The Nosferatu Adventures s9 p3

The Nosferatu Adventures
page 227, chapter 227

Out of Time

Matilda couldn't sleep. There was something in the air, a strange fog, no that wasn't completely right; a crispness. Like when the seasons changed from late summer to fall, the way the temperature drops but still holds the sun in mid-October.  She tossed the covers off; her nose twitching as she tried to identify the feeling. Slowly, she crept out of bed and over to the window. The moon was full, almost too full as it weighed down on the cityscape. Closing her eyes, she listened. The sirens as they blended with the sounds of the bar few blocks away, the nurses getting off duty at the hospital as they walked by still smelling of antiseptic, the bakery truck delivering flour for that morning's fresh bread, and the thing causing her to stir.
Opening her eyes she smiled bright as she zeroed in on it. Magick. There was a hint of magick, the kind that used to float free around everything before. It had an underlaying of lemons this time, lemons and wet dog.  Bouncing up and down, the middle aged hippy tore out of the room and down the flight of stairs, opening the door of the shop. She stood there on the edge of the street her nose in the air as she turned from one direction to the other trying to locate the source.

Then she saw him. He was a spec at first, half a mile down the road, walking slowly as if confused. She remembered the feeling herself. One night waking up in the empty shop, this new body, this new set of memories. She had spent days alone afraid to leave the shop, keeping the blinds closed and doors locked. It wasn't until she'd run out of food that she finally had to emerge. That's when it made sense. Standing in the twenty-four hour grocery, her arms filled with apples, the one thing she could really identify, when she saw Edward.
He had been carrying a basket filled with bread, and what smelled like chicken wrapped up in tiny packages of clear stuff when Loki appeared to her in the middle of the overly lit building holding a similar basket, which he gave to her taking the apples and putting half back half into the already overflowing basket. Telling her Edward wouldn't remember her, and that she had to be careful when trying to look after him.  Telling her that magick didn't work the same here, it was subtler.
The god had kissed her forehead before disappearing into thin air. The knowledge that flooded into her mind after that. She remembered the silver tipped arrow that had injured Dagan and having tried to remove by biting it in half. But at that point she had still been just a timber wolf.  She had been able to get Ash, but everything went black after that. That was until she'd woken up few days before in the shop as a human.

Shaking her head of the memories, Matilda stood nearly bouncing in place as she watched the spec come closer towards her. Raising her hand she waved frantically trying to secure his attention. The figure stopped once he realized someone had spotted him, as if startled. She watched as the male first hunched his shoulders then relaxed them his head tilted up just a bit trying to sniff the air.
Cautiously he made his way towards her; her excitement growing to the point it was all she could do not to run up and hug him. When he was finally in view, Matilda took stock of him.
Average height, she gathered around 5'8, darkish  hair with grey at the temples, piercing blue eyes that reminded her so much of a husky dog it made her giggle. He had a small beard that made his age difficult to guess, and his limbs soft looking.
Clapping her hands together she couldn't contain herself any longer, as she laughed to no one dancing from one foot to the other.  He stood finally in front of her, a look of puzzlement in his eyes.

Leaning over he sniffed deeply, his eyes closed as he moved his own face around her shoulders, her hair, her throat. His eyes began to soften as he caught a familiarness from her. Not her scent to his dismay, but just the way she made him feel.
Matilda gasped as she tried to keep her balance as she found herself under the full weight of his grief and relief. His arms tight around her as he buried his face in her shoulders.

"Rufus." she cooed her hands delicately stroking the back of his hair. Pulling his face away from her, he nodded.

"So, we're..."

"Familiars now. Yeah takes some getting used to."  She placed both palms on the sides of his face comforting him. "And things are so different here."

"I woke up just as the sun was setting and just started walking. Something told me to walk until..."

"You found the shop. I know. I'll explain it best I can. But come inside, I'll make you something to eat."


Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Two familiars for one werewolf...something's up.)