The cold water slid down my throat and calmed my nerves as I sat on the cold, glossy counter. The wood felt stable under me as the cold rushed the dizziness from my head. Luca stood across from me with arms crossed against his broad chest clad in a black blazer. The shinning crystal lights above us made the gold streaks in his hair shine like gold. I took the glass away from my lips and felt flustered at my previous behaviour.
"Are you feeling better?" I nodded and looked at the clear glass cabinets surrounding him. The kitchen was in the shape of a circle, with two hallways connecting the north and south. The west wall was a large patio, with a large balcony and glass dining set overlooking the crystal blue ocean. Italian poppies surrounded the land under the balcony and the marble outside has red roses climbing up the building. The east wall was the full kitchen set of silver and luxurious equipment, wood glossy countertops and glass cabinets that made all the perfectly set in their cubbies. The heat was washing out of me and I was regaining my sense of self.
"What was that?" I croaked, shaking my head as I tried to rid my head of the fuzziness that had nested in my brain.
"You got drunk."
"Did Elijah drug me?" I asked Luca, placing the glass on the island counter he had placed me on.
"Vampire blood when consumed in large quantities can have that effect. Unfortunately until we can get a Wiccan here, that will just be the reality of your situation."
"So I am going to act like a fool for the next while?" I realized in horror, clutching my face in sheer panic.
"It's okay, we are not going to judge you. I doubt my uncle is even upset with you, he can just be cold." Something he said stuck with me as I looked at him like he had three heads.
"Elijah is your uncle?"
"Ah, I forgot you don't speak Italian. I often regard him as zio, which is uncle in my native tongue." I felt like I was about to scratch my head out of confusion, not really giving it any thought to their relationship.
"Vampires have children by making new vampires, right?" I raised the glass to my lips and took another swig of the clear liquid.
"No we have sex. If we had children by turning people zio Elijah would have been fucking my tio Marie." I wanted to spit out the water at what he said, shocked at the revelation. I managed to gulp the water in my mouth before I choked, making it go down hard in my throat.
"Elijah's married?" I don't know why I got a bit defensive about it, or why I felt guilty in the slightest. Luca looked around as if looking for cameras before vigorously shaking his head.
"No, I misspoke." He looked concerned, as if the walls had ears. I wanted to prod him more, but I did not know if Elijah could hear us from down here and that was why he was panicking. I would not like to incur the wrath of that man, so I decided to bite my lip.
"We should start physiotherapy." He quickly changed the subject, still looking around to see if anything was near us. Other than Luca, Elijah and Isa I had not seen another living soul in the giant mansion. Luca offered me his hands to help me hop off the countertop and I obliged. My knees bent at the impact a bit which caused me to wobble unsteadily, but with Luca holding me upright I managed to keep my balance.
"You're already much stronger. How do you feel?" I twisted myself around to show him that my range of movement was much farther than before.
"I feel like Gumby." I grinned, trying to cheer myself up from a strange dark pit growing in my chest. Luca looked confused before clicking together.
"The army man with the bad legs?" He was frowning and then looked down to my legs. He was about to kneel down to check them before I let out a giggle.
"That's Forrest Gump." His pale face flushed again, and he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Mi dispiace, I am not familiar with modern culture." He looped his lanky arm around my waist and began to guide me forward for a simple walk. We exited the north hallway to avoid Elijah's study, our feet clicking on the exquisite floors.
"You're pretty old, why are you not familiar with modern times?" He almost looked offended at my words as he gave me a playful pat on my head.
"I am only eight hundred years old, meaning I am still a youngling," His chiding tone made me smile as I saw through his act, "Zio is pretty strong on pushing away human influences. He absolutely hates humans." I felt the dark pit in my chest grow tighter, almost unbearably so.
"Why does he hate humans?" Luca's expression turned dark and grim, as if he was having flashbacks to a horrific event.
"You would hate humans too if they dragged you into their wars, tried to manipulate you for eternal life and took away the love of your life." The last bit of his words intrigued me.
"Was it Marie?" He cupped his hand over my mouth to silence me. The look on his face was terrifying, his dark eyes burning orange at me.
"Don't speak her name! Just pretend you never heard it." He hissed. I had never seen Luca angry, he was always laid back and kind. This side of him made my heart start racing uncontrollably, and my breath became erratic. In an instant his face was gentle again as he let me go. I tried to back away from him after the scene, my heart rate only pounding in my ears. I remembered that we were not two friends chatting who had a spat, but rather kidnapper and victim.
"Hey, calm down Suri. I am sorry for lashing out at you." His voice was gentle as he reached out for me but I still backed up into the marble wall, shaking like a leaf in the autumn wind.
"Calmati, Suri. It's okay." He walked in front of me and caged me against the wall, and my world began to blur. I wished I was even slightly stronger to try and run, but running was futile. Instead I could not help my legs from giving out beneath me as I sank to the floor in a puddle of fear, my chest starting to grow tight and my ragged breathing becoming unbearable. Luca knelt down in front of me, and even when I looked at his now kind face, a ominous and terrifying aura still vibrated off of him.
"Your heart rate is too fast Suri. Perhaps physio is too much for you today." He looked disappointed, and slightly guilty. I knew my heart rate was not from the walking, but from the previous threat I had just received.
"I was going to show you the garden today, I thought you would like it. Would you still like to go?" I was unable to answer, still frozen in place. When he reached out to touch me I flinched and shielded my face with a small whimper. After treatment of Conner, I knew what was coming next and I braced myself for a stinging strike. I waited with baited breath, but one never came. Instead I felt a hand on the top of my head, lightly running it's fingers through my hair at the top. It was quite soothing, and even though I was still scared my heart began to slow down. I peaked between my fingers to see Luca smiling sweetly at me. There was almost an emotion of adoration in his eyes, and a sense of familiarity.
"Sara, I'm sorry." I lowered my hands at his words, realizing that he had either mistaken me for someone else or mixed up my name. I did not have the heart to tell him, however, and just relaxed under him.
"What happened?" A voice boomed to our right. We both looked to see Elijah standing with a middle aged greying man, and a middle aged black woman. The man wore a dress shirt and black jeans while the woman wore the same outfit as Isa. Luca looked over to me with pleading eyes, and even though every fiber in my being was telling me to say something to get him away from me there was something else. Something almost maternal and familiar.
"I-" I cleared my throat, "I couldn't take the walk and fell down." I was lying through my teeth, and I sensed that Elijah could tell.
"Let me help you, Miss." The older woman said and rushed over to me. Her voice was smooth and kind, and something about her put me at peace. It was a familiarity I could not quite place. The tall, voluptuous woman knelt down next to me and placed her slender fingers on my wrist and inspected me.
"You silly man, she's far too weak still to be exerting this much energy." She scowled at Luca and slapped his shoulder. I was shocked at the woman's brazen attitude to the predator kneeling before me. She turned to her employer and scowled deeper at the tall vampire.
"And you Elijah! Either go the full way or make a contract, don't just put it halfway! Do you even know what you are doing? History is repeating itself again!" I expected Elijah to lash out and snap at her, but instead he just looked to his feet. This was even more shocking to me.
"Sorry Ziva," The two men called out and looked like kicked puppies. The middle aged man with long grey-brown hair laughed and patted Elijah on the back.
"Come on sweetie," The woman-- Ziva-- pulled me up to my feet. Luca and Elijah stepped forward to help but she shooed them both away. Elijah held his cold and stern exterior while Luca still looked like the kicked puppy trying to apologize. Ziva swiftly took me away from the intimidating man, whispering soft words to me as I struggled to move. My legs were suddenly locking and unlocking themselves like I was tangled in wire. She ushered me back to my now familiar room, and over to the bed. Even though I had felt like I had not accomplished much today, the sun was getting close to the water indicating that it would soon set. Ziva fluttered around me like a bee buzzing around a flower. She laid out a fresh nightgown beside me and motioned for me to change. Just like Isa, she watched me as I did so making me very uncomfortable. The soft cotton nightgown was long and warm, pure white with a light pink bow wrapped around the cuffs and neck. Whoever had bought my clothes really pushed into the cute fashion that was prevalent this year with the rise of harajuku and lolita fashion that was popping up around the world. From all the moving my body had become weak, and I sat down on the bed weakly.
"I'll go get your medicine sweetie, just wait here." Ziva stroked my cheek with almost a loving gaze that confused me. With that she rushed out of the room with astonishing speed. Once the door closed I shot up like a bullet.
Like hell I would be drinking that poison. I was getting out of here.