The Vampire And The Demon

Chapter Twenty Eight: All Publicity is..

Annalise got up with a wince, alerting Eugene instantly. He stood up, braced, waiting for any movement. Like she would shatter into pieces of glass if he didnt wrap her up in bundles of bubble wrap. She was wounded yeah, and the concern he had for her sparker some darker and more sinister. Want and desire came hand in hand when it came to this man. But there was clearly something more pressing to deal with right now.

They shared a look, and with that, Gene nodded. Annalise used him as a crutch, unashamedly allowing him to take the brunt of her weight as they hobbled into the living room. Harvey was there, in the midst of several vampires looking entirely out of place in their little paranormal gathering.

Hope sprung into his eyes as he looked at Eugene, and then as his eyes fell on hers, it turned into complete dismay. "What are you doing?" He fussed, rushing up to them, hovering like a particularly anxious hummingbird. "Oh my god. All the healing and magic i used," He moaned.

Annalise laughed nervously. "I'm fine! It's fine!" She waved him off, as Eugene gently deposited her off on the sofa. She eased into the plush softness, relieved at the subsiding pain. The half demon closed her eyes to savour it for a moment.

"Clearly, shits hit the fan," Annalise began, opening her eyes again to look around the room. There was a resounding silence, her small attempt at humour only served to make the atmosphere more miserable than before. She should have taken that as a sign to shut up, but she couldn't stop now.

"But shits hit the fan before, right. And we dealt with it then, together yeah?" Annalise continued.

Victoria, clearly unable to herself, interjected. "Cringe." She looked positively accosted as Gene sent her a scathing glare. "What? I'm not wrong!"

"What?" Annalise echoed, caught off guard for a moment, before shaking her head to continue. "Okay, well it doesn't matter. I'm right, aren't i" She felt more confident, more assured than she had before. "We need to go public. There's no use in trying to hide. If we're open, and we're clear of what we want. They they can, then humans-" That term always left a sour note on her tongue, as if she herself wasn't one years ago.

"They don't need to be scared. They don't have to act out."

There was a resounding note of disagreement. Nobody was on her side here. It felt as if her stomach had fallen several inches. Her face flushed with embarrassment. "Okay.. we can forget about that then." She offered, halfheartedly.

"Yes, let's." Harvey said firmly, with a cross of the arms. She'd never expected him to be so vehemently against something. But, then again, he'd been the one to disagree with going to the Lower Marsh Market in the first. And he'd been right about that too.

Still, this was an entirely different matter. Hundreds, thousands or maybe a million lives of Supernaturals were at stake here. Hung in the balance. She turned to Eugene, the one person she'd thought had her back always. She tried desperately to hide the disappointment on her face, but the downturn of his eyebrows told her she'd failed miserably.

"I know what you're thinking. And i know it will be difficult but you can't just hide forever!" Annalise pleaded, begged they'd see rationally. "And now, now you literally can't hide."

"Annalise." Victoria hissed. And the sound of her full name of her lips shocked her into momentary silence. "What would you know about staying hidden. We have been Supernatural's for decades, no millenia. And you have only been one of us for two years. What right do you have to tell us to go public?"

Annalise closed her eyes, in budding frustration. The frustration was easier to focus on than the burning weight of her insecurity. Victoria was right. She wasn't a Supernatural. She wasn't human, she hung somewhere in the balance between the two.

She didn't belong anywhere. With anyone. All this time she'd just been pretending. All this time the facade stayed strong, but it was fracturing, quickly. Just one more second.

"I know that. I know that. But it's because I'm not like you that I know hiding won't help anything. You're just giving them a reason to hate us." Annalise offered the olive branch. But Victoria wasn't taking it.

The blonde shook her head violently, blonde hair falling out of place.

"Hate? What would you know about hate?" Victoria began.

"Dont." Gene warned, viciously. Annalise knew he could tell where this was headed. But she, personally, had no idea.

"No! Don't protect her from what she needs to hear. For years our kind has been hunted, and slaughtered by them! My sister-" She began to choke up, tears welling in blue eyes "My sister was burnt at the stake because they thought she was a witch. And i was going to have the same fate, because i kil-" She sniffled, then backtracked. Annalise frooze, looking around the room awkwardly. Maybe she shouldn't have opened her big mouth.

"You know nothing of hate, Annalise. So don't tell us how to live." With that, Victoria huffed, swivelling on her heels and stormed out the house. Dawn trailing after her begging to her not to leave. Dawn threw her a sympathetic look, something closer to pity than anything else.

That couldn't have gone any worse than she'd imagined. All of her bravado sunk down, so small she could barely make out any traces of it left.

"I just-" Annalise began, but Raul shook his head gently. "Now, is not time." Raul said in a hard Germanic voice barely above a whisper. Eugene sat down next to her, an in this instance he was a stranger. Someone with a familiar face. And it was only because she knew him so well, she could tell. She could tell he wasn't on her side for once.

Fine. They could hide. They could stay hidden.

But she sure as hell wasn't. 

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Authors Note:

Hey guys, how are you? I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Did you like it, if so let me know! Id love to hear your thoughts. 

Leave a like if you enjoyed it! 

Lots of love as always, 

Sam.E