Chapter 5: MacKenzie

Everett played with the cuff of his blazer as he contemplated Vivian’s questions, his eyes slowly rising back up to meet her own, a pensive gaze to his stare. Vivian had been asking herself this question all morning as she read about Scylla and Charybdis, attempting to figure out what she could gain from Everett and if it was worth the risk. In her mind, she’d determined that Everett was Scylla, the deadly rock cliff that could claim her life if she got too close. Seemed better than the alternative of Charybdis, the whirlpool that would surely take her entire ship down. These creatures were coming and if they are anything like the mythological creatures she studied in school, she wasn’t sure she could stop them alone.

“I’ve fought these creatures. This one in London, well that is only the start of what is to come. You need me to help you find them, kill them. I can give you information on locations.” Vivian failed to see the value, knowing his tracking skills could not even compare to her own. She could find these creatures, after all, she found him. “I also can offer you access to better records than anything you will find in this place.” He gazed around the packed library shelves.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I’ve been alive for many centuries,” he admitted. “I’ve gathered quite the collection.” Vivian bit the inside of her cheek, knowing that he was right. Access to information would be invaluable in her research. If she could gather more information on these tablets, she could start to put the pieces together more accurately. But doing that with Everett? She still wasn’t sure that was the best idea.

“I’d like to invite you to my place in the countryside. It's isolated, safe. There you can have access to my books and my maps. I’ve marked the location of at least five other creatures in England.” Vivian loathed the thought of Everett being right, his face already revealing that he knew she would agree.

Standing in defiance, Vivian slammed her book shut. “You’re wrong, I already have what I need,” she lied. It was worth it just to see the shocked, defeated look on Everett's face as she stomped out of the library. Her entire ship might go down in a windy blaze of glory, but she’ll be damned if she’s going anywhere near Everett.

As if the universe answered her call, a gust of wind collided with her chest as she stepped out of the library. The force taking her off guard and causing her to stumble, Vivian braced herself on the wall. She couldn’t help but consider it a message, knowing the truth that she had no clue where to find these creatures or kill them.

Her phone buzzed in her purse and Vivian welcomed the distraction. A cup of coffee and some lunch was just what she needed to clear her mind of Everett. Vampires had abilities, increased seductive powers over humans. While Vivian was not an ordinary human, she could still very easily fall into a vampire's trap, which is actually how she felt around Everett. An unexplainable pull towards his body, his eyes, that caused a desire to build in her body. But it wasn’t real, he was trying to seduce her to get her to help him. She’d never let that happen.

Vivian fell into the lost crowd of London, walking with her head down in determination to get to the cafe just a few blocks from King’s College. Lectures were going on now so it would be mostly empty. Turning the corner, Vivian caught the eye of who she was meeting.

Waving wildly, MacKenzie ushered her over to the small table placed in the middle of the street. The green umbrella blocked the noon sun, as Vivian slid her sunglasses off, leaning over to give MacKenzie a two-cheek kiss.

“Vivi, thank god you could come,” MacKenzie gasped. Vivian saw the redness in her eyes around her green irises and knew she’d stayed out all night. She’d begged Vivian to go, but their friendship had limitations.

“You missed it last night, you really did.” Vivian was sure she did not. Mackenzie’s idea of a good time - going out to underground clubs and staying out all night with hot musicians - was very different from Vivian’s idea of a good time.

As MacKenzie flustered about her night, a story Vivian had listened to many times before, Vivian found her mind circling back to Everett. MacKenzie had not been the welcome distraction she had hoped for today.

“So we are going to dinner tonight, please come,” MaKenzie was begging, bringing Vivian back to the present.

She stalled by taking a sip of her cappuccino. Vivian kept her eyes on the distorted heart floating at the top of the cup, the swirls as they moved in an almost whirlpool fashion. Shit, Vivian thought, the message more than clear that she’d made the wrong choice in walking away from Everett.

“Vivi, can you come?”

“I’m sorry, Mack-”

“Girl, you are somewhere else today, what is going on?” They’d been at lunch for over half an hour and this was the first time MacKenzie asked Vivian about her. She didn’t mind the one-sided friendship, in fact, she preferred it. It was really the only kind of friendship Vivian could have in her line of work.

“Just some issues at work, my research isn’t going well. Turns out I was looking in completely the wrong direction. And now I fear I’m going to have to work with this insufferable man,” Vivian groaned.

“Wait, you met a man?” Really? That's what she took away from that, Vivian thought, rolling her eyes. “Tell me all about him because he has clearly ruffled your feathers,” MacKenzie jeered, flashing her manicured nails that held every color of the rainbow. MacKenzie was eccentric, bold, and everything that Vivian could never be. When MacKenzie walked into a room, you knew it, she made sure of that. Vivian had lived her entire life in the shadows.

“No, MacKenzie, it’s not like that. Why do you always think it is like that. What if I told you he was an eighty-year-old man.”

“But he’s not, I can tell,” MacKenzie narrowed her eyes, a long nail pointing directly at her. “No, this guy has you shook. Tell me.”

“He’s just a guy that is pressuring me to work with him on this project and frankly it infuriates me, but I kind of need him. But he’s just so -” Vivian growled, the thought of it all boiling inside her and threatening to erupt. “I can’t work with him, I just can’t.”

“It seems to me like you can, and you should.”

“No, even if he wasn’t just so -” Vivian couldn’t think of the word. “Whatever, I still couldn’t work with him. The departments would never allow us to collaborate on this project.” Vivian had grown skilled at masking her true work.

“Girl, I always say: ask for forgiveness, not permission.” Unless not asking for permission would get you killed, Vivian thought. “The way I see it is you need this dude. So just get what you need out of him and move on. No harm, no foul. Now, please say you will come to this dinner tonight.”

Vivian had lost the fight with MacKenzie, but not with herself. There was no way to make it past Charybdis, the swirling whirlpool of creatures would surely take her out eventually. But there were other options. She was not as alone as she thought in all of this.