Let's just say that the night went okay because I slept. I felt the injection that Damon kindly gave me, but I wasn't quite sure about the Master's own sleep. I woke up in the morning on my own in bed. There was a note on the bedside table with a phone on it.
" Sorry baby, crises beckon; I'm leaving the phone here because here's an app to track you, and I don't want to endanger you; you know how easy it is to clone a phone, no matter how protected it is. So I would love to keep a way to talk to you and tease you; I'll still pay for that shower, missy. And remember to eat; you better be at a better weight when I get back, or else I'll force-feed you for a week with a nasogastric tube, though. Damon."
His handwriting was decorative and old-fashioned, and it said so much about his age, even though it was pretty damn hard to believe he was really that old. I wondered to myself if I would be the same someday, being old and still looking the same. Only how does time change us? I hadn't even begun to think about that side of it.
I went to breakfast; Adam was already reading his paper and just grunted something. I wasn't surprised at all. I had already learned that Mr Hauptmann wasn't available until the paper was read. I went to the fridge to see what was for breakfast, and there was a massive plate with my name on it and several smoothies, too—Damon's handwriting.
Fine, I put the plate in the microwave and started sipping the smoothie. I put some more coffee on and had a Coca-Cola to drink. I tried to be a good girl, drinking and eating like I should. I took the plate out of the microwave and started eating meat mostly and fatty stuff like that, various crispy fried bacon; I don't know if it was all pork or what, a few thick steaks, and some lovely meatballs. And not much pasta or any carbohydrate.
This was another example meal, and when I finished it, Adam delivered another similar meal in front of me. So I ate as much as I could.
As I was still eating, Adam said, " Bran will be back here in a week and will bring Samuel with him so we can start preparing for the gig. But now, missy, we have some free time on our hands again as Damon had to go away again."
I said, " Yep, that seems to be the case, and you're not going to tell me what gig we're doing yet, are you?"
Adam said," Yeah, I won't tell you the details yet, but we'll be doing all new things this week. I'll teach you a something or two; now that I know you're a pretender, I know how to get you to learn, and soon, that side of you will wake up a little better as you find yourself learning new things. That side will be curious and want to learn."
He looked at me as he explained on.
"I knew a man once, centuries ago, who was a pretender. All he had to do was observe his target; after a time, he could imitate any profession or person well. He made that role his own, not just imitated, but studied and then played the role very skilfully; well, let's say he was watching a doctor; he didn't become the same doctor but just another doctor. He read and studied a lot about everything, which helped him stay in the role, even in his old age. But he was human, and he died at the age of 89, in his own bed surrounded by his family."
The week went well because even though Damon had to go away once again, I had plenty to do as Adam saw me as a student, and it was nice to teach me new skills, like dancing. Well, there's nothing strange about that. We watched a lot of dancing with the stars and once I liked some of the teachers and students, Adam took the opportunity to teach me to dance quite a few different dances.
It is good to have photographic memory and my body was meant to move. That I had already learned.
So, not seduction ala Salvatore but learning ala Hauptmann, we also learned etiquette, eating habits, all the fancy and social stuff. It took time, and then we always ate. I don't know what Damon had said to Adam, but oh my god, he fed me too. I always had time to read medicine or anatomy, whatever, when Adam had to be on the phone with Bran and whoever when some deal didn't go right, some security thing.
And he made sure I slept in the bedroom downstairs, and he came every night to keep me safe, and there was no room for argument in that equation. So I was a good girl, and I slept, I ate, and I learned to dance the Cha Cha up to the Quickstep.
It was hard work, but my body likes to move, and dance was just one form of exercise, among others. Yes, we practiced fighting, and Adam taught me how to fight in wolf form; he didn't let Mimosa be in charge, but I was also learning and evolving.
I was so busy with my studies that I didn't have time to think about Damon. So after he'd been with me less than a week, if I count the days he was actually interacting with me, so I was awake, and yet, I'd done the shower for his trick.
He had been very close to losing control of himself with me, and I didn't really know yet or even know how to deal with this spark and, frankly, animalistic passion between us. He had made us a shared bedroom where we would sleep, and somewhere in between, we would consecrate it and have sex there. But when and how, I didn't even think about it as I wasn't ready to go that far.
In fact, I realized that Damon is a hot-blooded man, and he can't always wait if he needs sex, so it was actually pointless for me to assume that he would only be with me.
We had a relationship going on, but what was it? Was I just a conquest for Damon, an object, or was it something deeper? Could the soul mate be seen as just lust for another, or was there just a physical relationship between us?
I mean, I didn't even know about Damon other than what he had revealed at the time and then again that use in Montana. It made me a bit wary about whether Damon was the ideal partner or if someone more stable would be better. Then, just the thought popped into my head, and I couldn't help but think about it a bit.
Would Adam be the ideal partner for me? He protected me, was there, had fun with me, had saved me in the first place, and had some sort of connection back there on the ship. But would Adam ever see me as a woman or just a Mimi, to be rescued, protected, cared for, but would he ever see me as a lover, maybe a girlfriend?
Where Damon had made his feelings for me clear, Adam hadn't shown any so that I could dream, but reality would be different, and I would have to keep myself in reality, not in my own little dreams.
And my reflection didn't help. On the contrary, it just made me more confused and pondering, turning things and facts over in my head, thinking about my future even now in the longer term, and I didn't know if I wanted to live on my own yet.
Adam brought security and companionship and made me feel that I was safe and everything would be fine; I didn't have to be independent and make all the decisions, but someone was looking after me. But then again, something in me knew that I would have to learn to look after myself sooner or later. To become independent and stand on my own two feet.
It was good to be safe and all, but when you didn't know anything about the future, it might be better to gear up and get yourself in shape. Learning to be independent rather than hanging on to Adam's care and hoping it would last forever.
We also went out in wolf form, with Mimosa getting to spend time with Adam while I was in the background. It was also essential to let Mimosa experience and enjoy. I didn't tell her what happened in Montana, and Mimosa didn't ask questions. Somehow, I wanted to protect my wolf's innocence and not tell her everything I had already been through; she didn't need to experience everything.
Let her enjoy her hunting and eating, too. However, it was very difficult for Mimosa when we killed another big buck, and Adam came and ate the liver, heart, pancreas, and spleen. Mimosa's treats, but the pack order, and Mimosa adored Adam more than I ever did, so she let Alpha enjoy the prey.
It was a big deer, so there was plenty of meat and edible for both of them and the rest, well, Adam dragged it to the house and put it in a huge chest freezer after he'd chopped it up with an axe a little smaller, head and all.
Then, somewhere in between, those pieces could be eaten again in wolf form, and even the head was edible when you crushed it a little first. So we got some goodies in the freezer. And then a food coma when my stomach was so damn full after all that overeating, almost.
Samuel and Bran arrived a week later after we had studied all week and done God knows what, and Samuel first gave me a thorough health check with tests.
He said, "Missy, downstairs medbay, and straight away, I'm going to give you a proper check-up, and then we'll get on with it. "
I obeyed and was a good girl. First, he took 54 tubes of blood and then went through me to start with the internal examination. There was no place that wasn't examined and poked and prodded. And the scans, too.
He looked at the results and was relatively happy with them. I had gained a bit more weight again. I weighed 53 kilos, and there was nothing to worry about in any of the tests. There was no sign of heat yet, so I didn't have to worry about that either.
He asked a surprising number of questions about what I did to Damon in the shower and how it had made me feel and all sorts of questions like that. He was obviously trying to see if I had grown any closer to sexual maturity. I tried to answer as best I could, but yes, I did blush occasionally when he asked me to describe a particular scene in a little more detail.
Next, he asked me if I had been traumatized by the wolf thing and then when I told him how I had been lying drugged for a week, Samuel's eyes flashed yellow, but only for a moment. He was clearly unhappy with his father, and I suspected that Bran had even lied about what I had done there.
After the tests, we went to eat and Bran was at lunch, but Samuel didn't say a word about my results when Bran was present. He was still angry with his father about the whole drugging thing.
Then he and Adam took me to one of the rooms upstairs and explained the gig. It would be an undercover job, and it would help that I was a pretender. Also, some things Adam had taught me would be useful.
The job was simple. We would go to a big party with lots of people, and the idea was to see if another wizard would be a good ally. Dresden had told us about this guy, and whether he was good or bad was a bit in and out. It was a strong wizard called John Constantine.
Yeah, again, the TV series and movies flashed in my mind, and I was already starting to learn how much real supernaturals have influenced the media for quite some time now. We would go under cover of a false identity.
Me and Adam would go to the party alone and no one would recognize us. Adam would use the magic of the pack to disguise himself in case anyone happened to know him now, and I was pretty unknown in these circles, so all I had to worry about was makeup and my role.
I would be a top-talented botany student, and Adam would be my big boss. We would go together. We'd be in a relationship. I would be younger than Adam, and he would just have taken me and would make me the perfect girlfriend or lover.
But Adam said we didn't have to do anything physical there, but he's in a slightly different mood, so I should keep my role and wasn't bothered at all. We'd go to the ball, and I'd get an intensive botany education at night.
So I would be put in a dark, soundproof room, put to sleep with a specific drug, and have headphones in my ears that would feed information to my subconscious.
Samuel said, "This method is said to work well, especially with pretenders and the supernatural. A week of this and then a couple of days to see if it works."
I said, "I'll be ready if only Adam will put me to sleep every night."
Adam said, "Yeah, we go to sleep just like normal, and then when you are asleep, Samuel switches you on to learn. "
I thought that was a good one. After that, the party would be on. Adam would get me a dress and shoes. That's very interesting. I'd have to do my own makeup, and Adam would do my hair.
Bran just said in passing as we came downstairs that he had to leave again and the last information was that Salvatore was in Eastern Europe and busy. Chasing vampiresses. Whatever that means. But I didn't let it bother me. I was gearing up for my first undecover gig and studying. I was excited.
Then, it was time to start the power study. During the day, I would watch videos of relationships, students, gestures, and facial expressions, and Adam and Samuel suspected that I would learn them without even thinking about them.
They would usually sink into my subconscious, just like our little exercise in the hospital, so I had subconsciously taken a lot of body language and my role from what I had seen of the junkies.
So, during the day, I would watch a lot of footage of anything useful to me in this gig and in the future. Then there was this part where I was subconsciously studying at night.
As usual, Adam would put me downstairs to sleep, usually by 6:00, and I wouldn't wake up until the afternoon. So I did all the usual stuff while Adam and Samuel fixed the room. They soundproofed it entirely and made it dark and unscented, so that my body and my senses would focus only on the recording and the information.
I wasn't scared or worried about it; I knew I wouldn't know anything about it, and when I woke up, I would always be in my room downstairs. So I wouldn't know or remember anything. But Adam and Samuel still told me this; they could have left it alone, but they wanted me to know everything about it.
It was just after 6 o'clock when Adam came to me and said, "Well, missy, let's go to bed, and I can tell you that for the next week, you won't be studying anatomy, but you'll be studying other things, the time you're awake. You'll be fed while you study, so you don't have to stress about eating; we'll take care of your body while you study."
I nodded and sighed. I returned the surgery book to the table and walked with Adam to my bedroom. I changed into my nightgown in the bathroom and then came into Adam's arms to sleep. It just worked. Even though I wasn't tired, the incredible feeling of safety and closeness I had relaxed me completely, and I fell fast and sound asleep. I was safe and protected, and then I could sleep; I didn't even notice the injection.
As Mimi fell asleep under the effects of the drug, Adam noticed as Mimi's hands loosened their grip on him. He gently released his hold and lifted her, limply, into his arms and carried her into the study room where Samuel was already standing by.
Adam lowered Mimi onto a special bed, a waterbed again to minimize sensations, and Samuel cannulated Mimi's central line, dripped nutrition, and prescribed anesthetics. Adam took the headphones and put them on Mimi's head. He turned on the recording, and then he and Samuel would retire from the chamber, make dinner, watch TV, and maybe then go to sleep.
The drug would keep Mimi asleep for 16 hours, and then they would move Mimi to her own room to wake up. Then, when Mimi would wake up, she would get to watch the recordings that Samuel and Adam had saved on one of the laptops, and then it would be back to sleep time until the week was up.
They would see how much of the lesson had been learned, and Mimi would learn a lot more than she knew, but it would be time for her to realize how much she had learned.
The gig hadn't basically called for this kind of intensive teaching, but this was a good way to give Mimi these more essential lessons along the way and let her think that botany was the only thing she would learn.
I woke up in my own bed, still quite medicated, and it took me a while to get myself moving and shower. My hair was still blood red and long, and I would have to think about my makeup a bit differently then. I washed my hair, and although I had a lot, it was a lot of work.
I knew it would make for a better hairstyle, so when I got out of the shower, I didn't dry my hair as I was looking for clothes, and Adam walked in. He sat me down at the mirror table, dried and brushed my hair, and put some conditioner in it. And then he put it in a French braid and took me out to dinner, though.
Bran will be back the day after tomorrow. He'd phoned and said he was very interested in the fact that I was a pretender. He'd studied the phenomena and pretenders in general and now saw me in a whole new light, as a benefit rather than a threat.
Samuel said to me after I had eaten and was on my way to go and see the recordings, "Bran might want to use you for his own purposes; me and Adam won't let him do that. Don't worry about it; everything will be fine and you'll be safe. My father has a bad habit of seeing everyone as tools to be used, and he doesn't always think about the consequences in the way he should."
I nodded and said, "I'll watch my back and try to ensure I'm not too much alone with him."
Samuel explained, " Good thing my dad is what he is; even though I'm not much younger, I didn't get his rage. That story about my dad living in a cave and mauling and killing everyone who came near him was true. It took him years, and when we met, he was Bran, no longer my father and the man who entered that cave." he kept pause before continuing.
"I don't know what happened to him, but for some reason, my father has always influenced me negatively. Still, he has never affected negatively on Charles negatively, and I suspect the reason is that Charles' mother was a witch and a werewolf, the strongest of her tribe. Still, unlike the story, she died of disease, not pregnancy."
his voice was little sad as he told his story, or part of it.
"And it broke my father once again, but I wasn't there all the time. He then had to raise Charles, but the tribe helped when my father went to find a mate and returned with Leah. And she was a bitch of a bitch, much worse than in the book, and my father never had any feelings for her, and Leah had sex with as many other men as she could."
I nodded and said, "Family can be a weird thing sometimes. But yeah, I'll watch out and try to ensure one of you is always around."
Samuel nodded, and then he went off to do something. I entered the living room and started studying the material I'd been given. The first one I learned was actually a film, Gone with the Wind, but it taught me some excellent lessons.
Then there were videos of some manners instructor, dance videos some more, and oh my god, what a bunch of romantic movies, where a woman falls for a powerful man and then surrenders to him. Well, I got some wonderful role models, but I'm not really like those women.
Then I went out to dinner and studied some more before Adam took me to bed again, and the same thing happened again. During the day, I learned about films and documentaries, and there were some lectures on botany and recordings of college parties, fancy parties, and dances.
Bran came then but didn't really get a chance to talk to me because Samuel and Adam were watching me constantly. I felt somehow that I knew things and a lot, but I still didn't catch up with what I actually knew. It was like it took some kind of trigger to open the knowledge in my head, and I believed that, at some point, I would get access to all this knowledge.
I actually started to enjoy studying human behavior, and after a couple of days, I woke up curious to learn the day's videos. I guess Adam and Samuel saw this change and noticed it, too. But that's not all.
I noticed nothing odd about my condition. Still, three days later, Samuel casually asked his father about a plant, and I started explaining the entire history of the plant, its most common uses, and even its side effects.
This question had been the trigger, and I began to find the botany in my head, to combine the information with the now conscious mind.
Samuel said, " That process will continue even during your sleep, and you will notice how the lessons and knowledge will begin to be available to you."
So it worked. But Adam and Samuel were looking at me kind of smugly, like they had a terribly juicy secret, and I had no idea what it was even about.
After a week, it was clear that I now knew quite a lot about botany, and in fact, it didn't bother me at all because I've always liked plants and flowers. I was actually pleased with everything I had learned.
And Samuel said, " Now you don't have to study anymore. You can do other things."
And he smiled smugly. I then went to eat, and I ate a lot again. Bran was still in the house eating at the same time. He was amazed at how much I had to eat, and Samuel gave him a long, stern lecture about my body, how it works, how to maintain it, my nutrition, and how unique a creature I am.
I'm not a typical werewolf, so he told his father not to interfere with my feeding or my rest; in fact, he told Bran to leave me alone altogether. I finished my meal, and Adam came to me.
He just said, "Come here, and we'll look at a couple of things next."
Fine, I followed and got quite a surprise.
But I had been taught other things that I wasn't prepared for. Adam took me to a room upstairs with two days to go before the party. There was a table in the room and a gun on the table.
Adam sat me down at the table and said: "Take that gun apart, clean it, and reassemble it. Then tell me what you know about the gun."
Fine, I was quiet for a moment, picked up the gun, and started to work. And I did. I didn't understand what I was doing at first, but gradually, the knowledge of disassembling and reassembling the gun came to the surface like it did in botany.
This was another trigger, and once I had the gun disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled, I said, " The Beretta M9 is a short-recoil, semi-automatic, single-action / double-action pistol that uses a 15-round staggered magazine with a reversible magazine release button that can be positioned for either right or left handed shooters. The M9 has several internal safety features, including a firing pin lock that prevents the firing pin from moving without the trigger and a firing pin striker that rotates when the safety lever is engaged to prevent the firing pin from hitting even if the hammer is dropped. The M9 also has an external safety lever on both sides, allowing both left- and right-handed users to switch the safety mechanism on or off. "
I wasn't even thinking when I replied. I knew dozens of guns and how to disassemble, assemble, and service them. Adam handed me the next weapon, the same thing. It had to be dismantled, serviced, loaded, and told the essentials. Once I had that done, I asked the most obvious question.
" Why, what am I doing with this skill? Not that it isn't pretty damn cool to be walking Wikipedia on guns and know how to use them, but where do I need this information?"
Adam smiled and said, " It's a skill you can't afford to be without, believe me. I will teach you how to shoot when this job is over. You won't be such easy prey anymore, and just think if you get to shoot Krycheck dead one day. This skill is vital for no reason other than that you might be wanted, and even if Spike and Drusilla do it again or someone else does it, being armed and knowing how to shoot will save your skin. Trust me."
And that's not all. Next, we went to the gym, and Adam showed me how self-defense moves were programmed into me and the ability to expect, act, and strike. I was pretty damn tired and but that tiredness came partly from all the subconscious information being unloaded as my conscious mind and mind processed it.
Adam said, "Now you can rest, read your anatomy, go take a bath, I'll come and put you to bed. "
I nodded and went to think about it.
A couple of days went well, and to my surprise, I missed Damon. I so wanted to share all this information with him and even wondered at one point what it would have been like to be with him at a party. In these undercover lovers, he would have been the boss, and I would have been the submissive good girl manipulated by the big boss into being the perfect woman for him.
But then again, taking the spark between us, would it have been more role-play or reality once we'd done the gig? The fact was, I wanted to be near him, to smell him, to feel the security he brought me. Even though he wasn't around that much after all, I just felt like something was missing.
According to Bran and Samuel, it was because we were each other's biological halves and had an innate need to be close.
Bran said, " Damon is your mate, even though you don't realize it yet and you don't have a mating bond, but he is yours, and you are his; but Damon is also a man of honor and gives you time. And he has a lot of friends and vampires that need his help, so he just can't always be with you. It's a bummer and frankly not good for the relationship, but facts are facts, and you have to live by them. You miss him. It's obvious, and you won't be able to help it. That longing also makes you want to be closer to him when he's around."
So I endured my longing and let all the new information settle in my head, so I didn't touch the guns. I walked outside, did some baking, made some food, and missed Damon. But he just wasn't here, and I had no way of keeping in touch with him. And it could be that the spark between us would die down at some point. But next, I would have my first gig. And in fact, I was looking forward to it.
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GOT IT