Title: Rainy Meetings
Description: For Gabriel.
Nafretiri - September 11, 2004 02:29 AM (GMT)
A small bit of pale moonlight crept in through the various broken windows around the main room, bathing everything in a silver shower. In the shadowed corners, the rustling of rats was heard, and bits of dust would fall from the ceiling at odd intervals, signalling the rodents in the roof above. Crates lined the walls, forgotten by their previous owners, and aged passed all need or reason. A thin coat of dust covered everything except where the rats had moved about. There was a chorus as droplets from the ongoing rain hit against the rooftop.
In the middle of all this, stood Nafretiri, perfectly still with an expresion of calmness upon her face. While it was not her favourite spot in the city, it offered the privacy and security that this meeting required. She had donned her cloak once again, and it lay damp against her shoulders, but her face makeup and hair remained untouched. Her dress tonight was in a Grecian style, and the woman was thankful for the cloak to protect the white material.
This was the location she'd told Gabriel to bring Drew to. She had to meet this boy. The proper assessment must be made of his character, and she had to know who she was protecting. There had been no discussion. She hadn't even talked to Gabriel, but sent him a telepathic message. He was not hard to find in the city of Demaitre.
So she stood, waiting and watching. They would come soon. She could feel it.
Gabriel - September 11, 2004 02:39 AM (GMT)
Drew slowly walked through the warehouse. This one was much differnt from the one Gabriel lived in. He geussed at one time his too looked like this. First off this one had rats everywher Gabriel's had been cleaned out even if it had been by the vampire. The other had been cleared of dust and the leaks fixed most likly due to all the free time Gabriel would have had before meeting Drew. This one was most likely what it had looked like before hand.
He took a few more steps slowly. A skateboard in his hands. "Anybody here?" He heard an echo ring through the room as he walked deeper into the empty warehouse. He started grumbling as he kept looking around. "Stupid Gabriel being to busy to meet me outside of this place. He had to stay home and do a bit more meditation before being able to come out. Or atleast that what he said. Who knows what the vampire was really doing. Perhaps feeding?
"What if this vampire kills me? Wait a second. Is this all some plan to have me killed? Is that why he didn't come? Did he hire this vampire to finish me off? Just when I was starting to trust me what does he do? He kills me. How unfair is that. I mean I ask you. I know I interupted him while he was meditating by does that give him the right to kill me? That jerk. If I wasn't dead I'd teach him a lesson."
Nafretiri - September 11, 2004 02:51 AM (GMT)
She felt him even before he entered. A smile crossed her face as she heard his ramblings, both outloud and in his head. For a human, he did have impressive mental shields, but as an Ancient, it was nothing she could not pass. If only he knew that Gabriel had done the exact opposite. This was irony. Still, it seemed that Drew did not trust Gabriel. Understandable, considering the dark patch the vampire had been in when she returned. While in it, it was unlikely that he had been very friendly to the mortal. Vampires in that predicament rarely were.
"I assure you, Mr. Drew, that no one here tonight will kill you," announced Nafretiri, her voice echoing through the enclosed space. She turned, feasting her dark eyes upon him. The cloak was slipped off so that she did not blend into the shadows and he would be able to distinguish her. There was a hint of an amused smile - she'd thought it best to minimize it in case he was insulted. He was taller than her, but that was to be expected. Everyone was taller than her.
"I assume," she said, walking forward, "that Gabriel did not tell you why you are here or who I am? No, he didn't did he?" She tsked, her shoes making a sound between a clap and a squish as they touched the floor due to the water that had soaked into them. "How irresponsible. I suppose then, that I must introduce myself. Mr. Drew, I am Nafretiri Afrikaisi." She bowed her head, before focusing her calm expression on him again. "I am to be your protector of sorts."
Gabriel - September 11, 2004 03:02 AM (GMT)
"Oh well it's nice to meet you." It was easy to tell that he wasn't used to being polite as the words came out choppily. "I geuss he is rather irresponsible. The only thing he told me was I would be meeting a really powerful vampire tonight and to be very respectful cause if you got mad he was afraid you'd take it out on him. He seemed rather nervous...I mean for him atleast." These words were much more relaxed then the first part. It was normal for him to talk to vampires by now. "Oh yeah he also told me not to tell you what I just told you....oh wait...crap." He rubbed his head. "Hope he doesn't care to much then but I can see why he was acting weird when he was talking about you. Not at all himself...or atleast how I knew him. Maybe you knew him better then me though."
He put out his hand. "I'm Drew but you already knew that didn't you? And protector? I thought Gabriel was gaurding me? Was the job to tough? Did he quit? Why am I here anyway?" He was speaking somewhat quickly as most mortals of this time did. "So anyways why on earth did you choose this place to meet me at? I mean I'm sure Gabriel would have left his um...,I geuss he calls it a home, if you had asked. Then we would only have to deal with that hyper active dog of his."
Nafretiri - September 11, 2004 03:13 AM (GMT)
Nafretiri sighed. She'd thought she'd made it clear that Gabriel could trust her. After all, if she'd really wanted to kill him, she would have done it when he almost revealed the vampiric race to the people at the subway system. Instead, she'd let him free and fixed his violin for him, and he was still wary of decorum around her. It was frustrating to say the least, but she let none of it show on the exterior. Instead, she quirked a painted eyebrow at him.
'I can see why he was acting weird when he was talking about you. Not at all himself...or atleast how I knew him.' "What did you mean by that sentence? The one where you said that he was acting - weird, as you put it - when he spoke of me? How was he behaving? I do not believe I understand." This was said with a frown. There were very few things that Nafretiri did not understand.
The hand outstretched in front of her for a moment. Looking at it quizzicaly for a few moments, she realized that this was the custom for mortals. She'd seen it. She softly put her hand and his and wondered who was to initiate the shaking."As for Gabriel, he needed the help. There are a lot of vicious people after you Mr. Drew, and Gabriel is not old or powerful enough to keep them all at bay. That is where I come in. I am plenty old, and far more powerful than these people will expect. It will be an element of surprise, so to speak."
A chuckled came forth and her dark eyes twinkled. "This place is desolate. No one comes here any more. We are certain to have both privacy and security. No one can attack from above. As for asking Gabriel, I was not aware of his settlements as of this time."
Gabriel - September 11, 2004 03:25 AM (GMT)
"Oh well. I mean he just sounded strange...hard to explain. Have you ever heard him talk about his sire? It was almost like that. His eyes got a little hazy and he sounded distant like he was speaking and being silent at the same time. I'm sure you've noticed by now that he is slightly strange. I think he does things that he himself does not understand. I geuss I should go into more detail on what he ment by take it out on him. He thought that if I wasn't respectful that you wouldn't help him. I wasn't sure what you were helping him with until just now when you told me." He glanced down at thier hands. "Don't shake many people's hands do you?" He laughed a little. "Not sure of what time frame your from so what are you used too?" He raised a brow. "I have a hard time remenbering that all vampires come from differn eras." He sighed slightly.
"Well thank you. I'm glad he got help he's been looking worse and worse every day. I geuss it's the stress. It should help since your helping him now too." Slowly his eyes roamed around the building scanning for anything which might have been watching them before deciding he was safe. "Yeah well he lives in a warehouse not far from here at all. It looks much better then in the past or so he says. Now he's working on saving money..or perhaps stealing money not really sure which so he can buy the warehouse and get power inside of it. He was going to live in an old grave the one he had been sleeping in for awhile but having a dog and all kinda eleminated that option you know."
Nafretiri - September 16, 2004 01:09 AM (GMT)
Nafretiri was surprised, but only let it show a little by allowing her eyes to widen. He spoke of her like he spoke of his sire? How strange and utterly unexpected. She would never have thought that he would speak of her in such a way. While she considered the two of them to be friends, they had not been so very long. Not long at all, in fact. It stunned her to think that he would talk about her the same way he talked about someone he'd known for centuries.
She raised an eyebrow at him, mirth glittering in her eyes. "Am I so obvious in my lack of proper modern etiquette?" She nodded. "I'll admit that I have not been keeping with the times in that respect. As for my era... my era was long ago. The poor bowed to those above them, and the nobility did whatever they wished in greeting, though it was most often bowing. You need not bow, however. Such things have long since gone out of fashion."
"I would not have offered my services if I believed that Gabriel were able to handle it all on his own." She drew silent, thinking deeply. "Yes... stress..." Nafretiri said this without really agreeing. How could she when she knew that it was most possibly because of the impending darkness? She was not about to lie to this mortal, but she wouldn't tell him the truth either. It might frighten him, and that was something she didn't want.
Gabriel - September 16, 2004 01:20 AM (GMT)
"Did something I say confuse you or something? Or just interest you?" How on earth could Gabriel trust this person. She seemed too...too...he was unable to think of a word to discribe her but it hardly seemed trust worthy in his eyes. Was he hidding something from drew? If so why did he hide it. I mean this vampire had told Drew his life's story and he was hiding something...or was it all a pack of lies. Something didn't add up. Gabriel had made the elders seem like jerks in the past. People with very little compasion and seemed focused on order ,something that life was unable to understand, rather then on the thoughts of who they mess with but, he didn't talk about her like that...maybe it was because he had actually talked to her before rather then just go off what he had heard?
"How serous is this thing anyway? I mean at first Gabriel only ran into me every now in then and seemed calm and relaxed lately though he's been more worried and seems to force a calm face. He spend the entire night around me and is feeding less and less. Throughout the day all he does is sit in a dark area of the warehouse and meditate. He's stopped telling me everything. So can you please fill me in on what's happening. Why is he acting like this all of the sudden. Is that vampire really such a threat to him?"
Nafretiri - September 16, 2004 01:42 AM (GMT)
Nafretiri's eyes snapped towards Drew. "Gabriel was right in his own way about the things he said about the Elders. He had a hard time with them while he was mortal, and I do not think it kind of you to think that he would make such needless things up. The Elders are like humans in the sense that just because we are in the same age group, does not mean that we are alike. We are a diverse as the human population, for we were human once."
She didn't bother to explain how she knew what he was thinking. If he had been even midly informed, he would know that some vampires can read minds. Around her, he would have to become used to it. Let him consider it a small mercy that she didn't mention anything about Gabriel's trust for her.
"I was merely surprised that Gabriel would hold me in the same regard as his sire," she added curtly. "There was nothing more to it." She sighed again, and opened her arms in a helpless gesture. "I believe that the vampire really is a threat to him. As for Gabriel, he is not a heartless beast. He was not always how he was when you met him. When I first met him, he was almost innocent. Now, however, due to this feud, the darkness is - was, it's hard to say - overpowering him. I hope that will no longer be the case."
Gabriel - September 16, 2004 02:37 AM (GMT)
"He told me something along the lines of you and that whole mind reading thing...I thought he was losing his mind..." So this was going to be the person who helped protect him. He wasn't sure if she was protecting him or Gabriel for sure. Though they were so close right now gaurding one would surely mean gaurding the other. Plus if all vampires know how strong these elders are then it might even scare off that psycho.
What would have happened to me had I not ran into all of this. Would I have been killed or would that boy not even know of me. Why did I have to win the genetic trump card and be stuck with that psycho as an ancestor? I mean heck he asked to become a vampire. Who in their right mind would do that and why is he so protective of me anyway? Wait a second...Gabriel had no brothers and I wouldn't have the same last name had I been his sister's child so...did he have a son or was one of my relatives connected to him some otherway?
(I just relized that Gabriel had been an only child...I completly forgot the fact that Drew would have to be a direct decendent of him...I really am that stupid.)
"What do you know about Gabriel? I mean his past. He left out alot to me I was wondering if you knew more? Or maybe about his sire? Or her sire? I mean everything is so tightly woven together anymore I don't know when one starts and the other ends.."
