Reunion

There was a creak as the basement door eased open, and the conversation ground to a halt. Estelle unconsciously drew closer, breath catching in her throat, and I gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Logically, there was no real reason to be afraid; rested and well fed for the first time in months, Evelyn was likely no longer a risk to anyone. Yet fresh in the mind of my frightened former fiancé was the memory of a ravenous undead bat-monster lunging at her with a thirst for blood, so I could not fault her for her trepidation.

Gabe appeared nervous as well, suddenly very tense and still as he sat rigidly upright in his seat, eyes fixed on the door. He, of course, was not concerned about Evelyn attempting to exsanguinate him – they’d already been through that dance and were both well aware that such an act would mean the death of them both. However, they’d come to this understanding during their mutual captivity, during which neither of them had been capable of assuming human form. Despite this, they’d developed a deep affection for one another – and I expected Gabe was currently wondering how that bond would stand up to seeing one another in human form for the first time. From the outside it seemed like a silly concern; will she be attracted to me when I’m not a monster?

Perhaps Evelyn was also worried, because the small crack between the darkness of the basement and brightness of the house widened no further for many long moments. Finally, Gabe rose slowly to his feet, sliding his chair back under the table and stepping a few paces forward before stopping in the short yet somehow vast distance between the dining room and door. His hand worked nervously through his hair a few times, and he scowled at the length it had gained during his captivity. Finally, he crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat.

“Evelyn?”

I imagine his voice sounded smaller, meeker than he would have liked, but it did not matter to who he was addressing. The door swung open, and while I half expected to still see a lanky winged beast in its frame, there was instead a pale, slender woman with a rich spill of long auburn hair and wide dark eyes, a typical vast vampiric pupil made unique by the thin emerald green halo of her iris. Her skin was lightly freckled and heavily scarred, yet even with waxy white lines generously etched across her face and neck, she exuded a sort of feral beauty.

The werebear regarded the woman in the doorway with awestruck silence. Neither dared to move, or even breathe – the latter being a far easier task for the vampire than it was for the therian. Finally, a tremendous smile broke across Gabe’s face, one like I’d never seen before. It was a look of pure joy, and apparently it was catching, for soon Evelyn’s expression matched his. They erupted into movement, his arms catching her forward momentum as they threw themselves at one another. He hugged her fiercely, arms enveloping her body and face buried in her hair. Any doubts they may have had melted away the moment they’d met eyes; they were both here, both alive against all odds after the hell they’d endured.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured, hand caressing her back.

“You’re still rather hairy,” she replied in a soft, teasing tone, then more seriously, “and also wonderful.”

I was starting to feel like a bit of a voyeur, their tender reunion somehow inappropriately intimate for an audience. Estelle distracted me by gently weaving her fingers through mine and giving my hand a tight squeeze. She smiled up at me with pure admiration naked on her face, as if to say this, because of you. I had to make a firm effort not to frown with the realization that things were progressively becoming much more complicated than I would have liked.