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Post by Dorian Humbert on Oct 11, 2016 16:35:13 GMT -5
Aleksandra "Lex" EiriksenIt had been a week, and the killer had not come for Christine at the hotel. Did he know Dorian had set a trap for him there? Where was he hiding? These were the thoughts that plagued Dorian's mind as he walked silently through a muggle neighborhood. It was well past midnight.
The older houses were tall; three stories each, and sat close together but each had a small yard. He had chosen the location with the yard for Christine. The entire property was obscured, so she would be able to get some fresh air. A slight reprieve from the four walls that had surrounded her at the hotel for the past month. He sighed, seeing a light on in the window upstairs. Christine's light. He knew, because Lex would be waiting for him in the foyer.
He muttered an incantation as he passed through the protective charms and onto the property. Onlookers would say he simply vanished from the street, as if into thin air. He stood on the porch, breathed deeply, and turned the knob slowly and crept inside. He'd been here every night since Christine had left the hotel. He hadn't seen her, not she him. It was what she wanted and Dorian would give her everything he could to make her happy, while also keeping her safe from harm. It was a difficult line to walk.
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Post by Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen on Oct 11, 2016 16:40:47 GMT -5
Lex sighed when she heard Dorian entering the foyer. The first night it had happened she nearly cursed him dead, and since then she grew to expect it, though she repeatedly told him to just talk to Christine. Tonight was no different.
"Just go up there already." she said tapping her fingers on her arm.
Lex felt safer at the house than she had at the hotel, it helped that she knew her brother stationed several wolves around the house as well to keep her safe, and that the forest wasn't as far away as it had been when they were at the Avalon.
Since taking over the assignment she was with Christine more often than anyone else. She also was keeping her promise to Dorian and personally seeing to the girl's safety.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Oct 11, 2016 17:00:09 GMT -5
Christine didn't want to see him, and he couldn't stay away without knowing she was okay. This was the best option for them. After the killer was taken in, he'd leave her for good so she could carry on with her life.
"It's better this way," he replied. "Have there been any problems?" Dorian didn't know about the wolves that Lex's brother had stationed to surveil the house. If he had, he certainly would have had Lex removed from Christine's security detail as well. She was smart to keep it from him.
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Post by Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen on Oct 11, 2016 17:14:32 GMT -5
Not everyone reacted well to the idea of wolves, a lesson Lex had learned early on in life. But it wasn't Dorian's reaction she was afraid of, she kept the knowledge a secret to keep Alek safe.
"This isn't fair Dorian, you can see her, but she can't see you?" she put a hand up to prevent any reply. She didn't want to argue with him.
She sighed. "Nothing new on this end. I take it he hasn't been to the hotel either has he?" Lex wanted to catch this guy badly, everyone in the office did.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Oct 11, 2016 17:24:57 GMT -5
She doesn't want to see me, he thought but he didn't say as much as Lex gestured for him to keep his thoughts to himself. He sighed and looked to the stairwell near Lex. Christine was up there. He only needed to take a few steps and he could kiss her. But he restrained himself. Was better at restraining himself when Christine wasn't around.
"Nothing." Dorian sounded defeated. It had been two weeks since they'd last had any sign of the killer. Something was brewing, but they didn't know what.
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Post by Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen on Oct 11, 2016 17:31:00 GMT -5
Lex would have rolled her eyes at his thoughts. The girl cried herself to sleep every night and walked around like a zombie since their departure. It was really quite ridiculous. Lex had never seen two people want to see each other more than they did each other. Lex also knew that Christine had kept one of Dorian's ties and when the girl thought no one was looking she'd inhale it's scent like some kind of cliche out of a romantic drama.
"I don't like his silence." Lex said chewing on her inner lip.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Oct 11, 2016 17:43:00 GMT -5
"Agreed." He didn't want to talk about the killer. He spent all day thinking about the killer. He wanted to talk about Christine. He looked to the stairs again, then back to Lex.
"Talk in the office is they're considering luring him out. Baiting him. But the attacks are so random, it's hard to tell what would draw him out."
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Post by Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen on Oct 11, 2016 17:49:39 GMT -5
Lex only nodded. She hadn't told Dorian that Christine had been bait and the killer didn't go for it. She didn't know how the killer ticked, no one did, not even Grayson Steele and he was one of the best.
"She misses you." Lex said finally after an appropriate amount of awkward silence.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Oct 11, 2016 18:24:16 GMT -5
When Dorian's eyes met Lex's again there was a pained look on his face. "Don't tell me that." She hadn't meant to be but it was cruel of her to say that to him. It didn't make it easier on either of them, though Dorian knew Lex was trying to be helpful. He wondered how much Lex knew about his and Christine's relationship by now. She'd been able to make Dorian confess their affair, and he was certain a sobbing woman would be much easier to get information out of than he was.
He had so many more questions, but they were the same questions he tried to ask Lex every night and couldn't. Was she eating enough? Was she going out into the yard? Had she regained the spirit he'd stolen from her? Dorian sighed and pulled open the flap to his long overcoat. From the inside pocket he withdrew a camera. "She left this at the hotel. Will you give it to her? Tell her someone else dropped it off." He had kept the pictures she took of them. For safe keeping, he told himself.
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Post by Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen on Oct 11, 2016 18:28:12 GMT -5
No she wasn't eating enough. No she didn't leave her room most days. And whatever spirit Christine had was more damaged now than ever. Were the answers to his unasked questions.
It worried Lex a bit, but she didn't tell Dorian this either. She wished they would make up already, but she knew that wasn't in the cards when they were both so stubborn.
She took the camera from him and nodded. She'd do as he asked, and just as she had vowed to do every other time she saw her despondent brother she'd have a long good talk with Christine. Of course she hadn't actually had that talk. Every time she saw the girl Christine looked weaker and weaker, Lex didn't have the heart, but now she had a legitimate excuse.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Oct 11, 2016 18:43:38 GMT -5
"Thanks," he said as she took the camera from him. He turned to leave but hesitated for a moment as his hand reached the knob. He wanted to thank Lex for listening to him. For being whatever sort of confidant she could be to a man like Dorian. "Have a good night." See you tomorrow, he thought before pulling the door open and stepping out into the night.
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Post by Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen on Oct 11, 2016 18:59:34 GMT -5
"See you tomorrow." she said as soon as the door was closed. She held on to the camera and fidgeted with it. She was frustrated with her brother, and frustrated with the girl who loved him. They were being stubborn, and it was time to get over it, they weren't helping anyone by being like this.
Lex made the trek upstairs and knocked on Christine's door. Christine still looked worse for the wear, but her charms were getting better. Lex tossed the camera on the bed, "We need to talk." she said shutting the door behind her.
And so they talked. They talked for hours and hours late into the night and then into the morning. Christine broke down in tears and confessed that she had been lying to Dorian about who she was. She also confessed that she couldn't be the reason he got hurt. Lex was surprised, particularly about Christine's age, and then moreso when she revealed that she was a Montgomery. Briefly she wondered if her brother really should be getting involved, but she could tell the girl's feelings were sincere, as were her brother's and they were both of age and consenting adults.
Lex told her that she needed to come clean to Dorian and let him decide how he felt rather than make the decision for him. While Christine was afraid to be honest with Dorian she agreed that it was the only fair thing to do, they were both already suffering so much.
Lex then promised to arrange it so that Dorian and Christine could spend some time alone. So sometime in the following week she used her supernatural pull to get Dorian temporarily reinstated as Christine's guardian.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Oct 11, 2016 23:43:26 GMT -5
***
Three days later Dorian an urgent memo landed on his desk. The auror who had replaced him on Christine's security detail was sick, and Lex needed to be relieved. He had a sneaking feeling that Lex had something to do with this, but after checking the office there really was no one else available to cover so Dorian resigned himself to a brutal eight hour shift with the woman who couldn't stand to see him.
He straightened his tie as he walked down the muggle street and disappeared near the property line of 85 and 89 Hollyharp Drive. He knocked, instead of walking straight in. It was quite possible that Christine was downstairs, as it was nearly three in the afternoon, and he didn't want to startle her. |
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Post by Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen on Oct 11, 2016 23:47:11 GMT -5
Lex answered the door. "Hey." she said with her usual smile, "Thanks for taking the shift, I pulled a double yesterday, and usually it's no big, but I have a family emergency." she explained as though she needed to.
Her family emergency was her brother reconciling with Christine so they could stop moping.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Oct 12, 2016 0:10:08 GMT -5
Dorian gave Lex an annoyed look as he walked past her and into the house. It looked very different in the daylight. It was very modest compared to the Avalon, and Dorian instantly felt a twinge of regret at forcing Christine to stay here. No yard could make up for taking her away from the luxuries the hotel had to offer.
"Is she upstairs?"
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Post by Aleksandra "Lex" Eiriksen on Oct 12, 2016 0:16:01 GMT -5
Lex made a point of rolling her eyes in front of him, it was her way of telling him to stop acting like a baby.
"Yes." the coward. Christine had changed her mind last minute insisting that the truth would only hurt Dorian, and was determined not to talk to him. At this point however Lex was going to lock them in a room together and wait for the explosion to come. She'd also tell Dorian the truth herself, but wanted to give Christine the opportunity to do it first.
"I'll be back tonight."
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Oct 12, 2016 0:37:55 GMT -5
"Good luck with your family thing," he said over his shoulder as he left the foyer and moved into the living room to look around. If Christine was upstairs, he'd let her be. For now. Dorian wasn't sure how long he'd be able to resist going up to see her, but for now he looked over the magazines and books that lined the scarce bookshelf near the fireplace.
After an hour with no sign of Christine, Dorian decided he would check on her. He climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked down the hallway, counting the doors until he came to the fourth room. Whenever he'd come to check in with Lex in the middle of the night, he'd seen Christine's shadow in the fourth window. He knocked gently. "Darl-Christine," he corrected himself through the door. "Do you need anything?"
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Christine Montgomery
 
Seventh Year[M:10]
In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.
Posts: 925
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Post by Christine Montgomery on Oct 12, 2016 0:48:59 GMT -5
Christine was hiding. She knew she couldn't hide the whole day, but for the moment it was working. When that moment turned into an hour she was wound tighter than a two dollar watch. She jumped when he finally knocked, but hearing his voice broke her.
She was crying, sobbing really, trying not to make a sound. Just his voice was enough to make her cry, if she saw him she didn't know what she'd do.
She missed him so much, and it didn't matter that she hadn't seen him, she worried about him day in and day out. She watched Lex for any news, she imagined the girl would have told her if something had happened to him. Since their conversation the other day however she had grown more and more terrified of telling him the truth and the consequences. She was a coward.
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Post by Dorian Humbert on Oct 12, 2016 1:03:26 GMT -5
There was no answer but he could hear her moving. He sighed and closed his eyes for a minute searching for the courage he needed. When he opened them, he pulled on the handle and slowly pushed her door open. She was sitting on the bed, crying. It broke him. He couldn't stand it any longer.
Dorian crossed the room and stood in front of her. He took her by the hand and pulled her to her feet, then wrapped his arm around her tiny waist and brought her close to him. "Don't cry, darling." He kissed the tears that had run down her cheeks.
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Christine Montgomery
Seventh Year[M:10]
In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.
Posts: 925
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Post by Christine Montgomery on Oct 12, 2016 1:24:05 GMT -5
She never had a chance. Her sobs turned into physical heaving as soon as he was holding her. She held on to him, afraid that she could open her eyes and he wouldn't be there.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it." she confessed. The words poured out of her easily once she was safe in his arms.
"I love you Dorian. I love you so much."
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