Chapter 5: Just an Average Everyday Life

By: A Midsummer Night’s Dreamer

Blaise scowled into the mirror, stupid, stupid. He was just a human—a vermin—and was only average handsome. She had seen better looks on guys in her past few years, and had left them heartbroken after taking what they were worth. She was the dark seductress, an Aphrodite incarnate, love was her game and she had been playing it like a master… until now. She had been calm and level-headed, even when Ash tried to use his charm on her the last time, he had gotten a rather unexpected bolt of fire that, according to him, ruined his favourite sweat-shirt. Blaise had doubted that, but she was proud of the way she dealt with guys, she was a natural. So how do you explain what happened out there with Phil? A little voice inside of her head said slyly, you practically swooned right there and then. Could it be that the almighty Goddess of Love had finally found her match?

Shut up, Blaise told the voice, he means nothing.

She sighed, well, so much for the outfit. Blaise quickly changed into something more comfortable—black hiphugger jeans with a tight, dark green shirt that left her midriff bare. The party clothes were carelessly tossed on the ground and Blaise vowed to never wear them for as long as they live. At least, she thought with the faintest hint of satisfaction, Phil looked as shocked as she was.

“What’s wrong with you?” A quiet voice startled Blaise, making her jump.

She turned around, Thea stood in the doorway, looking at her curiously. “Ever heard of knocking?” she said irritatingly.

“I did, you never answered and I got worried.” Thea replied cheerfully, “So, what’s going on?”

“My own business.” Blaise snapped, “which I would thank you to keep out of. And shouldn’t you be cuddling with your soulmate or something?”

“Oohhhhhh… now I’m really concerned.” Thea came into the room, “You don’t lose your cool usually, okay, who is it this time?”

“Who what?” Blaise was confused.

“It’s a guy, isn’t it? The last time that you lost your temper was when Eric defied you.” Thea said in a matter-of-fact manner.

Blaise groaned, “You had to remind me that? And no, it’s not a guy. Now will you quite it already? You’re beginning to sound like a damned psychiatrist.”

Thea grinned, “I just know you too well, besides, who else are you going to talk to, Ash?”

Blaise laughed despite of herself.

“See?” Thea patted her arm, “You’re feeling better already.”

Blaise managed a fake smile, “Yes, whatever you say, O Great Counsellor, now can you please leave so I can take a shower?”

Thea smiled back, “Just be sure to come down to dinner on time, or we’ll eat your share of the food.” She turned and left Blaise alone.

Blaise sat down on the chair, okay, so the knock-me-dead outfit obviously hadn’t been the right decision. Maybe she should just work her charm on Phil and see if he can resist that. But first, she need to eat something, dinner won’t happen for another four hours.

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“Thierry?” Hannah knocked softly on the big oak door. “Are you in here?”

No response.

Hannah frowned, it was three o’clock in the afternoon, and normally Thierry should be in his office, reading those never-ending documents from Daybreakers all over the world, so where is he today?

She gently pushed open the door and poked her blond head in. The office was dark, and the curtains drawn.

Just as Hannah was about to call for her love a second time, a strong arm encircled her waist from behind, and pulled her against a warm, lean body.

Hannah gasped, and was about to push the person away, when a deep voice murmured near her ear, “Looking for me?”

“Thierry!” Hannah said almost loudly, “Why aren’t you working?”

Thierry chuckled, and gently nuzzled at her neck, Hannah closed her eyes, revelling at the sensations from the feeling of his mouth on her neck and from the soulmate bond. “I thought you wanted me to take a break.”

“I do, I do,” Hannah’s heartbeat quickened as he kept on kissing her neck, she was sure Thierry had heard it too, “In fact, I was just coming to ask if you wanted to take a walk through the garden.”

“That sounds great,” he murmured, “But right now, I can think of some more… enjoyable activities that we can try.”

Hannah smiled and turned in his arms so that she stood facing him, there was a mischievous glint in his dark eyes, “Do tell.” She said softly.

Thierry led her into the darkened office and shut the door. He didn’t bother to turn on the light, and for a few minutes Hannah’s eyes couldn’t focus on anything. Then, she felt his lips on hers, gently at first, and then deepened into something more teasing. His tongue licked her lips, and she opened her mouth to allow him to venture inside, her own tongue wrestling his. The soulmate bond brightened to an almost blinding light, and within it they caressed and expressed their love to each other.

The kiss went on for a long time and when they finally parted, both were out of breath. Hannah laid her head against Thierry’s chest, trying to calm her erratic breathing.

“I’ve been waiting to do that all day,” Thierry whispered, “Unfortunately things kept getting in my way.”

Hannah grinned, “So what made you change your mind?”

“A couple of other soulmate couples in the house, I believe you know them, Thea and Eric?”

Hannah nodded, “Remind me to thank them after.” She moved her arms upward until they rested above Thierry’s shoulders, they really are nice shoulders, she thought absently and sighed contently, “This is nice, just the two of us, and no documents that are waiting to be viewed.”

“I’m sorry,” Thierry said guiltily, his left hand moved to tilt Hannah’s chin upward and looked into her gray eyes, “I promise that from now on I will try to cut back on the works and spend more time with you.”

Hannah’s eyes brightened, “Really? You would do that for me?”

“Of course,” he made a mental note to cancel all appointments for tomorrow, “we can have a picnic tomorrow, just the two of us.”

Hannah smiled happily, “That would be great!”

Thierry’s heart leapt at her obvious signs of happiness, “Glad to hear it, now, how about that walk through the gardens?”

Hannah nodded enthusiastically and they walked hand in hand out of the office.

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Eric grimaced when he opened the fridge. The downside of living in a house full of vampires is that they don’t care what food is in the fridge as long as it’s edible. He went through several jars of peanut butter, a whole stack of chocolate bars, bags of jellybeans and some kind of unrecognizable soft drinks, until he finally settled on an apple.

Eric turned on the faucet to wash the fruit, so he didn’t hear the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. When he turned around, the sight of Blaise standing in the doorway almost made him jump.

“Jeez! Blaise!” his words came out a little rushed, “What are you doing here?”

Blaise gave him one of those looks that she reserved for the extremely stupid, “This is a kitchen, and a kitchen is a storage place for food. What do you think I’m here for? A massage?”

“No, of course not,” Eric mentally smacked himself for saying such a stupid thing. “You just startled me, that’s all.”

“Really? Wow! I scared Eric! The guy who faced down a spirit from the netherworld!” Blaise exclaimed sarcastically.

“You’re not in a very good mood, are you?” Eric observed.

“However did you guess?” Blaise rolled her eyes.

“You’re not usually this… snappy.” He said carefully.

“And you’re spending way too much time with Thea, you’re even beginning to sound like her.” Blaise opened the fridge.

And promptly closed it, “Good god, did I wander into the sweetshop by mistake?”

Eric grinned, “Apparently vampires don’t have to watch what they eat.”

“That what I said the first time I saw the fridge.” A new voice said behind them.

Both of them turned around, a short, round-faced girl who looked about the age of sixteen stood there. She had auburn-coloured hair and brown eyes. She’s quite pretty and well built; one could tell right away that she was a sports-person.

And she was wearing mismatching socks.

The girl seemed a little uncomfortable under their stared, she stepped forward, breaking the silence, “Hi, I’m Maggie Neely.”

Eric blinked, so this is the soulmate of the vampire prince, “Oh, hi Maggie, I’m Eric Ross. I just got here yesterday.”

Maggie nodded, smiling briefly, “Yeah, Delos said that he heard people come in last night.”

“Speaking of soulmates,” Blaise interrupted, “Has anyone seen Thierry or Hannah? I really think they should have a look at the content of this fridge.”

Maggie laughed, “I think I saw them in the garden not so long ago. But I’d advise you to wait until they come back; it’s so rare that those two gets to spend a little time together. You must be Blaise, Thea’s cousin, right?”

Blaise made a face, “Yeah, the next thing you know I would just be known as ‘Thea’s cousin’ and nothing else.”

“Sorry, it’s just that she mentioned you and I didn’t want to get the names wrong.” Maggie apologized.

Eric grinned, “Don’t mind her,” he told Maggie, “Blaise is just being grumpy today. So where’s Delos, is he still practicing the violins?”

Maggie’s eyes brightened at the mentioning of her soulmate’s name, “Oh, on, he decided that he’s had enough of those, and I quote, ‘extremely unpleasant cacophonies known to mankind’, and stashed everything last one of them in the storage room.”

“Man! That’s a major waste of money! I hope Thierry haven’t seen it yet.” Blaise murmured.

“Haven’t seen what?” A male voice startled them all.

Thierry stood in the doorway, his arm around Hannah. An amused look in both of their eyes.

“Umm… nothing, nothing at all.” Blaise said a little too quickly.

“Yeah, nothing really, just a few old friends catching up.” Eric corroborated.

“Yeah… that’s it… we’re just… catching up… err… getting to know each other, you know, like what new people do to make friends. So, how about a movie, guys?” Maggie practically dragged the other two out of the door.

“That sounds great, see you later!” the trio ran off, presumably to the living room. Leaving Thierry and Hannah alone in the kitchen.

“So, what do you think that was about?” Hannah leaned on Thierry.

“The bill, or the food in the fridge?” There was a playful tone in his voice.

“Probably the bill,” Hannah said after a second, “But I’ve been meaning to ask you about the food as well.”

“You don’t like it?” Thierry was surprised.

“No, it’s not that, it’s just… well, we humans still have to watch what we eat, and if I ate all those confectioneries I would gain an awful lot of weight.” She giggled, after imagining herself with thirty pounds more weight on her body.

Thierry kissed her lightly on the nose, “Ahh, but you would still look beautiful to me.”

“Oh you!” Hannah laughed and playfully hit his chest.

Thierry caught her hand the second time, and drew her close to him. “I mean it, you’re beautiful.” He murmured softly before capturing her lips in a sweet kiss.