Chapter 8: Chapter 8: The Beginning of the Birds

I had expected the next morning to be awkward. After all Victor and I had gotten farther than I had with literally any other man I’d ever met in my life. And that was right before both he and Bearon decided to tell me I couldn’t trust either of them. But I was surprised instead to find him sitting at the breakfast table as if nothing had changed. If anything he seemed by far more peaceful as he drank who knows what and casually read over some documents.

Bearon had met my eyes as he led me down barefoot to the table, “remember what I said.” He had stated ominously. I waited for Robin to arrive with something for me as I tried to sort out what was going on with Victor. I was doing my best not to try to reason through everything I’d just learned and heard. But it was nearly impossible to turn my brain off. Victor was obviously a lot more multi dimensional than he had appeared when I read the story. Given what he’d told me he was either trapped in here just like me, or an NPC of the book world tired of living the same plot over and over again. If it was the latter I had some serious questions about what his intentions were. In fact even it was the former I was a bit confused. I hadn’t really put too much thought into the latter possibility until Bearon had made his statement. And little did I know then, but I was about to learn something that was going to make me question even those points. Because unfortunately for everyone in that room, the plot was coming for us all.

“Did you sleep well Annalise?” Victor asked as he continued to look over whatever he was reading without eye contact.

“Yes my lord,” I replied. I was relieved my breakfast was brought to me by human hands and not bird wings.

“Given the events of last night I believe it would be best if you stayed here longer than you originally intended,” he stated.

Ah yes, the plot. Victor had agreed to hide Annalise for a short while. But over time as he became more obsessive he kept finding excuses to prolong her stay. What this Victor possibly did or did not know, was it wasn’t like I knew where else to go anyways. “Of course, my lord,” I answered.

I was sort of hoping he’d have addressed the events of the previous night. But he simply sipped his drink and went back to reading whatever it was he had in front of him. I did my best to eat as quickly as possible. This was supposed to be a moment where the two acknowledged they’re now more comfortable with each other. But I just wanted to find my shoes. I tried to smile and announce as cheerfully as I could, “I’m going to go for a walk in the garden!”

Victor looked up to smile before going back to his paper. I tried to ignore him. He was acting as if our previous encounter had no effect on him at all. In fact if anything he seemed more at peace. I was displeased with all of it.

On the bright side I was able to slip out without any problems to look for my shoes. At least I thought it was the bright side. The sun was shining, my shoes were sitting there right under a bush as if they’d be waiting for me at a place of easy access, and there was a faint breeze blowing through the flowers. It almost seemed like the world was at peace, that was until I saw it.

Next to my shoes as if planted there subtly to make sure I’d notice, was a pile of dead birds.

They looked as though they’d all been drained from two puncture holes each to the neck. Some of their necks were also turned upwards as if I was supposed to notice this detail intentionally. I stared at the pile as I contemplated my next steps. Should I just walk away as if I hadn’t seen them? Unfortunately Bearon was apparently everywhere. I felt him whisper over my shoulder, “I told you.”

“Found my shoes,” I replied. I deliberately tried to ignore the pile of birds as I moved to extricate myself from the situation. Unfortunately Victor was somehow now right there as well. He was staring at the pile of birds with a strange expressionless glare.

I’m pretty sure Annalise was supposed to recoil or act horrified. But given this wasn’t even in the plot, I couldn’t muster the energy to even try to pretend I was surprised. I put on my shoes and proceeded to saunter away from them both. “At least it’s not goats,” I giggled.

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I immediately regretted my own big mouth as I felt both of them looming behind me. “Goats my lady?” Bearon asked. I couldn’t tell if he was feigning confusion or legitimately puzzled.

Victor had a different approach, “I still think we should head to town to get you that new dress soon, if you’re willing my lady.”

I was definitely not as willing as I’m sure he would have liked. I really didn’t want to go to town. Annalise was supposed to be scared by some dead goats the night before. Then she was going to end up meeting Frederick. I really didn’t want to meet Frederick. I was barely able to manage Victor as it was.

“Thank you, my lord,” I replied, “for now I think I’ll go for a walk in the garden.” I couldn’t get away from the both of them fast enough. Was this supposed to be my sign that Victor was in fact a crazy blood sucker and had drained the birds? They seemed a bit too staged. I was half running down the path through the winding tall flowers as I tried not to let my brain get away from me. For some reason I had an even darker thought. Had these been planted by one of them? What was the end goal anyways?

I stopped as I realized I had reached Victor’s favorite flower. It was still alive, dangling wearily in the wind. I bent down to look at it as I contemplated trying to find some water for it. I became frighteningly aware that someone had appeared behind me before I could stand up again.

“We’re alone,” Victor’s voice mumbled as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I felt him reach forward to touch my hair. I turned my head to see him staring at one of the frizzy ringlets in confusion. He had gently started to coil it with his hand as he muttered, “somehow you seem like a different Annalise every day.”

“If I don’t do a very specific hair routine it goes everywhere,” I explained, “my hair is usually a lot straighter than this…”

“Usually?” he answered.

I stood up to turn and meet his eye. I had accidentally moved much closer than I intended. He looked a bit surprised as well as I popped up inches from his face. “Usually,” I replied, “right now I was trying to find some water for the flower here.”

“You want to help keep it alive too?” he asked.

“It seemed important to you,” I replied.

He smiled as he looked down a bit sheepishly, “I wanted to address the events of last night, I know things are supposed to progress a certain way. But I really didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, if I did.”

I just went for it. “To be honest, I sort of liked it,” I replied.

He smiled, “you remind me of someone I used to know. I find you, oddly captivating Annalise.”

These words would have been music to my ears if I wasn’t stuck in a fairytale book land. Who wouldn’t want a dark sexy vampire book villain fawning over them while playing with their hair in a garden? “If we had met under different circumstances, I think I’d find you more than oddly captivating,” I replied. He looked a bit taken aback as I continued, “I mean you look great, like you looked really great without a shirt on last night. What am I even saying. I can’t even begin to wonder why someone like you would be interested in…”

I stopped myself before the insecurities could take over. After all I was trapped in Annalise’s body, not my own nerdy typical self. Of course he found me oddly captivating. He looked a bit taken aback, “I look great without a shirt on?” he replied.

“And with a shirt on,” I said, “too.”

He started chuckling. “You know Annalise, no matter what happens… you’ve at least made this go around more entertaining…”

“You keep saying this,” I replied, “do you mean you are physically reliving the same thing over and over again? Or do you mean in general, like of the girls you had here I’m more entertaining?”

He sighed as he seemed to want to say something. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times before shaking his head. “You can’t tell me can you?” I groaned.

“Tell me when you’re ready to go into town and we can arrange the trip my lady,” he replied. I turned to see Bearon standing a bit further up the path.

“Thank you my lord,” I replied.

I sighed as I watched him begin to walk back to the mansion. Before I could even begin to figure out what all this was about though I still needed to get through the dead goats. I went to look for something to water the flower with and almost retched as I ran into another pile of drained dead birds. Bearon seemed almost smug as I passed him. “You better not be the one putting dead birds everywhere,” I sang as I crossed his path.

I didn’t even care about the bear head that was staring back at me in bewilderment as I tried to find at least a watering can. I headed towards the small shed on the edge of the property around the side of the building and was surprised to see Victor step out first holding a can himself. “I was going to water the flower,” he explained, “seemed like a good idea after you pointed it out.”

“Oh,” I replied.

He chuckled again as he went to put a hand on the side of my face. Before I could even react he had reached forward to plant a kiss on me. I felt his mouth open against mine as my heart felt like it was about to burst. He pulled back to move his lips closer to my ear. “Something has been really bothering me,” he whispered, “you always speak about yourself as though you are not beautiful. But you are one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.”

Of course I was right now, I was Annalise. Wasn’t that the point of the book? He seemed to sense my disappointment. “I mean that Annalise,” he finished.

Something about the way he said it felt more sincere than anything he’d said up until that point.

“Thanks,” I replied. I was trying not to sound too awkward as Victor turned to lock the shed and head back up the path.

“Oh, I wouldn’t go in there,” he said somewhat ominously as he turned one last time.

“Yeah that or those stairs,” I replied.

He nodded as he muttered, “never the stairs.”

Maybe I should have paid more attention to his warnings. After all up until this point the only real reason I’d be given to doubt him was Bearon’s few remarks. And at this point I was a lot less inclined to trust Victor. But right then I was still reeling from the beautiful comment. I waddled my way back towards the mansion as I considered next steps. We were likely headed to town soon, and I knew what that meant. I needed to be prepared for some dead goats.