Icy A

Chapter 5

Just as the growl escaped Andreas’ lips, all eyes, and some heads too, snapped towards him. He couldn't bring himself to care though, as he was fighting down the urge to let his vampiric face make an apparition. Another part of him encouraged him to claim Kelly in front of everyone, good manners be damned, just to drive away any thoughts of this Dan she was talking about... Only he didn't have any feelings for her – romantic feelings, he meant, not territorial nonsense – and thus he wasn't sure he'd want to be with her afterwards anyways.

Before anyone tried to explain, Blake was standing right behind the sofa occupied by Kelly and Felicity. He had teleported inside from the looks of it. Andreas was happy to see him home. He could finally be relieved of watch duty.

“What's the meaning of this?” He demanded calmly, his green eyes boring into Andreas’ slightly widened ones.

Everybody started at the sound of his voice, and even more so Kelly who had had her back facing him. She abruptly turned around to look at him, her heart trying to beat its way out of her ribcage, a hand coming to rest on her heaving chest.

Andreas answered a few seconds later, after he got his temper under control and made sure his voice wouldn't come out that of the killer that he was, “My apologies, it surprised me as much as it did you.”

His chest heaved with a discreet, mouth-shut, all-through-the-nose sigh and he saw worry flash in his sire's eyes. The air was filled with tension, unanswered questions and unreleased steam.

“So there was some hot blood in the iceberg's veins after all.” Ace's attempt at a joke most definitely did not succeed in lightening the atmosphere.

“One more word and I'll hurt you.” Andreas didn't believe he could stand the taunts of the younger vampire. The words, albeit whispered, sounded both icy and dangerous and Charlie dropped his head forward in defeat, his lips a thin pouty line.

Andreas had never liked how carefree he was. Admittedly, he was a little bit jealous of it at the same time. Those were the manners of someone who had not seen much blood shed, who had not witnessed wars, who had not killed; the manners of an innocent child, although he was a vampire.

“Help yourself to some alcohol,” came Blake's advice. Andreas nodded curtly before disappearing from the living-room, at a human pace unlike his sire's arrival. He realized his shoulders were stiff, and he wouldn't mind breaking the rigidity away… but he'd need somebody's help to do that, and he could never bring himself to admit such a weakness.

Kelly had a hard time following what was happening. Ever since she had come to see her friend, it seemed like she had stepped in a house full of untold mysteries. There were guests but the master of the house was nowhere to be found – family matters supposedly. Said guests had prevented her from approaching her friend. One very hot, very icy guy was bringing out the worse in her and making her lose her temper like no one had before. Then, there was that growl which didn't really sound human, but it had to be for Blake didn't have any pets – none that she knew of, at least. And to top it all, Blake had appeared out of nowhere. She had not heard a car, or a door slam or even just click shut… and the living room had been quiet enough to hear a needle drop when he had made an appearance.

How could that be? Could it really be she had been too distracted to hear him enter? It was either that or he was a guy that could make himself disturbingly quiet.

She didn't know what to think anymore.

“Maybe we should order some pizzas, how does that sound?” The cheerfulness with which he said that, and the clap that came with it, felt somehow out of place to her.

As if all that had happened hadn't been weird enough, Maria jumped up out and then run into his awaiting arms. “You're back,” She heard her breathe out in relief.

“You look like you haven't seen him in days!” Kelly observed, sounding much calmer than she felt, puzzlement tainting her words.

Maria disentangled herself from Blake at that but before she could answer her, her boyfriend stole a short sweet kiss. “We met some bumps on the road,” he explained ambiguously seconds later.

“Whatever,” Kelly dismissed the weird scene and finally commented on the most disturbing matter, the one that made her frown, “Have I really heard that Andreas dude growling?”

While Kelly waited for an answer, her friend looked troubled for some reason. “Why don't you take a seat?”

Kelly remembered then that she had shot out of the sofa when she was arguing with Andreas. She obliged while Blake settled between the two girls that had flanked Maria's sides, before making her blushing friend sit on his lap.

“Felicity, be a darling and order us pizzas,” he let out after a little while, seemingly ignoring Kelly's concerns.

Instead of being angry at how he brushed off her question, Kelly felt more at ease now that he was back for some reasons. “You have some weird friends,” She whined, drawling the weird part, referring to Andreas, “they wouldn't even let me near Maria. What the hell?”

Andreas, having made quick work of two bottles from Blake's collection, feeling noticeably less on edge, had returned just in time to hear his sire chuckle in response to his mate's demand.

“She might be sent by an enemy is what I thought,” he explained his motive from where he stood on the threshold, in a voice that was so low only supernatural beings could hear it.

“Caution never killed anyone,” Blake partially hid his face behind the princess’ hair so as not to be seen and raise even more questions.

Upon hearing the approval in Blake's response, Andreas entered the living room and went to stand against the wall, where he had been before.

“P.S.: this girl's my mate,” he then whispered in a falsely nonchalant tone that was but his signature, “if you'd be so kind as to tell her about us – vampires – and explain the situation at hand…” he trailed off, knowing Blake understood him better than anyone.

“And that guy over there is the weirdest of them all,” Kelly pointed an accusing finger in Andreas’ direction. “Did I really hear him growl?” She muttered under her breath, disbelief clear in her voice.

Felicity, who had returned shortly after Andreas, had troubles stifling her laugh at that, and even though she tried to conceal it with a cough, she wasn't successful. Kelly didn't even spare her a sideways glance, too busy as she was observing Blake's face. And Andreas felt the urge to smile at how ridiculous it all seemed, but refrained from doing so, as per usual. Everything was back to normal. No growl, no smirk, and no talkative look were dancing past his control. He couldn't let things get out of control. Not only was he a vampire but also Blake's first turned vampire, and only willing subject – all the others had been dying. To him, losing control would not only bring him shame but also tarnish Blake's image somehow, and that could not happen. Blake was the epitome of control, even when he had lost his mate, he had dulled the pain and the loss with alcohol and managed to remain in control for far more than anyone thought possible. He would never allow himself to put a stain on the name of Blake The Troublemaker.

“It's complicated…” Maria began in an apologetic tone from where she sat on Blake's lap.

“Let me do the explaining, cara,” he interjected. “Well, how shall I start?” His voice was almost enthusiastic.

That was one thing that made Blake sensibly different from him, and thus more suitable to do the talking. He could be open and put people at ease. After having to take care of Felicity, he had managed to make himself appear more human, less to-the-point and more normal next-door guy. Andreas didn't bother with appearances much. He had never really needed to. And that made him, as Ace so kindly put it one day, a total social klutz.

“Right from the beginning,” Kelly supplied, shrugging in a nonchalant way that was betrayed by her eyes. Those blue orbs of hers were eager for information. She was so open, Andreas couldn't help but wonder if they could ever get along. Just one hour in each other's presence and they had already clashed. Already, he saw himself erasing her memories, leaving for Greece, never to return again, unless summoned by Blake. It wasn't that he feared a rejection from her part, all supernatural beings endured that; he feared they were incompatible. Mixing fire and ice was not his idea of fun.

“Do you believe in myths?” He heard Blake ask her seriously, all cheerfulness gone.

“Oh please!” Kelly drawled out sarcastically after nearly a minute of silence, rolling her eyes. “How old do you think I am?”

She wasn't sure what game they were playing at but she didn't really like it. She had asked what the whole mess was about, what was he asking about myths for? If they were trying to scare her, they had already. Needless to make a fool out of her!

“How old do you think I am?” He countered deadpan, unfazed, an eyebrow rising in challenge.

Okay, this is it! I've had it with them! Kelly inwardly hissed in indignation.

“Seriously Blake, stop joking around,” the depths of her blue eyes were starting to darken ever so slightly with her growing irritation.

“What if I told you vampires exist?”

“I would say bullshit,” she replied on a sigh of pure annoyance. “Has your boyfriend gone nuts or something?” Her eyebrow rose as she addressed Maria. She only received a negative shake of the head in response.

Kelly rolled her eyes again, convinced they were pulling a prank on her and not enjoying it… not because she wasn't the one pulling the strings for once, but because they had really spooked her. She had been so afraid for her friend's safety, it was not even funny.

“What if you saw it with your own eyes?” Blake argued right back.

Andreas tensed at that, wondering how she would take it, already half determined to make her forget the whole afternoon if it proved too much for her impressionable mind.

“Surprise me,” came her unbelieving snicker. She felt her irritation give way to a little bit of amusement. She mildly wondered what they had in store.

“Then please keep in mind that nobody here wants to harm you,” He winked at her, making a small smile stretch her lips despite her eye-roll.

“Ace,” Andreas heard his sire call out meaningfully, choosing him for he was the most cheerful among them, the one with an easy-to-come you-can-trust-me smile.

“Don't feel jealous, Andreas, will you?” Charlie whispered behind a yawn of affected boredom as he rose to his feet. Andreas narrowed his eyes ever so slightly but didn't answer him verbally, knowing he only provoked him for fun. The young vampire averted his gaze at that, chagrined at the lack of reaction.

“Here goes,” he whispered in a light tone as he stood in front of Kelly who was by then flashing a small apprehensive smile. She expected him to scare her with some kind of snarl only he was able to mimic and prepared herself to laugh.

To her horrified surprise, she couldn't be further from the truth. It was not like anything she had expected or even thought possible. His warm brown eyes darkened to a frightening black that didn't spare the white of his orbs and her breath caught in her throat at the sight. In a sickly mesmerized fascination, her eyes traveled south and she saw there were some muscle contortions that made his face sharper, more dangerous. The sweet innocent smile Ace had been sporting just a few seconds ago had morphed into a grimace of some sorts.

From where Andreas stood, he could see a part of her face. She had become sickly pale. Her eyes were wide, her mouth agape, her breath short, her heartbeat quick. And seconds later, she was trying to get as much distance between her and Ace as she could while still sitting on the sofa. He guessed that her legs were probably not being very cooperative at the moment. Fear could do that to a person… and it could do a lot more. Suddenly, he felt an irrational fear for her health. Humans were so fragile after all.

“I won't hurt you, you know?” Ace's tone was half-teasing half-serious. In an attempt to calm her, he had smiled her way, but that turned out to be a mistake. The smile had allowed two sharp, long canines to peak. And Kelly realized dumbly that those could only be described as fangs.

At that, she could no longer remain quiet and let out an ear-piercing scream that had Maria jumping out of Blake's embrace and Andreas leaving the wall. As Maria hurried to stand next to Charlie and Blake to her left, noticing that his vampiric features were no longer in view, Kelly's scream finally subsided. Andreas didn't get closer for, as long as he could watch her face, that was enough. What good would it make to crowd her?

With eyes glistening with unshed tears, Kelly looked at Maria and whispered dumbly, a hint of disbelieving amazement tainting her words, “He truly is a vampire.”

And then, without further ado, she slumped back against the sofa, falling into abyss, surrendering to the darkness that offered some peace of mind.

“That went well,” Blake made a clicking sound with his tongue.

“I'm sorry.” Ace's face was that of a pained man. He had tried to make his face as friendly as possible, but vampires weren't exactly beautiful when they transformed.

Andreas took pity on the young man, “It's not your fault really. It was to be expected.”

“At least, she didn't run,” Blake joked, his arm sneaking around Maria's slightly shaking form, trying to calm her probably.

“I guess that has to count as a plus,” Andreas observed flatly just as Felicity stood up, allowing more space for Kelly to be laid out on.

“I remember trying to run away from Blake when he had explained things for me, thinking he was a mad man,” Jessica giggled while James added wisely, “She'll come around.”