She looked down and started sobbing embarrassingly loud. Everything that she had hoped for of not wanting to see him and her mission, had now been destroyed. She would have to work on another plan and redo everything but… but she didn't feel regret. She was just happy to see him. Even though their meeting had not been under the best of circumstances.
She was acting like the biggest idiot on the planet because he came down to a shelter she was staying at.
Ladislas realized that she had not wanted to be found, truly. He had somehow ended up as a stalker. Still, she lifted her face up again to make her look at him.
"Anna, please stop crying," he said silently.
She watched with horror as his eyes turned redder. His bottom lip trembled. "I'm sorry," he said again.
'Why is he crying?' Anna thought with a note of confusion.
"I just needed to see that you were okay," he told her and wiped her tear with his sleeve.
"I'm not okay," she said so softly that he almost didn't hear it.
"You're not? What's wrong?" he asked.
She shook her head and said nothing, keeping her concerns bottled up inside. But she was shaking too much. She was about to say something when she looked over his shoulder and flinched. She pulled him towards her and just as Ladislas was about to hold her tighter, she stepped in front of him.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Ladislas heard a voice say.
She looked in the direction of the voice and saw two homeless men approach them.
"Who is your friend, little girl?" the blonde-haired man asked Anna and looked Ladislas up and down.
Ladislas tried to move past Anna, but she held her arm out behind her and pushed him back. She shielded him with her body. As touching as the moment was, he was immortal and some straw thin humans weren't going to put a scratch on his body. Funny seeing her trying to protect him against people twice her size, too. She started to back away from the men, pushing him back as she went along.
"Don't be like that, little girl," Ladislas heard one of the men say. "You know how long we have been following you around. Why don't we share you with that boyfriend of yours?"
'Share her?'
Ladislas slowly pushed her hand away but she held her ground. She was trying to get him to move away from her, but Ladislas didn't want to leave her. She pushed him again, harder this time.
"No," he hissed. "I am not leaving you. I can take them down."
She let out an irritated sigh and took another step back. She pushed him roughly backward, and he stumbled a little. His mind was racing and he could feel his eyes glow with excitement. Look at the courage of this girl! She was shoving him away when he was trying to help her. No matter how much adoration he felt for her, he was still astounded by this move.
She was born yesterday if she thought he would leave Anna behind. He looked up at the men, finding them young and grinning evilly at Anna.
"I can see why your boyfriend doesn't want to leave you behind. You're cute and he wants to keep you all to himself," he told Anna, although he never took his eyes off Ladislas. He was bigger and obviously the bigger threat. But people on the street fight dirty. "Man, you should just walk away and let us have her, or you will be sorry."
Ladislas growled but Anna pushed me back. "Don't disrupt my work," she said softly so that the men couldn't hear. Ladislas stiffened. "They can't do anything to me. I know who they work for and I need an in. Don't worry and leave," she commanded.
"I understand," Ladislas said softly. "But on one condition," he bargained.
"Tell me quick," she demanded harshly.
"Give me a promise to meet again," was what he said.
She noticed the change in his voice. She looked over her shoulder instinctively to see his purple eyes glowing. She gasped and then shuddered. "Okay. I promise to meet you again." She turned away and pushed him back with a lot of force.
The blond man took another step towards them and things spun into anarchy. Anna launched herself at the man and threw him to the ground. Ladislas hissed as he held himself back and receded into the darkness. The man let out a scream and Anna whipped towards the next guy, her eyes filled with false panic. Just as the other man started to throw himself at her, Anna's eyes locked with Ladislas.
"Leave!" she yelled and Ladislas watched with absolute anger as her demeanor changed and her hands flew up to her head and she let out a scream as if she was in agonizing pain.
Ladislas followed her command, his hand clenched with the essence of her promise bound to him. He would be able to find her no matter where she was from that moment on. As long as she was alive, he would find her even if she was down six feet under in some bunker.
He walked away slowly, his pulse thundering in his ears. He registered that Anna screamed again from somewhere behind him.
He moved until he found himself on a busy street. People were chatting happily and he was about to turn around and rip apart those two men to an unrecognizable paste of meat and blood.
But he would reluctantly listen to her command. She was someone who knew how to fight. He didn't know her job exactly but she could take care of herself. He trusted her that much, at least.