"Shall we go into a more private setting?" The man who said his name was Finch asked us and motioned for us to sit at the same metal table I had filled out the paperwork at earlier.
"Let me get to straight to business." Finch stated as the door closed behind us. "We have been tracking this killer across the US. We found her fingerprints on the rail above the pool of blood that was identified to have your DNA." He pointed to me. "Yet, this woman has no criminal history before this incident and leaves no witnesses, so we have no idea who she is. Until now. I have a sneaking suspicion you two got a very good look at our Nurse character and are lying to the cops. Now, whether that's so you can go on your own little vigilante mission, or just because you found true love and want to put the past behind you, I don't really care. You are the only victim that has survived, and frankly, nobody's entirely sure how you did that, although looking at you now, I must say you do still look a little sickly, with good reason. And you are the only person who might have witnessed our killer or her get away vehicle or even any accomplices she may have, even in passing. Now, I don't care what you do or don't tell the cops. But I want details, and I want them now, or I'm going to dig up every dirty little detail in both your lives and make sure your lives are a living Hell from now on. And I don't want to hear any of this 'I don't remember' crap you spilled to the locals. I don't care if you pulled one over on them, you tell me the truth, they can go on believing whatever for all I care." Finch finished speaking with his arms crossed and a look on his face that terrified me. I swallowed hard, looking at Alexandre for guidance. He squeezed my hand under the table. I didn't know what to do. If this guy followed us around-or had others do it, we were vampires for goodness sake! Somebody was bound to see something abnormal!
"But sir, I really don't remember all that much. I think she must have drugged me." I squeaked fearfully.
"Yes yes. There was a massive sedative in the blood found at the scene, but don't lie to me-you just slipped-you said 'she'. Earlier you told the cops you didn't know who did it." Finch accused.
"But you just told me..." I began.
"Don't twist my words girl!" Finch yelled, leaning across the desk at me. I flinched and sunk back in my chair. His attitude reminded me of my father, and as he continued to berate me, I completely forgot that I was a dangerous predator and felt once again like a child being bullied by the man who was supposed to be my protector. Alexandre's head snapped to the expression on my face as I tried to make myself look smaller, and the wolf look appeared. He turned back to Finch with a snarl.
"That's enough!" Alexandre's voice bristled with the command. Finch immediately sat back and looked at Alexandre. "We don't speak to ladies like that, now do we?" Alexandre asked and Finch shook his head, confused. Finch could be hypnotized! I realized, suddenly shocked that I had been too afraid to even think of something like that.
"Whatever information it is you are looking for here, you are going to believe we gave it to you, but it was all a dead end, unless it aligns with information you already possess. Do you understand?" Alexandre asked menacingly. Finch nodded.
"Good. Now, you're going to let us go and not bother us anymore because we have no further information for you. Understood?" Finch nodded again at Alexandre's question. Alexandre looked satisfied.
"Wait for a few moments until we have gone, to leave. We didn't have much to share if anyone asks." Alexandre stood and held out a hand to me. I took it gratefully and clung to him as we left the room and began to walk out of the police station. I was hyper aware of the chatter behind us, afraid of trouble from Finch or the other cops, so I overheard the conversations as we exited.
"Hey, isn't that that eccentric loner billionaire dude?" Someone asked.
"Yeah-hey, he's with that missing girl! Eddie-didn't you bring her in? What's up with those two?"
"I don't know man, it's like some kind of Manson cult thing up there, you should see those two. They barely move without keeping tabs on the other one, it's creepy man. I just hope he's not using the girl for some weirdo fetish thing."
"Yeah, you know how those recluse billionaire's are with their weird closet sex fetishes and stuff."
Somebody laughed
I stiffened.
"Pay them no mind." Alexandre said under his breath, pulling the arm I was clinging to free to remove his jacket. He wrapped the jacket around my shoulders and kept his arm there, hugging me close to his body. I felt like bolting as soon as I saw the sunlight slanting through the windowpane of the door, but I forgot, the adrenaline always supercharged my vampiric senses. I sucked in a breath as the sunlight hit me in the face and blinded me when we stepped outside. I stopped and shaded my eyes with my hand so I could see, noticing Alexandre had a pair of darkly tinted sunglasses on. Designer no doubt.
"Cheater." I mumbled
"Don't worry, I have your pair in the car." He replied happily.
"Of course you do." I answered, then wrapped my arms around myself as the shakes from the adrenaline rush hit me.
"Carys are you ok?" Alexandre gripped my arms and searched my face with concern.
"I just...wanna go home.." I said, my teeth chattering.
"What's wrong?" Alexandre felt my forehead with worry. "Are you cold? When was the last time you ate?" I shook my head jerkily and could feel tears stinging my eyes.
"It's like... a stress response...PTSD... that guy, the way he acted... the threats..." I tried helplessly to explain how my broken psyche was trying to process it all. "This is normal. I'll be ok." I told him and tried to step around him on wobbly knees. He pulled me back.
"This-Carys, this is not normal. I... have no words." Alexandre held my head against his chest. For the first time since I had known him, I heard his heart squeezing quickly, almost painfully, his breathing was almost as irregular as mine, and I had to pull away to remind him that the Finch guy would need to leave too. He nodded his head silently, and though I couldn't say for sure because of the glasses, I thought he might have been crying. Alexandre walked me to the car with an arm holding my shaking shoulders, and held my hand on the drive home. When he parked in front of the house he didn't let go. I listened to the engine cooling for several long minutes and waited until he spoke.
"Carys, I meant it when I said I protect what's mine. I have no intentions of letting anyone harm you as long as you consent to be. The moment you tell me you no longer need me, I will back off, but until then, I will do everything, everything in my power to keep you safe." He looked at me, removing his sunglasses, and gently pulled mine from my face too.
"I know you can't control reactions like you had today, God knows they were well trained into you, but I never want you to feel that kind of fear again. And if it takes me the rest of my existence, I will keep trying to make you feel safe so you don't have to, and make you feel strong so you won't need to." Alexandre's gaze was intense and unwavering. He was so serious that I didn't know how to reply. I usually would have had a sassy comeback but that would be particularly cruel here, so I settled for a knee-jerk reaction instead.
"Thank you." I said, looking down. Alexandre lifted my face to his.
"You should never have to thank someone for making you feel safe." Alexandre lectured softly. "They should simply be doing it." He brushed a hand across my face, replacing my glasses, and got out of the car. When he opened the car door for me, he offered me a hand and pulled me into his arms, shutting the car door behind me.
"You never answered me, when was the last time you fed?" His voice rumbled through his chest and his breath stirred up the scent of flowers and parchment. I thought for a second and shrugged halfheartedly.
"Yesterday, day before, dunno." I mumbled into his shirt.
"How are you feeling? I know you might not be feeling any hunger or cravings right now, but all of the stress of the last few days has taken a toll on your body. Do you think you could stomach something for me?" Alexandre ran a hand lightly down my hair before pushing me back to look at him. I sighed.
"I really don't think it's safe to go out right now with all these eyes on us all of a sudden. What would happen if someone saw..." I replied, worried.
"I was referring to the delivery variety. On our way to the police station, I called my medical contact and filled him in on our..version..of events, so he could be prepared to answer questions and made the request for extra blood for an indeterminate period of time, at least until we can be sure that attention has moved off of us. The blood corroborates the story, as by all rights you should have had quite a few transfusions, so he will back date as much as he can, and then come up with some medical reason why you will need to continue treatment, like kidney damage due to blood loss or something." Alexandre waved a hand. "The first delivery should have already arrived." I gaped at him, and he chuckled uncomfortably.
"What's the matter Carys?" He asked.
"Remind me to never try to outsmart you." I answered, awed. I didn't know if he was exceptionally bright while he was still human, or if he had spent the past century learning to out-think everyone, or if he had simply accumulated that much experience and book learning, but a chill raced down my spine as I thought about what a dangerous foe Alexandre could be. I definitely would not want to be on the receiving end of his fury. Alexandre saw the shiver and assumed it might be residual shock or cold. He hugged me to his side and dragged me inside, telling me to go to my room and change into something warmer until the shock wore off and he'd be there momentarily. The contrast in the two sides of Alexandre struck me again. The deadly predator with the sly, dangerous intellect, and then this mother hen, fussing and doting character. It almost had me in stitches.
"What is it now Carys?" Alexandre's expression looked wary as I looked at him with humor.
"Just you, mother hen." I replied, and stepping on my tiptoes, I landed a quick kiss on his cheek before darting away upstairs.