Chapter 13 | Chapter 15

When Sonia and I pulled up in front of a huge, ugly mansion in a desert town an hour or two later, I sat there for a moment, completely nonplussed. I hadn't even known there was a desert town anywhere close to where we lived... and I quickly made sure Sonia would let me take care of things by myself. She nodded, and replied that she would remain in the car, then expressed concern about me being in the bright sun.

With a hand on her shoulder, I assured her I had plenty of energy left from my meditation, that I would be just fine as long as he answered his door in a timely matter... and then left the shade of the car with a smile.

For a moment, I stood in front of the mansion, trying to get my nerves in order, but I quickly felt the burn of the sun, and glanced ruefully at the sky, then ran for the front door.

I knocked, and a maid answered, invited me in, and claimed she would go get the "master" - if I would just wait here by the front door.

I sighed in relief to be out of the sun, and took a deep breath, trying to collect my thoughts and figure out what I was going to say to the man.

He came around the corner, and upon seeing me, his whole demeanor changed. His face took on a thunderous anger, and he sneered a bit as he spit out, "Oh. It's YOU. What brings you to MY HOME. You have no business here!"

Feeling the anger rising up within me, I tried to tamp down on it. "Now that's where you're wrong. It's YOU that has no business sticking your nose into MY affairs. I may have bought the land from you, but you have NO reason to make sure my petition to build didn't go through. How much did you have to pay to make that happen, anyway? Five, ten thousand... more? How could you be so petty?! I've done nothing to you or your family that would warrant this hatred!"

"Really? Is that what you think?? It's your family that almost ruined me! Your grandparents nearly caused me to lose EVERYTHING! I knew when they were gone, things could finally go back to normal... but apparently I was wrong. I never expected you to come back home. Hell, I didn't even know you EXISTED. That land was to remain empty. We don't need YOUR KIND anywhere near Forgotten Hollow!" he raged back at me, confusing me further. My family had hurt him? How was this possible? And what sort of interest did he have in Forgotten Hollow? He wasn't even a vampire!

I finally realized he was still raging at me, and I just let him go, hoping he would shed some light on the situation while he ranted. Before long, I could tell that wasn't going to happen. He was too busy listening to himself talk and his own self-importance to say anything that made any sense.

Noticeably, I yawned, and watched him come to an awkward halt.

"How DARE you... blaming ME for things my GRANDPARENTS did. I have never known anything about them - other than the fact that they died in a horrible fire. I had nothing to do with whatever they did to you, and, let's be honest," I waved a hand over Geoffrey's mansion, "They clearly didn't take enough from you to actually warrant any hate, anyway."

"Now you're the one that's wrong!" he raged back, "They nearly RUINED me! Their rumor-mongering about my wife almost cost me my job and my home! How DARE they say those fallacies about her! She's a WONDERFUL person!"

I started laughing, interrupting him. "This is about RUMORS? This is about you and your wifes' images? I don't even KNOW your wife. You have no business blaming me for what my grandparents did. NONE. I am my own person! ... " I paused, taking a breath, trying to calm my rising anger down, then continued, "Me and mine have NOTHING to do with you - you... you.. petty old man!"

.... Then, before I knew it, my righteous anger triggered something in me. I could feel it rise within me, and pull my feet off the ground. It nearly took my breath away.

I took a moment to try to compose myself, but apparently I was too far gone. I was too angry at his ridiculous complaints.

I turned towards him, and his expression only brought my anger up again. I couldn't help myself. I reached for him... and he knocked my hands away, slapping at me.

... Which only sent me further over the edge. The fight was on.

Neither of us noticed when Geoffrey's son walked by with barely a glance at us, and continued on his way like nothing was happening. Had I not been in my Dark Form, and low on energy, I probably wouldn't have felt him walk by.. but in the state I was in, I could feel his human heart beating as he walked by.

After the fight, for Geoffrey's safety (and his family's.. although I'm still unsure whether they all deserved my concern...) I threatened Geoffrey with dire consequences should he continue to interfere with my building permits, and left in a hurry. Sophia took one look at my face, and decided not to ask any questions, but started the car, and we headed home to Forgotten Hollow.

By the time we arrived, I had calmed down, reverted to my normal form, and confessed the whole story to Sophia. Her only comment was musing whether the Landgraabs had had anything to do with the still-unsolved fire that had killed my grandparents. I mused about it for a while myself, but then decided I just didn't want to know. I was already angry enough at Geoffrey without adding that possibility to the mix.

Mari could tell I was near my breaking point by the time I got home, and tenderly mentioned that she would not be offended if I had to go find some real plasma for my dinner instead of my diminishing supply of plasma packs. With a sigh of relief, I took her hands, kissed them, and told her that I didn't think Geoffrey would be a problem anymore. She had the good graces to not say anything about what I might have done to him, and I hurried to assure her that he was still whole in body and mind, then left her beside our camping spot while I searched out some sustenance.

Chapter 13 | Chapter 15