Nostalgia Ch. 10

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Never forget those who love you.
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Part 10 of the 13 part series

Updated 06/09/2023
Created 07/28/2018
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Little Ana giggled up at her father. He had a green, smudged handprint on his cheek. That was where she'd touched him some time ago. "Daddy! Daddy!" Her green palm rose and she pointed at his face. "You're all messy!"

Mason Davis stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes, which only made her laugh harder. Then he took her by her little waist and put her on his lap. "That's fine. We'll clean up later."

They made some paintings with their fingers. Colors were blended all over their hands and wrists. Little Ana accidentally knocked over a plastic cup of paint, and that bothered her enough to have her stomping her foot. Her dad told her to calm down. This problem could be fixed.

He handed her a wet rag and gently told her to wipe the paint away, since she was the one who made the mess. Little Ana wasn't upset at the command, and for some reason the rag's texture soothed her. She liked how her painted hand ground into the fabric as she swirled it around.

***

Why did Ana think of that day?

She was sitting between Vlad's spread legs. They were on a carpeted floor, on a spread blanket, in a living room. They were leaning against a couch instead of sitting on it, and they were watching something on one of Vlad's laptops. Turns out, he had quite a few laptops. They could've watched something on one of Mihai's huge TVs, but they also wanted to snuggle on the floor and the angle their necks needed to take wouldn't have been comfortable. Constantly looking up wasn't fun.

It was dark. The laptop was the brightest thing in the room. Ana was going to spend the night. She wasn't sure where Mihai was exactly, but she'd been told he had to go to an airport to pick up a visiting friend. Probably some other Romanian person. Ana had imagined it was either an elderly aunt or a secret lover he might marry. Hey, maybe he was into dudes and wanted to bring a fellow over to marry him, since as lovely as Romania was gay people weren't as well accepted there as they were in U.S.A.

But at least, as far as she knew, gays weren't being tossed off the rooftops on a regular basis there.

"You're not watching the show." Vlad said as his arms wrapped around her.

Ana's brows lowered as she wondered how he knew that. Then she happened to notice a small mirror on a wall and realized he could see her dim face. "Oh, I guess I'm just thinking about random stuff."

He gave a short tickle to her sides, which forced a snorting guffaw out of her.

"What exactly are you thinking about?" he asked. His breath waved into her hairline, tickling her.

Ana shrugged against his great torso. "Just ... just stuff. Like my dad, and Mihai, nothing major."

"Oh. People are stuff now. I see." Ana felt the weight of his chin on the top of her head.

She sighed out, "Whatever," and tried to focus on the laptop's screen again, but she found that she couldn't. With a little grumble, she said to Vlad, "I'm sorry. I'm not in a good mood. I think I'll go get a snack." She took Vlad's arms and gently unwrapped them. Then she stretched up and away to go to the kitchen, flicking light switches on all the while.

The laptop turned quiet, and there were considerable footsteps behind her. "I'll have a snack too." Vlad's voice was ... meager. It made her look back at him. One of his eyelids fluttered a little, and his cheeks seemed a little more gaunt, but that could've just been a trick of the indoor lighting. He'd seemed much healthier earlier in the afternoon.

Maybe it was something to do with his sleeping patterns. Ana knew he was a night owl. He always stayed up late and slept in if he could get away with it. She wondered if that was a habit he got in older age or if he'd always been that way.

Opening the refrigerator in the fancy kitchen, Ana asked Vlad, "Do you know Mihai's friend very well?"

"Which friend?" Ana heard one of the barstools creak as he sat down.

He had more than one? Ana sighed as she picked up two plastic cups of fruits in gel. "The one he's picking up at the airport." Mihai hadn't really talked about that much. Ana had been surprised with how secretive he'd been.

She got some spoons from a drawer. She was walking to the bar when Vlad said, "I don't think I know her."

"Her?" Ana sat down beside him and gave him his cup and spoon. "It's a woman?"

Vlad's hair was loose. Part of it flopped off his shoulder as his head lowered. "I think so." He sounded like every word was hazier than the last. "I heard she wants to become a citizen here."

"So Mihai's sponsoring her? Is that legal?" Ana peeled the plastic off the top of her cup. "I thought a citizen could only sponsor family members."

"An employer could sponsor an employee, though." Vlad hadn't peeled his plastic away. He was just ... holding the cup and the spoon, staring down at them.

"Mihai's going to hire her for something?" Ana was no expert on immigration. She couldn't tell if this was legitimate or not. "What, does he need a second maid?"

"A personal assistant," Vlad replied quite dryly.

"The hell does he need a personal assistant for?" Ana mumbled as her spoon cut through the gel and she scooped up a serving of cold fruit. "He might as well just say he wants to marry her."

There was a stretching moment of quiet as Ana ate her food. Vlad didn't eat. One of his fingernails tapped the side of his cup.

He cleared his throat.

Ana gave him an almost tired look. "What is it?"

He made a fist around his spoon. "I need to tell you something. I never thought I'd have to tell you, but now ... now things have changed." He pushed his cup away, making it slide on the countertop. Then he pulled his hair away from his face. Ana saw the muscles in his throat bulge as he swallowed his own spit.

"This is sudden," Ana said with a cheerful voice. She took one last spoonful of gel and fruit. Then she put everything down and said, "You really had me fooled. I never suspected something was wrong." She turned in her seat to face him and reached over to grip his arm. "What's the matter?"

Vlad turned his head away. "It's so difficult to explain. Six sentences, and you'll call a mental health clinic."

Ana put her hand on the countertop's edge. "What? Did you become a Scientologist? Or are you anti-vax? Both?"

Still facing away, as if he was too ashamed to look at her, Vlad shook his head a little. "Mihai and I, we have a certain friend."

"The woman Mihai's bringing over?"

"No." Vlad's neck straightened, and he looked back down towards the countertop. He let his spoon clatter away from his grasp. His profile reminded Ana of an ink drawing that was made with harsh strokes. "The woman with the jeep. Red curly hair."

"Oh! I think I remember her. She's really tall." Ana smiled again, but deep down she felt more irrational jealousy. What if Vlad was about to break up with her over that woman?! She looked rough but pleasant in her own way. Tomboys could be quite charming. She heard her own fingernails make faint screeches on the countertop.

"She's ..." Vlad's voice trailed into nothing as his spine turned much firmer, his lips parted, and he swiftly looked up to one of the windows.

There were lights. Headlights.

His fingers twitched. "She's ... here?!" He stood up so quickly that the barstool fell back, frightening Ana for a second or so. She even wheezed and touched the space over her heart. She was more careful than Vlad when she got up.

"Why are you upset? Isn't she your friend?"

He turned his body to her.

Wild fear. Panic. That was what made his eyes look older, what made his skin look paler, and what made his jaw quiver a bit. Ana couldn't only see it. She could taste it too. Or that's what her emotions told her.

She thought the false flavor on her tongue was like salt water and charcoal ash.

Ana cringed as Vlad stepped over the fallen barstool and firmly planted his hands on her shoulders. His breath was thick on her face, almost a hot mist. "Listen to me." Their noses touched. "For your own sake, please don't stand out. Be as boring as you can be."

"Huh?" Ana couldn't find any logic in his words. She put her hands on his arms." What's going on?"

Knock, knock, knock!!

Vlad looked up and away. His forest-like cologne was practically fanned onto her. His fingers tightened on her. It almost hurt. His next order was a whisper. "Don't show off."

He left her then, likely to answer the door.

Staring at the barstool that had been forgotten on the floor, Ana stood in the kitchen, thinking of blood curdling possibilities. Drugs? Mafias? Sex Trafficking? What scary fuckshit could possibly unnerve Vlad? VLAD?! Vlad was an older man, but he'd always been so suave and unconcerned, as if in his youth he'd seen and maybe done some messed up nonsense. Yes, she'd never seen him do any particularly violent but she could always sense the fortitude in him.

Ana folded her arms under her breasts and shuddered as she heard a door open and close somewhere. And talking. The language was something she didn't understand, something that might've been Asian. Maybe Indonesian. Why were they speaking an Asian language? Ana didn't know.

When she heard more footsteps coming near, she bent down and put the barstool back in its proper place.

"Hey."

That was a woman.

Ana moved back up and faced that woman.

A blue flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off. Strong tanned arms. Worn jeans with a bit of volume. Dark brown work boots that might have steel toes. The hair tickled the shoulders, blood colored and curly. The blue eyes looked down at Ana with a cryptic mirth. Three quarters of a smile was teasing the smooth and clean face. She was very tall, taller than Vlad, probably a little taller than most men Ana had seen.

"You're Ana, right?"

Ana had no idea where this woman was from. She couldn't interpret the accent. Her brown eyes darted over to Vlad. His stance was broad. His chin was high. However, his hands were in his jeans' pockets and there was more twitching in his face.

"Yes?" Ana looked back to the redhead. "I'm Ana."

Hands going to her slim hips, the redhead said, "I'm Brunhilde. Just call me Brun."

"Uhm, okay." Ana blinked a few times. "Nice to meet you."

Walking as if she owned the place, Brun went to a barstool, the one that Ana had just put back in place. Then she sat down, put her elbow on the countertop, and put her jaw on her hand. "How much did Vlad tell you?"

Ana's eyebrows moved up. She noticed that one of Vlad's eyes twitched so much that he nearly winked. "I don't know how to answer your question," she said to Brun. "I don't understand."

Whatever smile that might have been growing on Brun's face dissolved. Her arm flopped down on the countertop and the barstool's legs scraped on the floor as she turned herself around. She took back a straighter position. Her head moved like a wooden puppet's as she gave Vlad a mildly surprised look. Still, she spoke as if she was addressing Ana. "You don't understand." There was no questioning tone to be heard.

Vlad's eyes hardened like grease that had been left in a fridge for a few days.

Ana's phone rang.

"Excuse me," she said as she went to the hallway. She didn't recognize the number on her screen, but she thought it was such an odd time of night that it must've been important.

While Vlad and Brun seemed to argue in that Asian language she didn't understand, Ana tried to ignore them and listen to the sad and gentle voice coming from her phone's speaker.

"Yes. This is Ana Davis. How can I help you?"

The words she heard were rejected, even laughed at, even as her belly soured and her heart felt hollow.

"No. No that's just stupid. They aren't sick."

But the person on the phone was firm.

Kennedy Davis had dialed 911, but the call ended before she could've said anything. A squad had been sent to make sure everything was okay.

According to the person talking to Ana, everything was not okay.

"You're joking!!"

Ana was crouching, her forehead and free hand on a wall. All she could smell was her jeans and the carpet. All she could taste was phlegm. All she could see was flashback after flashback from her past.

"There's a mistake!! Someone made a mistake!! I don't believe you!!"

When the call ended, Ana tried calling her dad's phone.

No answer.

Again.

Nothing.

Kennedy's phone.

No.

Again.

Nimic.

"ANSWER YOUR GOD DAMN PHONE!!" She was screaming down at her cell phone, which was in a trembling hand.

Sniffing. She heard sniffing noises behind her.

Ana shuffled around, putting her back to the wall. With a pink, furious face, she looked up at the terribly imposing Brun. That redhead's nostrils were moving with her sniffing. Her head tilted to one side. "Ana? Are you thinking of loved ones?"

What kind of question was that?!

Pushing on the wall, Ana got up to her socked feet. She thought the carpet felt rough for some reason. "Leave me the fuck alone." She stomped off towards the kitchen. "Vlad!! Where are my car keys?!"

As if he was her personal servant and kept track of her.

His voice rose a bit. "I don't know! Calm down!"

Ana wasn't intimidated. She found him putting his fruit cup back in the fridge. "Some fucking idiot's playing a prank on me!" She threw her arms in the air. "He said my parents are dead!"

Vlad's movements slowed down as he closed the fridge and looked at her. His hand was limp when it fell to his side. His eyes widened. The lines on his face seemed to deepen.

In one of the archways that led into the hall, Ana heard Brun say some other foreign thing, possibly to Vlad. Then in English she said to Ana. "I don't think you should drive." Ana looked back to see her walking out of view. Despite the boots, she was very quiet. "I'm leaving now."

Ana didn't give any kind of fuck about that weird redhead. She needed to get to her parents' house. She was going to knock on the front door, no matter what time it was, and she was going to see one of them sleepily answer the door and ask her what the hell the problem was.

Vlad really didn't like driving. He did it anyway, since that was a practically a necessity to get anywhere in this area, but whenever he could get someone else to drive he would do so. Regardless, he told Ana that he'd drive his car with her in the passenger seat.

***

Two days later, close to nighttime, Ana was in a fetal position on a plain bed in a guest room in the Dalcas' house.

Kennedy and her father weren't home.

The truth was confirmed in a hospital morgue. Vlad had stayed with her, holding her close, as she identified the bodies.

Severe anemia.

Pale as a sheet of paper.

No wounds.

No notable causes.

It didn't make any sense.

For a long time, Ana still didn't believe it. She even tried slapping her father's body to get him to wake up. She'd assumed this was a complex joke. Vlad had pulled her back as if he was trying to keep her from falling off a cliff. He seemed to tired, but he endured. He endured to keep her from going insane from her rage and grief.

Vlad had told her he didn't want her to be alone. She needed to stay with him and Mihai. After Ana had exploded a few times in her home, nearly breaking furniture and successfully breaking dishes, she was so exhausted that she hadn't resisted when Vlad appeared and started packing her things for her. She was too tired to even be amazed at him.

He wore fine clothes and lived in a mansion. He owned quite a few properties and had invested in who knows what. But he was handling her collection of old suitcases and backpacks, some of which she'd had in junior high, without a second thought. He dug out all her undergarments, not even seeming to notice that most of her panties were plain and half her socks had holes in them. As if he was touching Fabergé eggs, he tucked her tacky figurines away. He even unpinned her old posters of superheros and anime characters to roll them up. All this happened as Ana's eyes became glassy and droopy.

And now, Ana was in the Dalcas' house. She'd never unpacked. Whenever she needed something, she took it straight from a bag. Mostly, she just stayed in this guest room. When she was hungry, she'd lazily make her way to the kitchen and take some random food item from the fridge. She hardly cared about what the item was, as long as it was edible. Once, her breakfast was half a pack of cold hotdogs and a glass of milk.

During this visit, the butler would knock on the door every once in a while to make sure she was alright. Vlad had apparently told him she might turn suicidal. Ana didn't think she wanted to kill herself, but she gave so few fucks about whatever was done that she didn't care how often the butler checked in on her.

Vlad would usually come visit her in the afternoon or evening. He often tried to convince her to take walks around the massive yard, watch some silly movie, or some other pointless thing. Ana didn't see much of Mihai. She didn't care enough to ask about him.

As for Brun, Ana hadn't seen her at all, and nobody talked about her. Ana didn't even care about whatever it is they'd wanted to talk to her about. Whatever that matter had been, it was dropped for now. Probably because nobody wanted to put too much on her plate.

And there was quite a bit on her plate. It clogged her brain.

Ana got up from the bed and went to a window. It was dark out. She couldn't see anything, but she let her cheek press into the glass as she tortured herself with more memories and regrets.

She should've married some guy back when she was in her early twenties, maybe even when she was eighteen. She should've have had children, given her father and stepmother grandchildren to spoil. She should've spent more time with her family, should've loved them harder, told them every single day how much they meant to her. She should've never gotten involved with an older man and upset her father.

Should've ...

Should ... have ...

But there was nothing to do. They weren't coming back. There would be a funeral soon. Her Uncle Daniel had seemed quite distressed when she'd told him. He was already arranging to come over to America with Tomomi. Vlad had even offered to give them some money to pay for the travel expenses, although he had no reason to.

Ana told them they could stay in her house if they wanted. Whether or not Ana would stay in her house too was undecided. She didn't exactly care one way or the other, and Vlad was relentless. He'd keep her in his son's house until he decided she was in a better mental state.

Ana's cheek peeled off the window's glass when she heard rapping on the door and Vlad's voice. "Good evening. Would you mind if I came in?" He had his now typical mellow tone. He hadn't raised his voice to her since he learned of the deaths, not that they argued a lot anyway.

"Door's not locked," Ana said with a bored voice as she put her cheek right back to the window.

She heard him open the door and step inside. He was probably wearing slippers. His steps were light. "Alo. What did you eat today?"

With a shrug, Ana told him, "I kind of forgot what I ate."

"The butler said he saw you take some lunchmeat and microwave popcorn this morning, but I don't know what else you had." Vlad smelled clean today, shampoo and soap. He made caressing circles and ovals on her shoulder, through her long pajama shirt. "Let's go out for dinner. I'll pay."

"I don't really feel like it." That was true.

He picked out a chunk of her messy hair and combed through it with his fingers. "It will be good for you to leave for a while. I can't let you brood for the rest of your life."

Normally, Ana would've pitched a short fit over Vlad acting like he had power over her, but considering she didn't seem to have much power over herself, it was fitting that he took the reins. Somebody had to.

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