Vivienne

The feeling of dread and uncertainty passed and Brian somehow knew that the vision was true. “Alright.”  He walked over and sat in the chair and looked at the tea. “Still want me to drink it?”

“Trust me.”  Denise drank more of her tea.

Grabbing the small cup in his big hand, Brian took a sip of the peach tea and smiled. “Okay, I admit this is good.”

“Thank you.  I see you play things straight.  No sugar, plain and simple guy.”  Denise added and stood up and walked to her sink and gazed out of her blue and white lace curtains. “Now we have started to trust each other.”  Denise kept watching the clouds float by. “Now we figure out what you can do Brian.”

“Don’t you have to look at me or something?  Touch this ridiculous thing on my hand?”  Brian took another sip of tea, feeling its herbal balance calm his nerves.

“You read too many stories.”  Denise pointed outside at the clouds. “I am waiting for the Earth to tell me what to do.”  She turned to look at the big man for a second, “I suspect that you have gotten many signals in your life.”

“What do you mean?” Brian asked and drained the teacup. “Now I wish I could have more.”  He chuckled, “This is strange.  I know I want to rage and be mad, but I also know that I shouldn’t.”  Brian got a strange look on his face, “Did you drug me?”

“No, I provided the antidote.”  Denise nodded and walked away from the window and sat down in her well worn chair. “Wendy.”  She pointed to the cupboard, “I didn’t see her do it, but somehow she had you…well drugged.”

“Then why do I want more of it?”  Brian shook his head. “She never tampered with anything in front of me.  All I have done is drink coffee with her and eat that burger this morning.”

Denise entwined her fingers and leaned on her oak table, “Do me a favor and look out of the window and tell me what you see.  Just anything that jumps out at you.”

“This a test?”  Brian inquired. “You never answered me about wanting more tea.”

“You don’t need anymore, just let it run its course.” Denise pleasantly replied and smiled, “No, Brian this isn’t a test.  Please look out of the window and tell me what you see, or are you going to fight me on this as well?”

“You said a system of trades.  So far I have done three and you have done zero.”  the big man smiled and leaned back in the chair causing it to creak eerily. “Why do I want more of this tea, what was this tea and why am I looking out of the window.  Please.”

Denise clapped then refilled her glass with tea, “A valid point.”  She walked back to the window and pointed, “Let’s start with the window.  Right now I see the same message in the clouds that I am fairly certain you do.  I want you to tell me what you see and what it means to you.”  The Loved one sat back down, “The tea was like I told you, peach.”  She pointed at the small cup before entwining her fingers once more. “I knew Wendy did something to you, I could feel it.  It is one thing to sense something, it is another to figure out what you are sensing.  So I started with drugs.”  Taking a deep breath, Denise smiled and winked. “Wendy always has had a way with chemistry.”

“Then why do I…well crave more?”  Brian asked as he looked out of the small kitchen window.

“It is just that, a craving.  It will pass.  I would think of it like eating a potato chip, most of the time you don’t want just one.”  Denise batted her hazel eyes and giggled softly at her own joke. 

Nodding once and looking back to Denise, Brian forgot what he was going to say and instead marveled at the cute smile that had crossed the woman’s face. “You…you have the most enchanting smile.”  He caught himself saying, “Reminds me of Casey’s.”

“What a lovely compliment, Mister Ashburn.”  Denise drank more of her tea, “I will make a southern gentleman out of you, yet.”  She resumed her thin smile, “You were about to tell me what you saw in the clouds?”

“I..um…right.”  Brian stammered and pointed to the window. “I see why the others call you Loved One.” Nibbling on his lip, Brian felt himself flush with his last compliment and tried to continue, “It is…um…strange, Loved One.” Hearing himself refer to Denise as she’d mentioned the others did, caught the big man off guard and felt his fingers tingle for a few seconds. “The other times I have seen messages, I have gone into a trance.  I didn’t this time, that is what is weird.”  Brian offered, ignoring the twinge in his fingers. “The runes are telling me two words.  Geology and man.”

Denise raised her eyebrow, “There is more but you aren’t saying, Brian.”  She pointed at the runes to the side of the main two he’d mentioned. “That one is the word walk, the other is path.”  Denise wiggled her finger. “You were testing me, that isn’t trust.”

“Well, Loved One…”  Brian mentioned sarcastically, “...You tried to charm me with that smile of yours and drug me with the tea I drank.”  He stood up to walk outside, “I was told you could help me discover what is going on with me so I can help Casey.”  Pausing for a quick breath as he reached for the doorknob, “I don’t care about any path, walking, geology or man.”  He tapped on his big chest, “I care..no I love Casey and if I have to, I will figure it out myself.”

“Geomancer.  Your abilities will all be tied around earth itself.”  When Brian turned to look at her, Denise continued. “I didn’t drug you.  I didn’t charm you.”  She opened her palm and motioned for the door, “You can walk out right now.  I told you, Wendy drugged you.”  Denise smiled again, “People love my smile, what can I say about that?”  She shrugged. “I didn’t make you call me Loved One, you did that on your own.”

“You had to do something, I felt my fingers tingle.”  

“It wasn’t me.  Captain Mattson felt the same thing earlier this morning.  I was feeding my ducks, Brian.”  Denise laughed. “I can see by the look on your face, that you believe that the tingle was a warning. Like you mentioned before.”

“Yep.”  Brian affirmed.

“A big man such as yourself needs a mountain of food.  Captain Mattson eats a bunch and he’s not half your size.”  She pointed to the seat where Brian was. “A cold burger and fries made with peanuts isn’t a good meal.”  She winked and stood up. “Iced tea now.”  Picking up the small cup and saucer, Denise washed the two and gently put them aside to dry. 

Brian sighed defeatedly, “I am rather hungry.  So, tell me about this path.”

Denise walked over and patted Brian on his thick shoulders. “Finally.”  She laughed and pulled together ham, turkey and cheese from her refrigerator. “The path is more a concept than anything concrete.”  Denise opened her bread box and sliced off a couple pieces of homemade bread. “The fundamental idea is that we are the counter, or foil to vampires.  My vision is to set up the surrounding area from Petersburg up to roughly Richmond as a vampire free zone.”  She looked at Brian. “Mayo or mustard for your club?”

Brian raised his eyebrow and snickered, “Mayo please.”

Denise gave him a thumbs up and pulled a mason jar from her fridge as well. “I have certain rules in place to protect us from both prying eyes of the public and the vampires themselves.  We can’t be certain who is and isn’t working for them at any given time.”  Denise paused and pointed her bread knife at the big man. “They don’t always use charms to convince people, so there is nothing to detect.”

“Wendy said you really have no way of fighting them other than stakes, like we all know.”  Brian sniffed the large mason jar of iced tea that had been placed where the cup had been. “Peach again? How?”

Denise winked. “You like peaches, so I added the flavor.”  She pointed to her palm. “Easy.  It is how I figure Wendy drugged you.”  Denise looked at Brian, “Excuse me.  A club needs tomatoes and lettuce, I will be right back.”  She walked behind him, opened a door and went downstairs.

-Bide your time, play along.- Brian told himself and looked out of the window once more, then touched his lightly glowing palm. -Who is lying, who is telling the truth?-  He wondered, when suddenly the green rune flared to life and started spreading different colors in the kitchen.  The food glowed blue, the tea glowed white, the knife glowed red, the back door glowed purple and he saw himself in a brown hue.  He shook his head and once more looked at his palm for an answer.

Denise emerged from the basement and looked around her kitchen. “Well.  You are a natural.”  She put the fresh vegetables on her counter and pulled another knife from her drawer. “You just inspected my home.”

“I..I didn’t mean to?”  Brian suddenly felt like he’d invaded Denise’s privacy. “I was asking myself…”

“...Who is lying.”  Denise put the knife down and started pointing at the items glowing. “I see it too, Brian.  Let’s see.  White means purity.  Brown means stability and reliability.”  She pointed to the big man. “I saw you when you walked through my door.  Which is purple, meaning inspiration and wisdom.”  She turned and kept building the sandwich, “Red is wrongfully accused of being evil or a warning, it means a great many things.  Energy, sexual spirit, deep and intimate passion.”

Brian took a deep breath as the hue around Denise exploded in black. “...You…you are..”

“...Black, yes dear.”  Denise said flatly and put down the knife. “Another color misunderstood.”  She walked over to one of her cupboards and pulled out a small paper bag, handing it to Brian. “Sophistication, Protection, Authority.”