What's in a Name? Ch. 06

The two men sat across from each other silently, thinking about the strange girl in the other room.

"And you have no idea where she's from?" Gabriel asked after some moments.

"No," Alexander answered. "She told us that she remembers nothing else other than working with her computer from home, and earning good money with that, too. The earliest thing she remembers is renting her first apartment after making money in internet cafes, and living in homeless shelters. All very strange," he mused.

They both returned to their own thoughts. Gabriel was wondering whether he would confide Alexander in his thoughts. "Did you ever hear the story of the kidnapped Zerphirdean children?"

"The newborn babies who were stolen and their parents killed some decades ago?" Alexander answered inquiringly. "There were six, I believe, and you only found four to bring back. A horrible story."

Gabriel nodded. "Seven actually," he said, his face grave. "One child was found dead."

Alexander shook his head mortified. Killing newborn babies really was beyond his comprehension. "And you think that Ravenna might by one of them?" Frowning, he stared at Gabriel, it would explain her strange past, but she was unthinkingly powerful. "Has a Zerphirdean ever had these kind of powers?"

Gabriel shrugged. "About once or twice every millennium, an immortal Zerphirdean is born. They usually have special powers. I myself am one of them as you know. It is possible this girl is one too." He hesitated for a moment. "I never heard of a gifted Zerphirdean with powers like these, but who knows."

Alexander looked at the man across him. Being a gifted Zerphirdean, he looked like a man in the prime of his years, late twenties, early thirties at most. But under this broad chest and handsome face, over 2000 years of experience, and 1500 years of friendship was stored. They had fought side by side more than once, and later, Dominic had befriended him, too. Although they each led their own lives, their friendship had been close all these years.

Alexander smiled as he saw Gabriel's scrutinizing look. They both knew they were measuring each other's intentions and thoughts. He decided he'd introduce him to Ravenna; she'd be in good hands with him. "Shall we go to Ravenna then?"

Gabriel nodded gratefully, happy that his friend trusted him with the preciousness under his protection. As he got up, he found he actually was somewhat anxious to meet the girl. He could not readily identify the cause and frowned as they walked to her office. Alexander's short knock on her door pulled him from his reverie, and he felt anxiety swirling from behind the door. The girl was perfectly aware who waited for her outside her office, and did not like it.

Not waiting for an answer, Alexander opened the door. "Ravenna," he said smiling, "there's someone I'd like you to meet."

Gabriel entered the room, taken aback by the girl behind the huge teak wood desk. She was almost invisible behind her installation of computer and accessories, four monitors on her bureau, but he could see enough to establish that she was a truly stunning young woman. She had her long blond hair loose on her shoulders, some simple pins keeping it from falling in her face; a face that expressed beauty and strength. He tried not to let his eyes roam her body and introduced himself swiftly, hoping she, and Alexander, had not observed his appreciative looks.

"Hi, I'm Gabriel Astori. Alexander and I go a long way back." He approached her holding his hand out. She looked like she wanted to shy away from him, but she managed to hold her ground, shaking his hand with one quick gesture and stepping away from him immediately after that. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Astori, and now, if you would excuse me, I , I have an appointment I can't be late to."

Alexander intervened on Gabriel's behalf, rolling his eyes at her obvious attempt to escape the introductions. "Ravenna, you don't have an appointment," he said sternly. "Just sit and talk to Gabe for a while. Dominic and I are just around the corner."

Ravenna stared at him angrily, about to protest, but she changed her mind as Alexander walked away, ignoring her irritation. At the door he looked back at her, "sit down and be nice," and left the office winking at Gabriel. Scowling, she turned towards Gabriel, eyeing him warily. To her surprise, she found him examining her art collection on the wall, his back to her.

She took in his appearance; he was a tall man, about a heads length taller than she was. And he was handsome, as she'd already established when she'd seen him in the hallway. His body was toned and muscled, clad in a stylish, tight fitting suit that accentuated his broad shoulders. He wore his brown hair half long, letting it fall around his face playfully. Shocking green eyes looked into the world like they could pierce through steel, but his face was kind.

Ravenna felt the muscles tighten in her stomach as she took in his handsome features. Something in her suddenly wanted him to like her, to approve of her. She frowned at the strange feelings that swept through her mind, where did they suddenly come from?

His comment on the paintings at her wall distracted her from further scrutinizing the feelings. "You have an extraordinary collection here, Ravenna. Did you pick the pieces out yourself?" he asked as he walked to the next painting.

She had not expected that. "Uhm, yeah, Alexander and Dominic let me decorate the office myself. I figured I'd like these on the wall." Restlessly, she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"You're a fan of surrealism?" he asked, although it was fairly obvious. She had reproductions from Dali, Margritte, Miro, and even an original Yves Tanguy.

Hesitantly, she approached the painting he was looking at. "Yes, are you familiar with the style?"

He smiled as he found his approach to reassure her had worked. Purposely, he kept his face to her art, trying to avoid scaring her, while he answered. "I like it, but I'm more a fan of the Renaissance art. The painters in these times were brilliant inventors, you know, a lot more refined, to my opinion, than the rebellious surrealists. I always have difficulty in separating art and artist from each other." He smiled, thinking back on the times he had met some of the Surrealist painters. Those had surely been eventful visits.

Ravenna looked at him curiously. Did he just tell her he had met the original painters? She realized that although he looked like he was in his late twenties, being Zerphirdean, he probably was about three hundred years. She had not considered that his, and her vampire friend's, old age actually meant they'd lived in those times. Fascinating.

Gabriel met her curious gaze, smiling down on her. "Nice to meet you, Ravenna. How do you do?"

She smiled as she realized he had wanted to make her feel comfortable by talking about her art collection. He had succeeded in doing so. "Nice to meet you, too."

***

Gabriel sat across Ravenna smiling. Alexander had invited him over for dinner and they were now sitting in the living room. He'd coaxed Ravenna into playing a game of chess with him, and she was staring perplexed at the chess board in front of them. She'd just lost to him, two times in a row. Retracing every move they'd both made, she could not decipher where she'd gone wrong. She'd won all the matches she'd played with Dominic and Alexander, well, apart from the first one, how could she lose to this man?

Annoyed, she looked at the play between them. "Best out of five?" she asked hopefully.

Gabriel laughed at her complexion and turned back to the game. They lined up their pieces and smiling Gabriel made his opening move. "Alexander told me you are exceptionally good with computers."

She shrugged, moving a piece of her own. "I've always been good with anything digital."

"Did someone teach you?"

"No, I think I've always been able to work with computers." She hesitated; she actually never had told anyone how she managed to do whatever she wanted with them. "I can see the program structure in my head when I'm working on a computer," she said shyly, "and can change the code in my mind. That's how I can easily program software." She stared at the play uncomfortably. She had not even told those men about this, how would the men around her react?

Alexander looked up interested. She'd never talked about her computer talents before.

"And how did you find out you could do that?" Gabriel asked, moving his knight.

"Well, I vaguely remember a man who used to take care of me when I was very young, but one day he just disappeared. I grew up on the street and found a discarded cell phone. The software malfunctioned and I played around with it for a while until I had it working again. I decided to try working on computers and found an internet café. I found that computers actually are easier to program than phones are, more room to work with. From that day on, I made money on the net, mostly with programming software. It was not long before I had enough money to rent, and later buy, an apartment."

Alexander's mouth fell open. She'd never been this open hearted about her past and, just like that, she told it to Gabriel. "How on earth did you manage to make her tell you that? She always tries to avoid anything personal."

Gabriel gave a mental shrug. "I don't know, I just asked."

"Hey," Ravenna snapped, "no broadcasting." She looked at them angrily, worried what they were secretly discussing.

Gabriel smiled. "Don't worry, Ravenna, Alexander was just wondering what made you tell all this. It is a very impressive story."

"Oh." She was not sure herself. The man across her made her feel comfortable, made her want him to know her. She was not sure whether or not she regretted telling him all this. Maybe it had been naïve, or dangerous even.

They continued playing silently for a while and Gabriel wondered if she already felt comfortable enough again to continue his questioning. "Where did you live after you were able to rent an apartment?" Gabriel was dying to learn more of her, the girl was an enigma.

"Oh, here and there," she said evasively. She had told him more than she should have already. "Do you like music?" she asked, diverting the discussion. Gabriel recognized her tactic and cursed Alexander for his broadcasting. He should have known she'd pick up on it immediately. They continued playing and chatting about harmless subjects the rest of the evening.

As they finished their third game, two wins for him, one for her, it was way past their bed time. Her yawns testified to that. "I'm off home," Gabriel said, stretching his muscles. He'd had a great evening and felt reluctant to be going home, but they'd all have to rise early in the morning. "Ravenna, Alexander, thank you for the lovely evening. I'll see you tomorrow."

Ravenna smiled. She had had a great evening too. Even though she'd felt nervous for a while after they had talked about her past, it had been a pleasant, relaxed evening, and she'd fortunately won a game. Gabriel was annoyingly good at chess. "Bye, Gabriel."

She walked up to her room, thinking about her day. He said he'd see them tomorrow; it made butterflies fly in her stomach. Something about this man made her keen on seeing him again.

***

Gabriel drove home to the apartment he had rented for his stay in the city. He entered the apartment and got out of his clothes, leaving a trail of discarded clothing behind as he walked to the bathroom, surprised at how tired he was. The day had been eventful, and he had tried his best to make the lovely girl at Alexander's home feel at ease.

He found he really liked her. She was smart and funny, and he had not been able to keep his eyes of off her. He was surprised at how much she had confided in him of her past, maybe she liked him, too? He sighed; they'd still have a long way to go. After the revelation of her past, she had refused to tell anything personal again and they'd only had small talk. Pleasant small talk, but that was all it was.

He hoped he would be able to get to know her better, to get inside her head. Somehow, she'd stirred the urge to protect her and hold her to him. It made him feel almost possessive of her. Smiling, he stepped into his bed, she had had the same reaction on his vampire friends, part of her natural charm; although she was very dangerous, according to Alexander. It was almost a siren song.

He fell asleep with the face of the girl in his head. He could not wait to see her again tomorrow.

***