Title: Unless You Really Mean It

Author: Rachel aka crazyfresh

Email: oldschoolrock@hotmail.com

Website: www.livejournal.com/users/crazyfresh

Setting: Ambelokipi and Athens Greece

Summary: She wasn’t sure at first if this was the right decision. Then she found out how much she could do. What she could feel. Sure, that wasn’t the point, but you know what they say. Don’t ever say yes…

Things don’t turn out like people want them sometimes. Take work, for example. She didn’t want to be assailed with annoying tourists that didn’t know their way around the Akropolis. She didn’t want to have to deal with over-zealous Christians stating that all of this she was showing them was from Satan. All of this was pagan and evil and they were all going to burn in hell.

She shrugged and packed up her stuff, saying her goodbyes to the group of wide-eyed innocents that had never ventured out of their own safe haven that was whichever country they came from. Fingering the simple wooden cross she always carried, she gave a wave and started the long trek home.

It was altogether a nice, spring day, in one of those completely non-descript way. The trees were swaying in the breeze; the sun was shining in the sky, obscured by one artistically placed cloud. People walking down the sidewalks, couples holding hands, clacking of high heels and children inside playing. Nice.

Just nice. Except for the garbage strike that was going on, of course. She walked hurriedly past an overly filled bag that had fallen into the street, but not fast enough. A car drove by and the hit it, causing the bag to burst and erupt trash all over the street. Wincing she trekked forward.

“Thank you, Miss Tess, for the good tour.” A voice called out as she made her way down the street and ran into one of the kids from her group earlier.

“Oh,” She stepped back startled. Tilting her head she gave the workday smile. “You’re welcome.” Glancing above him she asked, “Where is your mother? You should be with her now.”

The kid, God help her if she could remember his name, just looked at her quizzically, like he couldn’t figure out what she said. Possible, considering the accent difference. “Look!” He said excitedly. “It’s Athena! She’s my favorite! Next to Apollo.” He started quivering excitedly. “She’s smart and fights, and he plays the guitar and hunts and they rock!” Then he began to desecrate the statues by making them dance around in a highly erratic manner.

Tess was losing patience. She still had ten years if she wanted kids. Which she didn’t. “That’s very nice. I have to be going now.” She moved around him to continue home.

“Bye, Miss Tess!” Tess waved over her shoulder and took off at a brisk pace just this side of running down the sidewalk, each step made her hair flop up and down so quickly it almost seemed as if it were in a constant state of bouncing up. Dark brown eyes stared straight ahead, not seeing anything past the people she had to walk around. The bright green outfit she had on matched the few trees that dotted the sun-bleached white of the buildings and made her brighter than anything else in the vicinity. People would wave to her and she’d shake the umbrella she always carried in a halfhearted gesture, offering a thin smile and a curt nod

“Fuck if I’m not taking the day off tomorrow.” Tess muttered, turning the corner and getting a heel stuck in the uneven sidewalk. It, of course, broke. “God damnit.” She swore. Up ahead she could see the apartment in all its glory, but all she really cared about was getting a shot of something extremely strong to ease her way into the night. She bent down and picked up her old heel. Maybe she could superglue it.

Stopping and staring at the sidewalk she took a mental review of how the day had gotten this bad. First off, she had gotten to work late because of a traffic pile up near the corner of her house. Ambelokipi wasn’t very far from central Athens, which was where all the tourists met up, but it sucked that she had to abandon the idea of driving just because some idiot decided that he was going to go extremely slow. She huffed. Americans.

She stood, staring up into her--no their-- apartment window. That was cause enough to warrant a small (but genuine) smile. Them. Us. It was still slightly difficult to realize that they had only been married for four months. It seemed like longer, it seemed like never and she was turning into a jittery schoolgirl spouting love poetry right before she got home. Jules might have left work early and might be inside already, which would brighten the day tremendously and that was all she could hope for.

Recently he had been leaving the restaurant at earlier and earlier hours, getting home either right as Tess arrived or right before; only once did he come home after. It was almost as if he was afraid of something. Tess had no idea what was going on with him, they had been together for around five years, she wasn‘t going to leave. True they had only been living together for the last six months and that was just because of a well-timed loan. These were no reasons to be afraid.

She smoothed out her skirt, and continued on. Immediately reminded of her broken shoe, the bad mood returned with vengeance like the fish she had forgotten to take out of the refrigerator that one time and when she opened the door had to practically run out of the room. Each uneven, limping step pissed her off even more. By the time she made it up the stairs, Tess was practically steaming. Slamming the door open she shoved her purse in the nearest chair and closed the door noisily behind her. She lie back against the doorframe and rubbed her temples.

There was a distant rustling somewhere from the vicinity of the kitchen. Tess would have moved to look beyond the hallway wall that was in her way, but the door felt so cool and if she didn’t move and no one spoke loudly maybe she could just deal. Her nose perked up. Although, whatever it was in the kitchen smelled really good right about now.

On the opposite side of the wall, a dark haired man was fiddling with a peculiar looking lasagna dish in an old, faded blue oven.

The door slamming had startled the young man cooking dinner but it shouldn‘t have. Really. Seeing as how this was a regular greeting for his wife. Normally, however, it was followed by a blur of curly brown hair and sparkling brown eyes attacking him and dragging the hapless man to the bedroom.

So they were newlyweds. They could live the cliché if they wanted to.

Jules quickly turned off the oven and strolled over to the door, wondering how bad it was that he didn’t get an armful of willing lover at the end of the day. Stopping at the entrance to the hallway, he struck a pose, one foot propped against the wall. Of course, a few seconds later he realized his mistake and quickly removed the foot and wiped down any remaining footprint like shapes from the wall. He looked up sheepishly before surrounding the poor headache-y woman.

“Tess, what has gotten you so bent out of shape?” He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

She sighed. “You just don’t know the day I’ve had, Jules. I thought that May was supposed to be a slow tourist season.” Stopping to take off her coat, she rolled her head around trying to ease out the kinks in her neck. The noxious green shirt she was wearing road up as she stretched her arm. Jules took this opportunity to goose her, much to Tess’s disdain. “That is so beyond not funny that I can seriously say you aren’t getting any type of sex tonight.”

Jules looked aghast. “But, Tessie, You can’t mean that!”

She just slowly looked him up and down, a way that usually made him shiver--didn’t fail this time either--but now it was followed by the bitter taste of disappointment. “Oh I do mean it.” She sidled up to him. “Maybe you could make it up to me by getting the lady a great amount of alcohol. This headache isn’t going away any time soon. I could drown it, I think.”

“To Mike’s then?” Jules pressed another quick kiss on her temple. “You can tell me all about your day over dinner. I started fixing it on the job, but I left Iale working as manager for the restaurant. Hope you’re in the mood for pastitsio.”

“Mmm,” Tess murmured. “I think that might just be what I need.” She pulled herself up and planted a deep kiss on her husband.

“Not that I want to remind you,” Jules panted. “But I thought there was no sex.” He groaned out the last words as Tess started to writhe against him. His hair fell into his face and he gripped his wife’s arms in a last ditch effort to be able to speak complete sentences. Tess stopped moving abruptly.

“I did say that didn’t I?” She broke away and headed towards the kitchen.

Jules was left there, standing in the hallway looking for all the world as though someone had broken his brand new bicycle. The kind he had barely ridden on.

“Stop thinking, and get in here so we can eat.” A loud voice called from the kitchen. “Oh, and how was your day?” There was a brief metallic scraping sound as the oven door was opened. “Um…I think you burnt dinner.” Pause. “Yeah, it’s black as day old shit.”

Liar. Jules thought, but decided not to say anything. For the most part, he just remained there mostly slack-jawed from the teasing he had endured. “Let’s just go to Mike’s now.”

Brown hair flopped over her shoulder as she took the still very edible pastitsio out of the oven and set it on the counter, covering it discreetly. “To the Irish Pub we go.” She muttered.

They ended up driving to Mike’s about fifteen minutes later, only slightly rumpled and with matching grins.

***

9:00 pm.

The bar turned out to be exactly what Tess wanted. After a few drinks she could sink back into the booth, just melting into the atmosphere. Smoke rose into a cloud above the crowd, smelling like old cigars and potent cigarettes. One of the lights flickered steadily, marking the way to the bathroom.

Just as she hit the point of relaxation, a tickle hit the back of her mind. At first she ignored it, but the tickle started to turn into a whisper and persisted to squirm around. No, that’s not how to describe it.

It was like the whisper was scraping at the tips, barely touching but so noticeable that it wouldn’t let her rest. She looked around the bar, gazing through the patrons, trying to pick up on anything out of place.

There was a scratch of a chair on the floor near their booth as Jules stumbled over it. He righted himself and bent over to say, “I have to go to the bathroom. Order me a beer, would you Tessie?” His breath hot on her ear disappeared a second later, leaving the barest hint of contact, fading rapidly. Tess nodded yes, though it didn’t matter. He had already gone.

She got up, trying vainly to push the voice even further to the back and strolled over to the bar. Her hand slapped against the bar. “Mythos. Two.” She stopped. “And do you know the time?”

The bartender rubbed his beard and pointed to the clock hanging above him. Tess blushed. “Oh. Sorry.”

9:10

She took the beer and tipped the guy; it never hurts to give a bit to the guy who gives you alcohol. Even if he is slightly rude. Setting the their drinks on the table, Tess wobbled a little as a wave of nausea passed through her. “What…” Her voice trailed off and she felt bile rise up in her throat. She reached for the nearest surface and grabbed onto a stool sitting haphazardly next to their booth. A scratchy voice seemed to come from far away…

“Lady, are you alright?”

Tess bent over even more, letting one arm release the stool from the death grip she held so that she could clutch her stomach. The voice, the niggling whisper that had merely only been there before grew in volume, taking over her mind. Thousands of languages and voices joined in, careening through her thoughts and blinding her to the rest of the room; crescendo-ing into a raucous noise and blending until one clear voice that transcended the sounds asked,

“Are you ready to be strong?”

She gasped as tendrils of power pulsed through her, chilling and warming her from the middle of her chest and traveling to her fingertips. Even as she felt it she knew there was something blocking the power, it was muted somehow. The rest of the room tilted as it came back into view and Tess caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror over the bar. She was…she looked normal, though she could swear she had to be glowing to feel like this. She had to be.

There was no way she could have this inside her and people not notice. People had to notice.

“Are you ready?” The voice asked.

Glancing at herself again in the mirror, she saw power. She saw force.

“Yes.” She whispered and collapsed into the stool as something she would never be able to describe washed over her.

The clocked ticked.

9:12

***

Tess sat bolt upright in bed. Ever since that night three weeks ago, she kept having the same types of dream. First it would start in the bar, and then it would continue on with people dying, girls all over the world fighting. Fighting and losing, fighting and winning. Fighting for fun.

Fighting.

Then there would be things turning to dust. (Vampires.) She didn’t know what was going on, except that she could not get these girls and those (demons) things out of her mind.

On top of this, these dreams were ruining her workday. She had never had this many complaints about her temper before. Tess was even surprised that the tourists would even think to go to customer service, seeing as how the man that sat at the desk spoke mainly Greek. What little English he did know was mostly to help send people to other islands and temples.

The temper she could directly attribute to not getting nearly enough sleep at night. Every time she turned out the lights, it was the same thing. She would wake up, nearly jerking herself off the bed or inadvertently hitting Jules in the face, then try to get back to sleep and instead of accomplishing that, she would spend the rest of the night tossing and turning.

The only times she even barely got anything that resembled rest was when she dreamt of bright lights and darkness, and the light trying to touch the dark but every time it tried, the dark disappeared completely. Leaving nothing in its place. Just the sad, lonely looking light.

It reminded her of a children’s cartoon she had seen once, long ago.

Other than that, Tess had no idea what it meant, nor did she particularly care. All she wanted was a good eight hours. Huffing, she got out of bed, knocking aside Jules none to gently.

There was a soft groan. “You ok?” Jules rubbed his eyes sleepily and looked up at her.

Tess heaved a deep sigh. “Yeah, just can’t sleep. I might walk around the block to knock off some of this energy.”

“Be careful.” Jules said, then turned back over, promptly passing out.

Sighing again, she pulled on sneakers and a jacket and headed outside.

***

Starting her nightly ritual that had begun roughly around the end of the first week of not sleeping she stepped into the cool, night air. She breathed in and looked up at the sky. This feels right. She thought happily. This is what I need. Starting a rapid pace down the sidewalk, she passed the corner that led to the Patision, one of the main streets in Athens. Tess paused for a moment, glancing up towards it. Her feet turned and she went down the back way, through the alleys.

The moon was not so much dim as it was hiding behind trees, clouds and buildings. In any event they were blocking out most of the brightness, which should have made it difficult for her to see but it didn’t, not really. She could run and not fall into things, if she wanted too.

Closing her eyes she could feel things moving around her. Granted, they were probably rats, yet it was amazing because she could hear. In between the walls of the alley, she stood absolutely still, reveling in the abilities she had never known--until recently--she had. It vaguely reminded her of That Night after she had gotten home, when as soon as they entered the door she had initiated the best sex of her life.

There were so many things she could feel and what she wanted to feel, and remaining in this dank place with the rats that she could sense climbing up the walls was as close as she had gotten so far. Except there was something pulling at her stomach now, ruining her nostalgia. Tess frowned. She wasn’t due until two weeks, why was she having cram--

A rustle sounded behind her, knocking her out of the daze she had been in. Turning so quickly she hadn’t even thought of moving, Tess grabbed the person behind her and slammed whoever it was into the alley wall, picking them up and holding the struggling person against the wall a few feet above the pavement.

She dropped the man---she could see him now--when the face changed from that of a normal person into something grotesque and disgusting that she only knew in her dreams. Her elbow hit the wall behind her and she turned to run, but the man’s (demon’s) voice stopped her.

“It’s true. I can’t believe it but it’s true.” He spoke in awed disbelief. He’s a tourist, she thought idly. He’s probably British.

Tess abandoned the question about what he was talking about and settled on, “Who are you?”

The man stood up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I think it’s safe to say, I’m the one who’s going to kill you.” At that statement, he lunged but Tess was already flying out into another connecting alley. “There’s no reason to run! I’ll catch you no matter where you go!”

Her foot slipped on the pavement and she crashed into a bunch of fruit crates hard enough to break one of them into pieces. Looking around she grabbed the biggest piece she could find to use as a weapon. There’s no way I’m letting a visitor kill me. A scuffle alerted her to the man turning the corner a few seconds later, the gross mockery of a man’s face still there. Immediately stopping, he picked up a cocky swagger.

“Little girl going to come at me with a big stick?” He laughed mockingly. “I highly doubt your sanity. But then I hear the last original one was a little around the bend as well.”

Tess lunged but he knocked her to the ground. He continued, “It won’t hurt I prom-” A look of alarm took over his face. “What did you do?!”

She stared up at the protruding wooden spike sticking out of the man’s chest. “I..I…I don’t…” Tess swallowed. “I think it’s safe to say, I killed you.” A second later the man turned to dust.

Suppressing a girly shriek, Tess pulled herself up and ran the opposite direction.

Eventually she stopped, not because she was tired, since she was not all that worn out from running around two miles in the quickest times she ever had. No, she stopped because she had reached the Akropolis, climbed up the monstrous hill, and almost ran into the an old column. Leaning against it, Tess panted and began to rethink her nightly strolls.

A rock moved somewhere near the Parthenon, which was standing about ten meters away. Stiffening, Tess moved closer to the noise. No ugly, demonic thing was going to keep her from having a good night, se decided. As quietly as she could, she crept closer until the thing that made the noise was in sight.

Shit. It was another creature. Vampire, she thought. With little more than a scrape she ran and pounced on the demon and knocked it off of its feet.

Tess paused. “What? What are you talking about? You are going to tell me exactly what’s going on. ”

The vampire lifted its head off the ground and inhaled deeply. “You’re the first here in a long time.”

“First what?!” Tess growled in exasperation. “I want to know why there are real vampires running around. They are myths. Gods and goddesses and Pegasus and vampires. Myths.”

“Myths are relative, Slayer.” A blur flashed through her eyes and Tess found herself pinned to the ground with a leering vampire pinning her between two stones in the walkway. “I heard that your kind taste sweet.” He leaned in to her neck. “I think you might taste bitter. Like wine.”

Two sharp pricks and suddenly Tess was thrown into a whirlwind of excruciating, aching pain. Shocked into stillness by the surrealistic feel of the night, she stared up at the sky feeling her life drained away. There was a pull and she felt herself getting warmer, felt herself getting…

She arched into the mouth against her neck. Pulling one hand free, she pushed his head against her harder, before coming to her senses and reaching into her coat pocket and searching for something. Tess picked up her arm and slammed the wooden cross through the back of the vampire and watched passively as it turned to ash over her body.

Brushing herself off, Tess stood up shakily and looked around the Akropolis and started the long trudge home.

***

The door opened softly as she entered, rumpled and dirty. She made it to the bathroom, where she proceeded to undress. Standing in front of the mirror she gazed at the body that had killed two creatures tonight. Killed them.

And she liked it. She wanted it. Fingering the bite marks on the side of her neck, Tess opened the door and went out into the bedroom without bothering to put her clothes back on. The alarm went off on the side of the bed. Jules sat up quickly and knocked the alarm clock over, unplugging it in the process. He rubbed his eyes, and looked over at the bathroom, dark brown hair coming up in tufts. “Tess,” he began. “Why are you…what’s going on?” Jules squinted at her. “What happened to your neck?”

Tess smiled and walked over to him. “I just wanted to give you a good morning.” Jules blinked up at her and moved the covers aside. His wife crawled over the bed and lay down. A second later he quickly climbed over her, holding himself above by his arms. Slowly leaned down, pressing a kiss into her mouth entering her at the same time. Moving from her lips to her jaw, he began to thrust lazily and whispered into her ear,

“I’ll love you no matter what happens.” Then he lightly brushed his mouth against the new wound.

This sent Tess into a frenzy. “Please.” She cried, starting to thrash underneath him. Jules brushed the wound again out of curiosity. “Please,” Tess started to moan, her hair splayed wildly on the pillow, tangling as she tried to desperately writhe closer. He groaned on top of her, trying to keep give her what she wanted. Pushing deeper, harder, a second later he found himself flat on his back, flipped over suddenly.

She was looking down at him with an edgy grin, eyes gleaming brightly. “Please,” she whispered this time, teasing more than begging, grinding harder into him. Her face changed suddenly from mischievous to desperation. “I need--I need…” Tess’s gaze flickered from his eyes to his lips to his neck. Her hands reached down, caressing his jaw, stalling right above his throat in a pose reminiscent of a chokehold.

Visibly yanking her hands away from there, she made to grab his arms and succeeded in pinning him to the bed, holding him there with very little effort, his arms trapped by his sides.

“Tessie,” he complained. “I can’t touch you. Let me touch you.”

Off in her own world, she didn’t hear him. As she increased the tempo of her thrusts, her hands started tightening their grip incessantly, coming precariously close to the point of pain.

Jules opened eyes that had previously fallen shut. His voice rang out with a hint of concern. “Tess, what are you doing?” He ended on a yelp as the hands that held him down spastically clenched and let go.

Her hair fell in her eyes. “I need,” she muttered. “I need--I have to.” She picked herself up and slammed back down just as suddenly, pushing him further into the mattress. Tess began to work her jaw, mindlessly seeking out something. Grabbing her husband beneath her, she pulled him up into a awkward position, hugging him against her chest.

“Tess,” Jules strained to hold himself up right. “Tess, I can’t move, can you…stop please. I don’t think you are well enough to--oof.” She amplified the hold until he started to struggle. With a pitiful cry, Tess pushed him against the bed--hard enough to stun him--and shuddered, falling in a heap onto the surprised man. He lay there, unable to move for the body that lay heavily on top of him, completely bewildered about the sudden change in the mood that blanketed the room. Not able to remember whether or not he was soft because he had come or because of something else.

Tess sighed and rolled over. She looked over at Jules, and patted his stomach. “Thanks Jul. Can’t wait until tomorrow.” She moved onto her side of the bed and closed her eyes. Her husband stared at her back for a second. Slinging his feet to the side of the bed, he padded to the bathroom.

Leaning over to turn the shower on, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Bruises on top of his arms already started to color. He looked his torso over, noting the ones he’d have on his hips from her knees gripping him. The steam began to take over the mirror. Jules looked over at the door, towards his sleeping wife.

He could understand.

***

The next morning as the alarm went off and Tess was nowhere to be found. Sliding out of bed he got up look around the rest of the house. There was no one there.

***

Practically frantic as he walked home, Jules ran up the stairs to the apartment. He had decided to call her parents and friends during his break at work, and no one had heard from her. Maybe she had decided to skip out. Maybe he wasn’t good enough. He fumbled and dropped his keys on the ground.

“What has you all upset?” A bright voice asked him.

Jules quickly looked up. “Tess! Where have you been?” He took in her appearance. The hair was slightly scrunched up and her clothes, the pajamas she was wearing two nights ago and her jacket, were dusty and torn. There was a fresh mark on her neck. “You look like you spent two nights without sleep. Come on, let’s get you warmed up inside.”

Tess grabbed Jules and pulled him into a frantic kiss. Wrenching his head apart, he noticed her shirt moving to the side; wounds dotted her shoulders. His eyebrows came together and he gave a worried frown. “What happened to you?” Brushing her hair out of the way, his hand grazed over a couple of the odd looking injuries.

A brilliant smile took over her face. “I went searching, and found out something amazing.” She attacked his mouth again, and somehow he managed to manhandle the keys into the lock and they fell through the door. His hands tangled in her hair and they both collapsed in the hallway. Tess kicked the door shut.

“I found out,” she murmured. “That I didn’t really have to say yes. All I needed to do was spend more time…” Tess paused to lick his neck. “In the dark.”

His eyes rolled back in his head. “Tessie.”

“I thought there was something missing.” She continued. “Duty. I had enough of that. Now I’m free. We can all, not live, that’s not the right word. We can all exist together.”

“What are you--” Jules swallowed and tried again. “What are you talking about?”

Tess lifted up and gave him a toothy smile. “I can stay this way. Remember what you told me? About whatever happens?”

Jules tilted his head up at her. “Yes. I remember.”

“Thanks for giving me what you could.”