4: Quite the Vision

Warning: Adult language

Nathaniel experienced a slight sense of deja vu as he walked up to his front porch. He could feel Gabriella crying again, however, tonight she cried with righteous indignation. Of course she was. After the way he behaved, who could blame her?

It's not even forty-eight hours and I'm already sick of hearing her in my head. Why can't I get her out?

"Fascinating." a chilling voice said from the bench on his front porch. 

Nate started in surprise. August?

"Yes." the voice answered him. "How are you, Nathaniel?"

Nate bristled at hearing his maker address him. "You know you're not welcome here, August."

"Not being welcome never stopped me before." The words rolled out of August's mouth in a sickly-sweet, oily sort of way.

"How true, but I wished to let my feelings be audibly heard." Nathaniel answered in an annoyed voice. He was exhausted. Gabriella was still not asleep, and it infuriated him that he knew that.

"Simply fascinating." he says again. "You can't keep from hearing her in your head, can you?" The man's voice snaked its way over to Nate's ears.

 "No. I can't. Neither of us know why."

"And it's also fascinating because I could only know it was happening when you thought about it. I can't hear her through you."

Well that's good to know.

 "How have you been, Nathaniel?" August asked.

"Skip the pleasantries and tell me why you're here, Augustus." Nate said, using the older form of his maker's name.

"Boredom mostly." he answered. "So I decided to come and check up on my favorite progeny."

 "Favorite! Hah!" Nate laughed. He knew that August never had a favorite anything unless he wanted something.

"Come, come now, Nathaniel. It would seem I've shown up at a most opportune time as it is! I can perhaps help you with your problem."

"How so?" Nate asked and looked at him suspiciously.

 "I can still hear her." Nate complained belligerently.

"Play louder."

"Doesn't matter. She's in my head. It's easier when she's gone to sleep."

"And I take it she isn't."

"No." Nate sighed.

 "Focus on the piece. Concentrate on each and every fingering if necessary. It doesn't matter what action you take. I'd say read a book, but you're not the bookworm that I am. The important part is to over-occupy your mind. Then you can block her out as if you were reading a book in a crowded subway station. You start to not hear the cacophony of the other travelers." August paced in front of him some. "Your mind is more powerful than hers. Overcome it."

Nate growled impressively in frustration. Then his fingers slammed down on several keys at once, creating quite a racket all of a sudden.

"Shit!" he loudly exclaimed.

"What?"

 Nate worked on catching his breath. "She just got into the shower. I saw her."

"Damn! Why can't I see?" August asked with laughter in his voice. 

 Nate glowered at his maker and turned around to face the opposite direction on the piano bench.


"Well?" August asked.


Nate sat there with shock all over his face. "Well what?" he asked.


August smiled, "How is she?"

Nate looked up at with him with an exasperated expression. "It's none of your business!" He paused and looked straight ahead before he said, "It's none of my business!"

"Of course it's your business if she's your future mate." August said. Nate had told him everything that had happened between him and Gabriella before he'd been instructed to sit and play the piano.

"One: it might not happen." Nate ignored August's sound of disbelief, aggravated he so readily believed in Gabby's power. "Two: That doesn't necessarily make her my future mate."

"You don't find her handsome?" August asked with a knowing smirk on his face.

"That's beside the point." Nate snapped.


"So you do."


He's had millenia to perfect his amazing ability to be irritating.

"She's your type..." August left the comment hanging, talking about Nate's penchant for blondes.

"Other than the fact that she's moody, ill tempered, and it infuriates me that she's so certain about her vision. Sure, on the outside..."


"You know," August interrupted, "you're not so perfect on the inside either."


"Oh, so you're a couple's counselor now?" Nate threw back at him.


Augustus laughed at Nate's look of consternation.

Nate leaned his elbows down on his knees. "Shower's done."

"How fortunate that I get a play-by-play. I wonder if you have any idea how irritating it is not to be able to see what you see? You've always been so good at that."

"Want to trade?" Nate snarled as he made his way over to the bar. 

 Nate knew deep down that Gabby was lucky it was him she somehow connected to and not Augustus. August could be ruthless in his methods of using people to advance his own agenda.

 "What's wrong? You've never before hated your gift for exceptional reading." August asked as he sat down in an armchair and fumbled with the remote to the television.

"I don't like having my choices taken from me." Nate said pointedly to his maker. Gabriella had just climbed back into bed to attempt to get some sleep again.

August sighed and leaned forward. "As I've stated in the past. I knew what I was doing when I made you."

"Infected me, you mean." Nate interrupted. "And now, because of that I'm supposedly going to do the same to someone else!"

 August's head snapped up and he glared at Nate before gazing at nothing in particular again. "That someone that you would've never met had it not been for me." he pointed out.

"That would've been fine. Better for her even."

"But that's not what happened! You make a fantastic vampire, Nathaniel, don't deny it!" August snapped.

"You should've let me die."

 Augustus came and sat down on one of the bar stools. Nate took the remote from his hand and turned on the television. Anything to distract me. he thought as he stared at some lame romantic comedy. Gabriella was wondering when her sister was going to visit her, and she worried it would be too early in the morning for her taste. She probably wouldn't, though, because Caitlin liked to sleep in. Auuugh!

 August laughed out loud when he heard Nate practically scream the frustrated sound in his mind, August was always lacking in the ability to read people. He said it was because his brilliant mind was meant for other things, but secretly he had no idea why he was slightly cheated.

"Fine, August." Nate said. "You may have the bedroom on the other side of this wall." Nate sighed at the inevitability that his maker was now going to stay with him.

"How generous of you." August said with sarcasm lacing his voice.

"I aim to please." Nate said, ignoring the sarcasm and taking another sip of his drink.

 August picked up one of the drinks in front of him and walked around to the other side of the bar, wondering where he could go to really relieve his thirst.

Hearing his musings, Nate said, "I hope you like plasma fruit. This town's population is small, and they think we're myth."

"So you're saying they're backwards. Southerners. Typical." August said, throwing in the slur just to annoy Nate.

Nathaniel worked at ignoring Augustus hitting a sore spot. "I won't have you ruining what I have built here just to appease your appetite."

"Fine, fine. I'll hunt elsewhere or eat your disgusting fruit." he said in mock submission.

 Nate finished his drink and August turned to him to say, "So, now back to the matter at hand."

"Which is?"

"The girl, of course! You really have no idea when the blessed moment is to happen?" he asked with a smile spreading across his face.

"It's not going to happen." Nate said stubbornly.

"Go ahead and keep trying to convince yourself." August said with another note of sarcasm.

 Gabriella fell asleep, finally. Nate could actually think now. The image of her looking at herself in the mirror before getting into the shower wormed its way into his thoughts. He hated feeling like he was invading her privacy, but he had to admit she was beautiful.

What in God's name am I going to do? Neither of us want to leave town. Besides, Gabriella said 'the future has a way of making itself happen'. Shit. I hate feeling trapped! The image of her popped into his mind again and he felt desire course through him.

 Nate had almost forgotten August was there until he chuckled and said, "You really like her." Then he took a sip of his drink to hide his leer.

 Nathaniel felt like his hand was glued to his forehead now as he thought Yeah, maybe I do, aggravating though she may be. She did think to herself that that's not how she normally acts and it's just this recent vision that's making her behave like this.

What am I saying?! I'm playing right into her hand! And now Augustus wants us together. Probably so he can exploit her ability. All the more reason to stay away from her.

 (Strange, the light from the television makes him look almost human again.)

Nate quickly separated himself from August. "I'm going to try and get some sleep now that she has gone to sleep herself. Good morning." 

August didn't answer and Nate shuddered when he realized his assumption was correct, he was thinking about how beneficial Gabby's ability could be to him.

 His subconscious played a cruel joke on him and he dreamed of her. She was dancing around naked in front of him, and every time he reached for her it felt like flames were licking at his arms. The last time he reached for her he actually held on.

 Nate screamed as the flames were devouring him in his dream. He sat bolt upright in bed and found that it was afternoon already.

She was visiting with her sister.  

He could feel her terror as he shared in a new vision she saw.