A Ripple In Time | Captain James Nicholls

Chapter Sixteen

"The moon is my sun, the night is my day. Blood is my life and you are my prey."

The Brighton Estate, London; December 12, 1913

Adam gave a frustrated groan and crumpled up yet another piece of paper and tossed it in the direction of the chair Belle had been sitting in, dozing in and out of sleep while he sat at the piano, scribbling down note after note. It was the dissonant chord he angrily played that made her jump. "Sorry," he muttered, not even trying to cover the disgruntled tone of his voice. Sighing she reached down and picked up the wadded up piece of paper and smoothed it out over the arm of her chair before standing.

"May I?" She motioned to the piano and the piece of music in her hand. Adam slid over on the bench, making just enough room to allow Izabella to sit next to him. With a face of determination she played the notes he had written out, slowly, as if savoring each one and judging their placement. When she came to the last cadence that was when she noticed the jarring mixture of notes. Izabella played the short piece once more but stopped and altered the last note to a G. "What if you changed that from a minor second to a fifth and used G instead of C sharp with the middle C?"

Adam looked pensive for a moment before playing the melody over himself, and instead of being cacophonous it was in harmony with the rest of the piece. He was pleased with the change and scribbled it down on the lined page. "Amazing." She looked at Adam with a triumphant smile as he spoke his praise and before she could object he nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck. Izabella heaved a deep breath and began fiddling with the ends of his fraying hair.

"I'm leaving tomorrow night." When he said those words she pulled him closer. "Eve wishes for me to visit." Izabella glanced to the mantle clock seeing that is was already five in the morning, the sun would soon be rising.

"Let's get you to bed then." Adam grumbled. "I hope you know you're turning me back into a nocturnal creature. I do not like it." Izabella chided and pulled Adam to his feet. A satisfactory smirk tugged at the corner of his lips but she did not notice as the candles and fireplace had already been extinguished with a wave of her hand. Her room was dark, there was not a fire in the grate, nor a burning candle but in truth she did not need them to see, and neither did Adam.

The vampire began tossing his clothes aside in all directions hardly caring where they landed and was nearly in bed when Belle's soft voice beckoned him to her. "Unbutton me?" Had he truly done what he wanted he would have not worried with the line of buttons that when up her spine and just ripped the garment in two but slowly he undid each button until the back of the dress gaped open. The heavy gown slipped from her shoulders and pooled at the floor, with a delicate hand she picked it up and laid it across the dressing screen before joining Adam.

He turned on his side to face her and she did the same. His fingers curled around her forearm but quickly went to tapping a short and inconsistent rhythm on her skin. "What do you wish for me to bring back?" Izabella smiled to herself, thrilled that she would be seeing her friend again, that he would come back, it was the longest he had ever stayed with her and she found his company quite enjoyable.

"Spices, if you wouldn't mind." Her voice was quiet. The last time Adam had visited Eve in another city he had brought back a plethora of spices and time was finally depleting them. The saffron was the first to be used up and now all that was left in the turmeric jar was a pinch and maybe twice that amount was left in paprika and cumin. Izabella could feel his breath on her cheek and in the darkness she inched closer to him.

"Of course not." Her smile at the words was hardly noticeable but tenderly she kissed the corner of his lips, closing her eyes as the sun rose.

The Brighton Estate, London; December 25, 1913