What's in a Name? Ch. 05

It was dark when Ravenna woke again; she felt completely rested. Stretching her muscles with a big yawn, she flinched as her shoulder signaled it wasn't healed completely yet. She'd have to be careful with that. The rest of her body felt miraculously good, almost normal even.

The house was silent except for an even heartbeat she could hear upstairs. Alex sleeping in his own quarters probably, nothing to worry about. She got out of the bed and found new clothes. Having a closet full of beautiful feminine clothing, she'd make sure to wear them; reddening slightly thinking of the lace panties and bra she'd put on. They really left little to the imagination.

She took in her appearance in the mirror contentedly. Choosing a red blouse with white jeans, she looked at the woman staring back at her. She was radiant and healthy, albeit still somewhat skinny. She marveled at the speed at which she had healed. Was it one of the benefits of living with vampires? She'd have to ask Alexander.

Silently she left her room and crossed the dark house to the kitchen. Rummaging through the fridge, she looked for some food she liked. She tried to ignore the shelves stocked with bags with red contents, that really still was somewhat creepy.

"Ravenna."

Startled, she looked around her, scanning her surroundings. Confused, she found she still was alone, nothing to be heard or seen in her vicinity.

"Don't worry, it's just me on a mental call. Just think anything back at me."

Right, vampire up there with special abilities, think something back. "Good morning?"

"You have to decide consciously that you want me to hear your thoughts, or otherwise, I can't hear them."

"Uhm, what the fuck?"

She heard Alexander's chuckle. He'd heard that all right. His laugh did not sound as if it originated from somewhere in the room; rather like it was only in her head. Silent communication, she thought, frowning, she'd really need some time to get used to all this superhuman abilities.

"This is what we call broadcasting. When we choose to, vampires can speak mentally to each other, and now we know you can, too. I heard you walk through the house, and I was just wondering whether everything's alright."

"This is really weird you know." Alexander chuckled again. "I'm fine. I was hungry, so I'm scoring some food. You go back to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay, have a nice dinner."

Ravenna collected some curry from the fridge and heated the oven to warm Naan bread. Fortunately, Alexander had all kinds of food she liked. After dinner, she'd see if she could find a computer and surf a bit on the internet. She frowned. Maybe she'd better ask the vampire first.

"Uhm, Alex?" It took some moments before he answered.

"Yeah?" She grinned, he sounded like she had woken him from his sleep. "Sorry for waking you again."

"At 4:30 in the morning," he grumbled sleepily.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Is it okay if I use your computer?"

Alexander smiled at her dismissal of his complaint of the hour, she sure had gotten used to him quickly. "Sure, password's Mythbuster."

Ravenna grinned at that. These vampires had a good sense of humor.

***

After she'd stowed away her food, she booted the computer in the study. It was a fairly new PC, probably fully equipped to standard rich vampire standards, but not a system that Ravenna would even consider buying.

It would have to do for now. She'd see if she could access her accounts and order her own system. Maybe she could pay Alexander back for the trouble he'd went through to tend to her. Suddenly, she hesitated. That did mean she'd have to go out there again, albeit on the net.

She'd told everything about her computer work to those men; told them everything about her life. Slumping back into her chair, she realized she'd probably have to start all over again. Years of hard work down the drain now that all the information was out on the street. She sighed, ignoring the sadness that settled in her chest; she'd better get started then.

She'd start with a quick sweep of the computer; see if it had proper security. Concentrating on the screen, her eye fell on the date in the lower right corner. Anger swept through her, and she felt the scorching heat trying to break out. Fourteen months, 411 days to be precise, it had been since they'd found her.

Her drink toppled over on the desk. Startled, she tried to contain her emotions now that she had learned what they could do, the shaking furniture around her testifying to that. She stared at the art on the wall, concentrating on the fine paintings to reel in her anger. Renaissance, a style she liked, but who didn't? Thinking about the old masters of the 14^th and 15^th century, she felt her anger abate, the house silent on its foundations again. The joys of arts, she thought wryly.

She turned to the computer again, ignoring the date on the monitor, and started doing a security check on the network. It actually had quite a good firewall, custom made, she concluded surprised, and updated regularly. Hmm, not bad. Not bad at all.

She started programming some extra around the rough edges, added a new barrier to the less used gateways and portals she knew were popular with hackers, but that was all it needed. She wondered who had designed it.

Sitting there, she started thinking of her old computer work, of her old life. She'd always made her money with her computer, had always instinctively known how to deal with anything digital. She could not resist checking on her old accounts; maybe she could save some of them.

They were all taken over by an external source, she discovered sadly. Carefully, she navigated through the newly programmed data. This was not protection software she was avoiding so carefully, it was detection software, designed to detect anything that tried to access the accounts. She frowned; they were still looking for her.

Early morning light shone through the curtains and she heard movement from upstairs. Alexander was awake. She'd had enough of the depressing net, so she'd go see a movie. A Disney or something, that sure would cheer her up.

A quick sweep through Alexander's film collection told her what she had already expected, he didn't do Disney. She downloaded the newest films and connected the massive plasma screen in the living room to the computer. She smiled, wondering how Alexander would react when he would find her like that.

***

She was halfway through her first film when Alexander entered the living room, freshly showered, a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. "Hey, good morning," he greeted her. "Did you find the computer?"

"Yeah, thanks." She grimaced when she thought back on everything she'd discovered some hours earlier. "But I decided I'd rather see a movie," she said, nodding at the screen.

Alexander looked at the TV confused. "I didn't know I had this film."

"You didn't," she answered, cheerfully. "I downloaded it."

He frowned. That didn't explain everything. "How did you manage to get it on the TV?"

"Your TV has a wireless connection to your digital players, I tweaked it a bit so it could connect to your computer," she said, looking a bit sheepishly.

"Oh, that's great." He sounded surprised. "I've tried to connect them before but it never worked out".

"Yeah, I saw the traces of the programming you left behind." She smiled. "You were almost there."

He looked at her unbelievingly. "Are you some kind of computer expert or something?"

"Nah." She shrugged. "I just like computers."

"Just likes computers," he muttered. He'd always given himself quite some credit about being good with computers, but this girl obviously beat him there.

Ravenna looked at his coffee curiously. "You can drink coffee?"

He smiled at her. "Yeah, vampires can drink and eat food. We don't need it but it can be useful, for example, in dealing with humans. Most of us don't like it and just keep to blood. Every vampire likes a Bloody Mary though..." He winked.

"Err, right," she grimaced, freaky vampires. "But you don't eat food?"

He grinned at the face she made, she really was cute. "I'm not very fond of food, but I really love hot drinks. Dominic makes brilliant coffees. You should ask him to make you one when he gets here later."

She smiled. "I will." She turned back to the TV.

"So, what are you watching?" he asked as he installed himself on the couch beside her.

"Newest Disney."

"Disney? Aren't those children movies?"

She just shrugged. Alexander looked at her curiously; she really seemed to like them. When he had entered the room just now, she had been staring at the screen, concentrating, a small smile on her face. He decided he'd join her. "Never seen one. You mind restarting it?"

***

The man knocked on the door of the office nervously, entering after a gruff, "Come in." His employer sat behind the desk, looking at him impatiently. He swallowed heavily. "Sir, we've found the girl."

The dark man looked annoyed. "It's about time, how did you find her?"

"She's been online and we were able to trace her computer."

"Very good. Did you bring her in already?"

"Uhm, well no." He saw something flicker in his employers eyes and took a step back, frightened. "She's in a mansion owned by Alexander De L'Ile," he continued hastily. "It's heavily protected, so it's unlikely we can extract her from there. As soon as she leaves the terrain, we'll make our move."

The eyes of his employer turned to slits, and he wondered if he saw something like concern flash across his face.

"She must be removed from his protection as soon as possible. I want your best men on it."

He answered a hasty, "Yes sir," and turned to leave the room. His heart pounded in his ears, and he heaved a relieved sigh as he closed the door behind him, that went easier than he had expected.

In the office the dark man sat frowning. This was bad news. Alexander De L'Ile was one of the most powerful vampires alive, and worse, was that his best friend Dominic Orion was, too. He'd have to act very carefully to get the girl from their hands. He stared at the door broodingly; he'd need as much information as he could get from their merry little club.

***

It was a delightfully slow day. Ravenna had been on the couch with Alexander for hours, and they only had gotten up to get them a refill of coffee or a snack. Alexander had seemed to like watching the films with her, and they'd done a Disney marathon.

In the middle of their fourth Disney, Ravenna heard a car near the house and looked at Alexander questioningly. He was lounging next to her lazily, barely active enough to answer her. "Dominic." She relaxed again and snuggled back into the couch, they still had an hour of film to go. It was not long before Dominic came crashing through the door, filling the room with his presence.

"Good morning everybody, I brought you coffee," he held up the tray in his left hand, "and muffins" his other hand went up, "for the sick lady." He walked towards the couch, but stopped halfway. "Good lord, what on earth are you watching?"

"Disney." Ravenna said, smiling angelically.

"Quite fun actually," Alexander added, "you should try one, too."

Dominic looked shocked. "Okay, who are you, and what did you do to my friend?"

Alexander rolled his eyes. "Dominic, shut up and get the girl her muffins."

A movie later and Dominic agreed that the films really were quite nice. He looked at the girl next to him annoyed; she was bad for his image. She didn't see his glare. She'd dosed of somewhere during the film and now lay silently beside them, breathing in and out peacefully.

He took a good look at her. She really was beautiful. Her face was relaxed in her sleep; unlike the tenseness you could see when she was awake. She had a round face with high cheekbones, and well-shaped lips under a small pointy nose. Long blond hair covered half of her face as she lay there dreaming. She had the features many a woman would die for, Dominic thought; suddenly wondering whether it was appropriate to date the girl.

He was too late to dodge the smack Alexander gave him. He knew what his friend was thinking and no, it would not be appropriate. "Behave yourself, Dom."

Dominic smiled sheepishly. "It was just a thought."

"Yeah, right." Alexander shook his head, sometimes he really was impossible. "I'm going to bring her to bed."

***

He returned to the living room some minutes later and found Dominic sitting behind his computer in the study. He was working through some files he'd brought from the office, the pretty girl already forgotten.

"Hey Alex, did you upgrade your computer?" the vampire asked curiously.

"No, why?"

"It's much faster than it used to be, and I think your security software has been improved."

Alexander walked to the desk, frowning. "Ravenna was on the computer tonight, maybe she worked on it?"

Dominic shook his head; that did not seem likely. "Don't think so. The programming language used is still being designed at Microsoft. She'd have to be one heck of a programmer if she could use it like this."

The little girl upstairs could not have done anything like that, he thought. She was young, and well, female. Women didn't do computers. He let Alex behind the computer who started browsing the new content quickly.

"I've never seen this kind of programming. It's bullet proof," Alexander said, awed. "I think she actually did this sometime during the night." He sat back in his chair. Dominic looked at him skeptically, and Alexander thought back to the downloaded films. "She also tweaked my TV this morning so we could watch downloaded movies wireless." He shook his head; she was a girl with many talents.

"You've been trying that for months now," Dominic said, surprised. She managed to do that? "Beauty and brains, what more would you like?" he spoke, doubtful.

Alexander smiled. His friend obviously still had to get used to the talented beauty upstairs. He took one of the files Dominic had brought with him. "Let's try to get some work done while we're still babysitting our stunning genius. We'll hear her out when she wakes up again."

***

Ravenna woke two hours later. After a quick shower, she walked downstairs to find the two vampires in the study working, concentrating on piles of paperwork. Alexander looked up as she entered the room they were sitting in. She'd gained some weight again, and no longer drowned in the clothing they'd gotten her, he saw satisfied. "Hey Rav, had a good sleep?"

"Yeah, thanks." She smiled at him. He really was nice. "You guys wanna drink something?"

"Nah, just got one. But you go get something to eat; you're still skin and bones."

She stuck her tongue out to him and went to the kitchen to make herself some food. He was right about the eating, she thought smiling, she still didn't have her old body back. Not much later, Dominic joined her and started making himself a cappuccino.

"You're looking good, Ravenna." He roamed her form appreciatively, she really was an attractive woman.

Ravenna colored red, this was not how Alexander complimented her recovery. She smiled shyly, avoiding his eyes.

"Ahw, don't be shy." He ruffled his hand through her hair. "You're a beauty, someone should tell you." He grinned at her uneasiness; she really was cute when she blushed like that. "Hey, would you like to go outside and walk around Alex's lands? It's probably been a while since you've seen the sky, hasn't it?"

She frowned; it was a long time ago. Since this morning, she knew how long. "411 days."

Dominic looked at her uncomprehendingly. "What?"

"It's been 411 days since I've been outside."

Shock crossed his face. She'd been with them only 13 days. How on earth had she ever survived? "Well," he said kindly, "then we definitely have to go outside."

Ravenna hesitated. Dominic saw the reluctance on her face and had little difficulty guessing its cause. "The complete estate is fenced, Rav, and Alex has a good alarm system. We'll walk with you, so there's nothing to worry about."

Outside, fresh air, blue skies. Suddenly, Ravenna craved going out, running around, feeling the mud beneath her feet. She smiled. "I'd love that."

The three of them left the house after finding her a coat and walked on the extensive lands. Alexander smiled at Ravenna's enthusiasm; she was running around like a young puppy, climbing trees, and rolling in the grass. The warm sun gave her a tan, wiping her pale appearance from her face. She was exhausted when they got back to the house, but she couldn't remember ever having a great time like that.

They entered the house, and Dominic went to the kitchen to get her something to eat. He soon joined them again with a steaming plate of food, a smirk on his face. "Time to feed the human." Alexander wondered at that, the more he learned of her, the more he thought she wasn't human at all.

Ravenna was oblivious of his thoughts and took the plate from Dominic gratefully, shoving the food into her mouth; she was famished. Dominic looked at her warmly. She really was a cutie. He laughed when she could not suppress her yawns any longer. They'd exhausted her with their busy day. "Go to bed Rav, there's a new day tomorrow."

She smiled and got up. Back in her room she quickly undressed and got in the bed. She was off to dreamland in no time, falling asleep with a smile on her face. Tomorrow they'd go out again, they'd promised her.

***

After another beautiful day of walking in the sun, Ravenna and Dominic darted through the door of the living room. Alexander looked up worried at her screaming, but it turned quickly into hysterical giggling; Dominic had caught her and was tickling her relentlessly, restraining the squirming girl on the couch.

"Don't you dare calling me a harmless vegetarian vampire anymore, young lady, or I will have to punish you even harder." A new burst of giggles came from her and Alexander chuckled at their banter.

Dominic released her after some moments, allowing her briefly to catch her breath. She was still too ticklish to even think of teasing the vampire again, and she begged his mercy, laughing as he moved to tickle the living daylights out of her again.

"Please, please, I give in!" she giggled. "You're a ruthless killing machine who drinks children for breakfast." Dominic looked at her amused and released her, satisfied with his win. Ruthless killing machine was a lot better.

They sat on the couch for a moment, both catching their breath. Ravenna took a look around the room and examined the chess set that sat in the corner more closely. It was a magnificent hand carved wooden set, and it looked old. "That's a beautiful chess set, Alex."

"Thanks, Dominic gave it to me for my 4000^th birthday. It's from ancient Persia."

She looked at it with big eyes; the set was fifty times her age. Wow.

Alexander smiled at her eager look. "Do you want to play a game, Rav?" She sat at the table before he even finished his sentence. He took the seat across her, smirking, and made his opening move.

They sat silently after that, concentration on their faces as they each tried to out move the other. Dominic monitored the game closely, Alexander was an excellent player. Ravenna, too, he found surprised, the girl really could do everything.

Alexander was slightly stronger than she was though, and after a long game of waiting and testing each other's defenses, he made the move he had been waiting for. "Check mate."