The Vampire and The Ghost | ✔︎

Chapter Twenty Two: Where You Go, I'll Follow

                                                                                         Annalise 

It had been a pretty average day, Eugene had arrived at around four in the morning, after feeding at the Night Craving's nightclub. He had come back, cheeks flushed a lively pink and his thin lips stained blood red. Annalise had never seen him more attractive.

Annalise herself had mainly been lounging around, it wasn't like she needed sleep so she couldn't do that. And there was only a limited amount of things she could do being a spirit, that didn't start to get repetitive after five whole years of doing them.

Eugene had flopped himself down besides her, on the sofa she was lounging languidly on and switched the TV on to nature documentary. He apparently loved documentaries, and little else when it came to television.

Despite the relative ease of their existence, finding her body hadn't been put on the back burner. During the night, when Eugene would go out to feed, he would meet up with Dawn, Cassius and Raul to recollect on any new information they had gathered. So far, nothing had come up.

If there was anything the Modesto Clan was good at doing, it was covering their tracks so well that not even one of their own could find anything. According to Eugene, it was how they survived for so many centuries being relatively undiscovered by the human race. Annalise supposed it made sense, when she was 'alive' she had no clue that Vampires even existed. 

That was how they spent the next several hours a soft comforting peace wrapping round them like a blanket.

All until it was interrupted by a loud rapping at the front door of the house. Eugene and Annalise looked to each other in confusion, it couldn't be any of their neighbours, for one because the neighbourhood was derelict and forgotten. And secondly, Eugene hadn't ever even spoken to anyone who was brave enough to live on the street, to avoid drawing attention to his bizarre habits.

Anxiety swept over Annalise like a wave, could it be? Victoria Taylor and Vitus Modesto both knew where she and Eugene lived. Victoria herself had even visited. The chances that it could be either one of them was too high for comfort.

Eugene stood up to answer the door, and Annalise nervously trailed after him, fiddling with her hands. He opened the door slowly, and she peeped over his shoulder to see....

Absolutely nothing. There was nothing there. Annalise tilted her head, and stood on her tiptoes to peer into the street. There was no one there, so why did Eugene look like he had seen a ghost?

The vibrant pink to his cheeks had gone once again, leaving his unnaturally pale pallor. He knelt down suddenly, his hand reaching out for something on their welcome mat. He stood up, cradling something in his hands before pushing past her and rushing back into the living room.

Annalise rushed after him, railing close behind as he ripped open what was in his hands. As she got close to him, she could see it was a letter. The paper itself had obviously just been torn out of the nearest notebook and then scribbled on, but the envelope was contrastingly eccentric. It was sealed with a wax stamp, who even did that nowadays.

On second thought, who even sent letters now?

Shaking the thoughts aside, Annalise finally asked "What is it?" tilting her head. Eugene glanced at her for only a moment, and paused, like he was thinking hard about something. Cautiously, like he didn't even want to, he turned the letter so that she could see it.

Squinting her eyes, she read it.

Dear Eugene Cubert,

We need to meet immediately. I have something important to tell you in person, it's imperative that you come alone.

Our last last encounter was..less than pleasant, and i intend to remedy that.

Meet me at 'Night Time Cravings' nightclub at ten minutes to midnight, I will be waiting in one of the booths.

Yours truly,

Victoria Taylor

Her eyes widened as she skimmed over the letter, then looked at Eugene. He was solemn, yet there was a determined flicker in his eyes. He was going to go. Her metaphorical heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach.

He wasn't seriously thinking about going? Was he... 

"I've got to go Anna," he spoke with no ounce of tremble, or second guessing. Annalise bit her lip, as frustration pounded in her chest like a drum.

"You can't be serious, right?" she said, disbelieving, reaching out to touch his shoulder. He winced backwards from her touch, and Annalise tried hard not to feel rejected. "You know this could just be a trap. Vitus wants you back right? Well.. this is the perfect opportunity,"

Eugene shook his head, looking away from her. "I can't just ignore what she's saying. She probably has information on the whereabouts of your body and I'm not about to miss that chance," he responded.

"I'd be a fool not to worry that this is a trap. But I can't miss out on the chance to find out where your body is Anna," With that he tucked the letter into the back pocket of his joggers. Annalise glanced up at the clock in the room, it was around ten at night already.

She shook her head, as he began to leave the room, heading upstairs. "You can't do this!" Annalise shouted after him, "I'll follow you!" There was a pause, but then Eugene continued to walk back up the stairs.

Annalise stuck to him like glue, as he went to the main bedroom. "What are you doing? Where are you going" she pestered, and Eugene shifted to take off his ratty t-shirt. Immediately she flushed, and snapped her head away no matter how much she wanted to stay.

"What? Are you, i mean-" Annalise stuttered. Eugene chuckled lowly, it was different to his normal laugh, not as bright, or carefree. It was dark, sinister and self-depreciating all at once.

"I wouldn't be so shy, Anna. There's nothing to look at," He spat, though the viciousness wasn't directed at her, but himself. Immediately Annalise snapped back, he was putting on a buttoned pale blue shirt. She briefly caught a glance of silver lined scars that traced his abs and stomach.

There was a sudden dryness in her throat that she had to swallow past. "I don't understand, there's nothing wrong with you," Annalise said. Eugene rolled his eyes as he buttoned up the last button. He began to shimmy his joggers off and Annalise squawked embarrassingly.

This time there was a genuine chuckle from Eugene, while Annalise pointedly looked at the doorway away from.

"Don't worry about it," Eugene said, pulling on a pair of black trousers. 

"I'm coming with you, you know that right?" Annalise demanded, her light brown eyebrows scrunching up. He nodded, with a small quirk of his lips.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," 

Authors Note: 

Hi all! I know its been some time since i've updated but here it finally is, chapter twenty two! I hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think <3 

Hope you all are doing well. Thank you so much for all the love<3

Love ya'll

Sam.E

Word Count 1163