and his smile formed into a grim almost angry frown for in front of him stood a vampire.
He almost jumped in front of E and morphed into his wolf form ready to defend E and attack the vamp, but thanks to the cold refreshing drink he had just a few seconds before..he didn't. It was all thanks to Twilight that he was able to recognize a vampire when one was near. E then jumped up and approached the blood sucker and introduced them. This must have been who Grandma Coons mentioned earlier.
Coming to good senses and realizing that Elizabeth was familiar with this..."person/vampire," and said "Hello Vara." with a very unconvincing smile. He hoped that she could tell that he was none to pleased for her intruding.

[Vara Saraphine Grimmark]

Vara allowed Elizabeth to pull her to the couch but felt less enthusiastic about sitting down. I cant just stand and stare at the man the whole night. she reminded herself, killing any chance of resurrecting the good mood she had been in earlier that morning. Plus, it was much more convincing to sit down and talk with friends instead of standing like a statue the whole night. Though she could do that for days, she decided that it was a much better idea to keep it human, tonight atleast. She nodded sharply, at the supposed childhood friend, acknowledging his presence. Then walked to the shorter over stuffed couch on their left and sat down silently. Taking note of the stiff posture he seemed assume, her smile widened revealing glinting white teeth.

Her amused expression faded as she realized that Elizabeth's pleasantries had ended and it was now either her turn or the dog's turn to speak. "Nice to meet you, Phoenix." she spoke kindly but ended his name with a sharp bite as it rolled off her tongue. Those double meanings do get me in trouble. she thought, crossly. Then her eyes brightened as she averted her gaze to Elizabeth's with great agitation. Her head barely tilted to the side before she straightened it. It was a quick and slight gesture that only her best friend would understand. She just had to ignore the signs didn't she? " So this is the infamous Nix, whom you never told me of?" she asked deliberately. She continued on without an answer. " I wasn't aware that you had such a friend here."

The deep blue of her eyes sparkled as flex of green sprung in them, like ripples in a pond, before fading out. Jealously was the last emotion she needed clouding her mind, she suppressed it for later. As she stretched out a bit more on the couch to relax she sent a dangerous glance Phoenix's way then turned to check the old wooden clock on the mantle. It was now seven thirty on the dot.

[Elizabeth Coons]

Elizabeth watched her friend carefully. Yeah, something’s definitely wrong. What would cause Vara to act so hostile? Nix couldn’t be a vampire… She slid a quick glance at Phoenix. Nope, not a vampire. Besides, he was warm when she grabbed his hand to lead him to the living room. Even a little too warm is she remembered right. Elizabeth put that out of her mind, focusing on what would be wrong. E almost started panicking when Vara didn’t sit beside her, but chose a seat away from them. Vara was attracted to the scent of human blood, but even them, her friend usually sat beside her. The fact that Vara chose to be away from her added another worry to the increasing pile.

”Yeah, um, he was kinda my only friend here. Our parents were good friends too. “ E winced at the word ‘parents’. She didn’t want to dwell though, so she didn’t. Elizabeth burned with curiosity. What to do to get Vara away for a second to ask her what was up. It would have to be discrete enough so as not to seem rude, or that she was wanting to get away from Phoenix. An idea suddenly presented itself to her. Elizabeth prided herself on her smoothness in certain situations that needed reveiling something. Maybe she would be graced with it this time.

”Hey Nix, I haven’t eaten yet.” Elizabeth chuckled to make it seem more natural. She rose giving Vara a certain summoning stare.

”Hope you don’t mind if I get a snack while you’re here. My love of food hasn’t diminished at all since I was last here.” E smiled fondly with memories. It was a well known fact that E particularly loved food, and wasn’t beyond begging to get a tasty morsel from an unfortunate friend. She was usually the one that got the last corner of a delicious sandwich, not caring who last bit off of it.

”I’ll be right back.” Elizabeth turned and left now, hoping Phoenix would stay put, and Vara come to ‘volunteer’ to help get a good tasting snack together. The kitchen was secluded, and would be a good place for hushed conversations.

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[Vara Saraphine Grimmark]

Vara ignored Elizabeth's reply but focused more on her best friend's body language when she was forced to say 'parents'. She caught the faint wince out of the corner of her eye. Internally Vara cringed at the thought of Elizabeth's pain. It was appalling that such a kind hearted person should ever have to go through something as terrible as losing her parents. Still staring at the clock she raised herself just as Elizabeth turned to meet her gaze. She knew that Elizabeth now wanted answers. Answers that Vara could not yet reveal.

She waited for Elizabeth to cross the room so that she could make her way into the kitchen behind her. There was no way that she would any longer allow Elizabeth in a room alone with her friend or any immortal for that matter, aside from herself of course. Even though she would only be a few steps behind her she would still be a room away and that too far for Vara. As Elizabeth approached her, she stepped aside giving Elizabeth room to pass her and move on to the kitchen.

"If you'll excuse us." she stated courteously. With reluctance she gave Phoenix one last look over as she exited the room and smoothly closed the door behind them.

One fluid movement was all it took to arrive across the room she then immediately opened the fridge and broke out the makings of a sandwich. She was careful not to be silent as she did this. Letting mayo jars 'accidentally' clang against the fridge's door and dropping a loaf of bread to the counter only to make an ear deafening smack on the counter top. Well, at least it was vociferous to acute Vara's ears. All of these gestures didn't go without strain for this was not her normal nature to let things click and clack around as they did now. She had to put real effort into making noise.

Almost sensing the concern radiating off of Elizabeth Vara halted her actions for a moment to peer up at her from beneath thick, black locks of hair. By this time, she had almost finished making the entire sandwich. All that was left to add was the turkey meat and the onions. Her gaze lingered as a skewed mix of compassion and frustration shown on her cold pallid features.

Asking softly, as to not come across abrupt or harsh, " How are you really? Is today not any better than yesturday?" She hoped desperately that her friend was not suffering with grief like she had been a week ago.

[Phoenix]

Nix couldn't take the risk of taking his eyes off of vampire Vara, though it was considered very rude if you stared into another werewolf's eyes and could even have bloody consequences, but he wasn't staring at a friendly werewolf. Or even a friend for that matter. Elizabeth explained to Vara how their parents were friends while the Coons lived in Hush Hills then noticed that she had winced at her own comment. Then E realized that she hadn't eaten yet and excused herself with the comment of how she still loved food the same as when she lived here. This caused Nix to remember a time when he and E had watched War of the Worlds and spent half the movie throwing popcorn and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at each other.
The vamp got up and followed her. This caused Nix to get up the moment the door shut, he wouldn't leave them alone entirely. First he moved to the window where he could get a look at the car and the license plates just in case he needed to provide a description to the police in a worst case scenario, he was right about it being a Camaro. Then Nix moved to the hallway. He could here jars and bread loaves being smacked together noisily. Nix yelled at the kitchen door, "E, I'm going to go to the bathroom." Then he stuck his head in the door and said, "Oh, and I'm a bit hungry too. Could you make me a ham and roast beef sandwich and warm it up until the bread is toasty, please?" He didn't need to go to the bathroom but it was conveniently closer to the kitchen and the untrustworthy vampire than the living room. And there he waited to see if he could here any threatening conversation.

[Elizabeth Coons]

Elizabeth walked stiffly into the kitchen, folding her arms as she watched Vara make her a sandwich. The vampire was careful to make noise and be as clumsy as humans. Elizabeth was grateful for this. It made E's life easier, though she couldn't see how she could muster up the patience. Elizabeth was just about to say something when Nix made a request for a sandwich too.

"Mmkay." She answered back, a bit distracted. She unconsciously started making Nix's sandwich. Vara probably wasn't going to...not with the greeting she had given her old friend. Elizabeth made extensive sandwiches, so getting the ingredients together took up most of the sandwich making time. Through all of the workings of making the snack, Elizabeth kept sliding questioning glances over at Vara.Elizabeth brushed over Vara's concern for Elizabeth's pain over her parents.

"Yeah... it gets better. I don't think I'm going to get much better though." Elizabeth exhaled loudly, not a sigh, but like coughing up all the phlegm in your throat that's making you sick.
"But Vara... what the heck is up? With Nix..." Elizabeth said, staring Vara straight in the eye.