charloft } { 17. kindness
[Set in velocityofsaul. Gloria and Klaus are NPCs. Warning for character death.]
Bela met Gloria when she was seventeen years-old, and was still going by her legal name.
She was following clues. It had taken her three years to realize what it was she had really done when she killed her parents, and those were three years wasted in her mind. She only had seven left now, and finding a way out of this mess was going to take time. Unfortunately for Bela, the clock was ticking.
She didn’t waste time.
She followed every lead, every clue, used every resource she had, and eventually the clues lead her right to Gloria’s doorstep. She arrived at the bar during the day, when none of the regular patrons were around. Gloria was behind the bar, working, and when she glanced up, the most Bela got was a derisive shake of her head.
“You’re a little too young to be in here.”
Bela straightened, trying to make herself seem bigger that she was. It was all false bravado, and she couldn’t say she was very good at it, but for a moment it seemed to work. “Good thing I’m not here for a drink, then.”
That seemed to get Gloria’s attention more or less. She straightened a bit herself, already getting on the defensive, which wasn’t what Abby wanted. She wanted Gloria’s help. “What’s your name, girl?”
Giving out her real one wasn’t a smart idea. She knew that-she was just kicking herself for not thinking of one before she got there. She glanced over the walls, eyes searching for something to help her, and her eyes landed on an old vampire movie poster. “Bela,” she says quickly. “Bela Talbot.”
“Alright, Bela Talbot. What can I do for you?”
“I need your help with something.”
“I don’t work for free.”
“I have money. I can pay you.”
“Well, you just have an answer for everything, don’t you?” The woman sighed, before gesturing to the bar. “Sit. Tell me what you’re after, and I’ll see what I can do.”
And that was the start. Bela laid all her cards on the table, as easily as she could for someone at the age of seventeen was used to keeping more secrets than anything else, and Gloria listened. She was the first person she met who actually listened, and didn’t tell her that it was a fool’s errand, and that was probably the part Bela appreciated the most. They made a deal, where she would fetch things for Gloria, and Gloria would work on getting her out of her deal. Everything she knew about being a thief and doing the job she did came from Gloria.
In fact, if it wasn’t for Gloria, she would have been dead before she had the chance to try.
***
The necklace had been a gift for her birthday.
It wasn’t much, something small and simple, and Bela hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but the gift itself had meant something to her. It was the first time that she had been given something that wasn’t for show, or to buy her silence. It was something for her and she wore it every day. She never really thought much of it beyond that, though, until the day she died.
She woke up covered in her own blood, her clothing torn to shreds, and she was shaking. She didn’t know how this had happened, but she was struggling to breathe from the panic and she was fairly certain that if she were actually in Hell, that wouldn’t be a problem. She was also still in the motel room, and she stumbled forward, her hand fumbling to the phone and dialing a number she’d learned by heart.
“Gloria?”
“Did it work?”
It was clear then, that gifts from Gloria needed to be taken at more than face value. They were never, ever exactly what they seemed to be.
***
Whatever it was that Gloria did to her necklace, it wasn’t just her deal that she was saved from. Demons, ghosts, any kind of supernatural entity-if it tried to kill her, it wouldn’t stick. She had been handed the ultimate weapon to do her job, but now she had her life in front of her.
She wasn’t going to waste Gloria’s gift by tempting fate. She was going to let herself have a life, for better or for worse.
She moved out to a quiet, lesser known school in Memphis. She dropped herself out of the line of fire, and off the grid. She used her name, her real name that she hadn’t used in ages, and in the beginning it felt odd to say it, but it was the name with a university degree attached. She worked on obtaining her Masters, settled in to an apartment far below her means, and set out to be an actual person again.
It wasn’t much, but it was so much more than what she had had before.
It didn’t mean she’d forgotten, either.
Her spirit board sat on her coffee table every night she didn’t have company, and some days, she even used it. It kept her in touch with the world she used to know. Once Dean and Sam found her hiding out in Memphis, she occasionally helped them out from time to time, and with the mess they were getting themselves into, they definitely needed it. But there were very rare moments where the spirits decided to contact her, but one night in the middle of July, the planchette over her spirit board started to move, dragging itself across the board to spell out one word.
B-E-L-A.
Her head tipped to the side, and she set her glass of wine to the side, before moving to place her hands on the planchette. “Yes?” she said, waiting for the pull of the spirit on the other side. “I’m here.” It didn’t take long before the planchette began to move again.
H-E-L-P-M-E.
“Of course,” she replied softly. “Do I know you?” The indicator flew over to the area of the board marked ‘Yes,’ and Bela frowned. If Dean had gotten himself killed, so help her-
Then it started to move.
G-L-O-R-I-A.
Everything in Bela ran cold. She didn’t want to believe it, to believe that this invisible spirit talking to her was Gloria. If it was Gloria, she would have known-heard something, or felt it. But all of that doubt was pushed away when suddenly Gloria was sitting there in front of her, her hands covering Bela’s on the planchette.
“Hey, honey. You look good.”
Waves of grief washed over her all at once before she could stop them. The one person who had ever given a damn about her was dead, and she hadn’t even realized it happened. Her shoulders started to cave at the shock and Gloria leaned forward, squeezing her hands tightly.
“I need you to listen to me, sweetie-I don’t have a whole lot of time.”
That was like another smack to the face, but she straightened and bit back her grief for now. She took a breath and nodded, before meeting the other woman’s gaze again. “Right. Of course. What do you need?”
“The person who killed me. They need to be taken care of.” Bela was hesitant. Revenge was a process she knew well, but if something human had killed Gloria, she wasn’t sure she could justify crossing that line, but Gloria cut her off before she could question it. “He’s a vampire, baby. A very old vampire who needs to be put down before he causes any more trouble.”
There was a small exhale on Bela’s part, before she nodded. “Who?”
“His name is Klaus.”
“Klaus?” There was another pause. “If I remember correctly, Klaus is the name of one of the original vampires.”
“He is.”
“Which means he’s certainly not going to be easy to kill.”
“Why do you think I came to the girl with the special gun that can kill anything?”
It took her a moment to connect the dots, and with that, there was a small smile. “I’m sure I could track it down.”
“Good.” Gloria’s hand reached across the table and brushed against Bela’s cheek gently. “I knew I could count on you.”
“Any idea with regards to where to find him?”
“There’s a small town in Virginia called Mystic Falls.”
She nodded. “I’ve heard of it. High vampire population-the local lore puts them as having been there for centuries.”
“Klaus has interests there. I’m sure if you look hard enough, you could find him.”
Bela nodded again, giving Gloria’s hand a squeeze in return. “Consider it done.”
And that wasn’t something that Bela said lightly.
***
It took a few months to track down all the things she needed. First the Colt, then the Winchesters-given the current state of the world, they were rather hard to find, but by the time she swung around to the small town of Mystic Falls, Klaus was just making his way back into town. No one knew he was there yet-from what she had learned from her research he tended to like to make an entrance. She caught up with him in the woods outside the town, just after he fed on a hapless hiker who happened to be wandering by.
She waited until she was close enough, before drawing the Colt and keeping her aim steady.
“Klaus!”
He turned at the sound of his name, before his head tipped to the side. “Rose, is that you?” There was a pause as he considered that before he shook his head. “No, it can’t be. The hair is all wrong.”
She smirked, before drawing the hammer back. “I have some business to settle. I hope you don’t take it personally.”
“Hardly, my dear,” he said as he started to make his way closer. “If you’re aiming to kill me with that, I’m sure you’ll be a fine meal.” He smirked, not getting close enough to touch, but close enough that she knew he could easily snap her neck in half a second. “So tell me. What business is it that you are here to settle?”
She didn’t respond. The next sound Klaus heard was the sound of the Colt going off, and a half a second later, the bullet was lodged in his skull. The look on his face was one of surprise-a standard fare for most of the dead-but it wasn’t long before the body flickered with an odd, purple-orange glow before Klaus dropped to the ground.
“I’m repaying a kindness,” she replied into the silence, before turning and heading back to the car.
Someone would find the body later. Someone always did.
1786 words
Bela met Gloria when she was seventeen years-old, and was still going by her legal name.
She was following clues. It had taken her three years to realize what it was she had really done when she killed her parents, and those were three years wasted in her mind. She only had seven left now, and finding a way out of this mess was going to take time. Unfortunately for Bela, the clock was ticking.
She didn’t waste time.
She followed every lead, every clue, used every resource she had, and eventually the clues lead her right to Gloria’s doorstep. She arrived at the bar during the day, when none of the regular patrons were around. Gloria was behind the bar, working, and when she glanced up, the most Bela got was a derisive shake of her head.
“You’re a little too young to be in here.”
Bela straightened, trying to make herself seem bigger that she was. It was all false bravado, and she couldn’t say she was very good at it, but for a moment it seemed to work. “Good thing I’m not here for a drink, then.”
That seemed to get Gloria’s attention more or less. She straightened a bit herself, already getting on the defensive, which wasn’t what Abby wanted. She wanted Gloria’s help. “What’s your name, girl?”
Giving out her real one wasn’t a smart idea. She knew that-she was just kicking herself for not thinking of one before she got there. She glanced over the walls, eyes searching for something to help her, and her eyes landed on an old vampire movie poster. “Bela,” she says quickly. “Bela Talbot.”
“Alright, Bela Talbot. What can I do for you?”
“I need your help with something.”
“I don’t work for free.”
“I have money. I can pay you.”
“Well, you just have an answer for everything, don’t you?” The woman sighed, before gesturing to the bar. “Sit. Tell me what you’re after, and I’ll see what I can do.”
And that was the start. Bela laid all her cards on the table, as easily as she could for someone at the age of seventeen was used to keeping more secrets than anything else, and Gloria listened. She was the first person she met who actually listened, and didn’t tell her that it was a fool’s errand, and that was probably the part Bela appreciated the most. They made a deal, where she would fetch things for Gloria, and Gloria would work on getting her out of her deal. Everything she knew about being a thief and doing the job she did came from Gloria.
In fact, if it wasn’t for Gloria, she would have been dead before she had the chance to try.
***
The necklace had been a gift for her birthday.
It wasn’t much, something small and simple, and Bela hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but the gift itself had meant something to her. It was the first time that she had been given something that wasn’t for show, or to buy her silence. It was something for her and she wore it every day. She never really thought much of it beyond that, though, until the day she died.
She woke up covered in her own blood, her clothing torn to shreds, and she was shaking. She didn’t know how this had happened, but she was struggling to breathe from the panic and she was fairly certain that if she were actually in Hell, that wouldn’t be a problem. She was also still in the motel room, and she stumbled forward, her hand fumbling to the phone and dialing a number she’d learned by heart.
“Gloria?”
“Did it work?”
It was clear then, that gifts from Gloria needed to be taken at more than face value. They were never, ever exactly what they seemed to be.
***
Whatever it was that Gloria did to her necklace, it wasn’t just her deal that she was saved from. Demons, ghosts, any kind of supernatural entity-if it tried to kill her, it wouldn’t stick. She had been handed the ultimate weapon to do her job, but now she had her life in front of her.
She wasn’t going to waste Gloria’s gift by tempting fate. She was going to let herself have a life, for better or for worse.
She moved out to a quiet, lesser known school in Memphis. She dropped herself out of the line of fire, and off the grid. She used her name, her real name that she hadn’t used in ages, and in the beginning it felt odd to say it, but it was the name with a university degree attached. She worked on obtaining her Masters, settled in to an apartment far below her means, and set out to be an actual person again.
It wasn’t much, but it was so much more than what she had had before.
It didn’t mean she’d forgotten, either.
Her spirit board sat on her coffee table every night she didn’t have company, and some days, she even used it. It kept her in touch with the world she used to know. Once Dean and Sam found her hiding out in Memphis, she occasionally helped them out from time to time, and with the mess they were getting themselves into, they definitely needed it. But there were very rare moments where the spirits decided to contact her, but one night in the middle of July, the planchette over her spirit board started to move, dragging itself across the board to spell out one word.
B-E-L-A.
Her head tipped to the side, and she set her glass of wine to the side, before moving to place her hands on the planchette. “Yes?” she said, waiting for the pull of the spirit on the other side. “I’m here.” It didn’t take long before the planchette began to move again.
H-E-L-P-M-E.
“Of course,” she replied softly. “Do I know you?” The indicator flew over to the area of the board marked ‘Yes,’ and Bela frowned. If Dean had gotten himself killed, so help her-
Then it started to move.
G-L-O-R-I-A.
Everything in Bela ran cold. She didn’t want to believe it, to believe that this invisible spirit talking to her was Gloria. If it was Gloria, she would have known-heard something, or felt it. But all of that doubt was pushed away when suddenly Gloria was sitting there in front of her, her hands covering Bela’s on the planchette.
“Hey, honey. You look good.”
Waves of grief washed over her all at once before she could stop them. The one person who had ever given a damn about her was dead, and she hadn’t even realized it happened. Her shoulders started to cave at the shock and Gloria leaned forward, squeezing her hands tightly.
“I need you to listen to me, sweetie-I don’t have a whole lot of time.”
That was like another smack to the face, but she straightened and bit back her grief for now. She took a breath and nodded, before meeting the other woman’s gaze again. “Right. Of course. What do you need?”
“The person who killed me. They need to be taken care of.” Bela was hesitant. Revenge was a process she knew well, but if something human had killed Gloria, she wasn’t sure she could justify crossing that line, but Gloria cut her off before she could question it. “He’s a vampire, baby. A very old vampire who needs to be put down before he causes any more trouble.”
There was a small exhale on Bela’s part, before she nodded. “Who?”
“His name is Klaus.”
“Klaus?” There was another pause. “If I remember correctly, Klaus is the name of one of the original vampires.”
“He is.”
“Which means he’s certainly not going to be easy to kill.”
“Why do you think I came to the girl with the special gun that can kill anything?”
It took her a moment to connect the dots, and with that, there was a small smile. “I’m sure I could track it down.”
“Good.” Gloria’s hand reached across the table and brushed against Bela’s cheek gently. “I knew I could count on you.”
“Any idea with regards to where to find him?”
“There’s a small town in Virginia called Mystic Falls.”
She nodded. “I’ve heard of it. High vampire population-the local lore puts them as having been there for centuries.”
“Klaus has interests there. I’m sure if you look hard enough, you could find him.”
Bela nodded again, giving Gloria’s hand a squeeze in return. “Consider it done.”
And that wasn’t something that Bela said lightly.
***
It took a few months to track down all the things she needed. First the Colt, then the Winchesters-given the current state of the world, they were rather hard to find, but by the time she swung around to the small town of Mystic Falls, Klaus was just making his way back into town. No one knew he was there yet-from what she had learned from her research he tended to like to make an entrance. She caught up with him in the woods outside the town, just after he fed on a hapless hiker who happened to be wandering by.
She waited until she was close enough, before drawing the Colt and keeping her aim steady.
“Klaus!”
He turned at the sound of his name, before his head tipped to the side. “Rose, is that you?” There was a pause as he considered that before he shook his head. “No, it can’t be. The hair is all wrong.”
She smirked, before drawing the hammer back. “I have some business to settle. I hope you don’t take it personally.”
“Hardly, my dear,” he said as he started to make his way closer. “If you’re aiming to kill me with that, I’m sure you’ll be a fine meal.” He smirked, not getting close enough to touch, but close enough that she knew he could easily snap her neck in half a second. “So tell me. What business is it that you are here to settle?”
She didn’t respond. The next sound Klaus heard was the sound of the Colt going off, and a half a second later, the bullet was lodged in his skull. The look on his face was one of surprise-a standard fare for most of the dead-but it wasn’t long before the body flickered with an odd, purple-orange glow before Klaus dropped to the ground.
“I’m repaying a kindness,” she replied into the silence, before turning and heading back to the car.
Someone would find the body later. Someone always did.
1786 words