Chapter 30 - Faking it...

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'It's been a long time'

'Yes, it has! And you are still as beautiful as ever Rose. A fine example of the phrase 'aging like fine wine'' Raven said, taking a seat in the chair she offered him.

'You still have the silver tongue of flattery I hear', Rosalie scoffed at him.

Raven smiled and looked about the room. 'And you are still decorating in the Victorian style, I see'

'Old habits go with an old lady, you can't argue with that. I was very fond of that time…'

'As was I, Rose! Being in here brings back a lot of memories; of both happy and devastating natures…' he paused. Rosalie watched his eyes gloss over for a minute, before he turned to her again.

'One memory I'm particularly fond of is the day we were introduce to one another. Do you remember?'

'Yes, although I don't see why you'd be fond of it; It was a dull and plain boring event my brother arranged'

'It was a VERY dull event, but it was what was said before that, that makes it my fondest memory'

'Maybe you're confusing two memories? That was the first time we met, so obviously the first time we spoke to each other as well'

'I seldom confuse things, Rose, as you well know! No, the exchange I'm referring to was between you and your sister Anne…'

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April 14^th, 1912

R.M.S. Titanic – Maiden Voyage

'Do you see him, Rose?'

'Where?'

'Right there, the one standing next to brother! Is he not the most handsome man you've ever seen?'

'The one with the long brown hair? I think he looks like a woman. A very masculine, ugly woman!'

'Oh hush, Rose, you have no taste in men. He is as handsome as they come; there's a shortage of that on deck if you haven't noticed. And… he is one of the richest men on this ship; far more so than brother… and I am to be his bride'

'What?!', Rosalie gawked at her sister, 'What are you talking about, Anne?'

'I heard Robert talking about it on the promenade deck this morning. Mother wasn't so sure about it with his standing of course, but then Robert said he'd mentioned it to him today if possible!'

'I-I'm shocked actually… you would go through with an arranged marriage just because he's handsome, your opinion, not mine, and because he's rich?'

'Oh, Rose, can't you see? He's a dream; one every woman has and he's going to be mine! Be happy for me Rose! Most women at the age of 20 already have a child and here I am, still unwed. I get to have my fairy-tale, even if it's arranged; I approve of him! Be happy for me Rose!'

'I am happy for you! I had it pictured differently in my mind, but if this makes you happy, I'm happy!', Rosalie answered and closed her sister in a hug.

'I am so excited, Rose!', Anne squealed, bouncing on her feet, 'I'm acting unladylike because of it, but I can't suppress it'

'Well, I suggest you do, if you want this to go right…', Rosalie said, motioning back inside, 'Our brother is requesting our presence!'

'Oh no', Anne brushed the wrinkles out of her skirt, caused by her jumping, before gliding in after her sister. Please let him like me! Please let him like me! Please let him like me!

'You called for us, brother?' she heard Rosalie say when they stopped in front of their brother's companions. From afar was a different matter, but now up close Anne could not muster the courage to look into the face of her future husband and looked at her brother instead; but she still stole glances when he looked away.

Robert Bison turned towards his companions once more, 'May I introduce the ladies Anne-Marie and Rosalie from the house of Bison; my sisters'

'You did not tell us you had such beautiful sisters Mr. Bison'

'Thank you Lord Aiden!' Bison answered, 'Anne, Rosalie, allow me to introduce to you Lord Aiden and Lord Patrick from the house of O'Connor'

Both girls made a short, but polite, curtsy and extended their hand in greeting. Now that Anne finally had a reason and the chance to look into her fiancée 's eyes, she realized she should've approached father first. Lord Patrick, her intended, stood on the other side and she had to extend her hand to his brother Aiden instead. 'A pleasure to meet you sir!'

As if planned, both brothers took her and her sister's hand, respectively, and made a small bow over it, 'The pleasure is all mine…' they said in unison as if rehearsed. At that exact minute Anne looked over at Rosalie catching the light kiss Lord Patrick pressed on her knuckles. She was so jealous, she didn't even notice Lord Aiden doing the same to her… as was their way of greeting.

'Forgive me for asking', Rosalie boldly spoke. It wasn't custom for ladies to speak when not spoken to; It showed ill-manners, and her brother visually swallowed hard. 'I cannot place your accents, my lords. I do know it is either Scottish or Irish, yet, for the life of me, I cannot decipher which it is!'

'Forgive you for what? Curiosity? There's no shame in wanting to know… we've had that question a few times before. Our family is originally from Ireland, yes! I give you props for knowing it was either of those countries. I have had someone trying to convince me my accent was native German'

'But those are nothing alike' . 'That's what I told him, still he was convinced' Lord Patrick smiled.

'It's hard to argue with someone when their mind is set' Lord Aiden added, motioning forward a servant that had been waiting in the back. Anne watched the servant as he walked up to them. The same elegance as his masters. When she reached his face, however, his eyes made her quickly lower her gaze in both astonishment and fear. They were grey, very grey and looked almost soulless. 'Yes?' Lord Aiden said.

'Excuse me, my Lord! The proposal has been approved and the client asks for you to join him at dinner this evening to further discuss the details. He has sent his secretary to return confirmation'

Both Aiden and Patrick looked back to see a second man standing  a little behind. He bowed when he noticed their attention on him. 'Very well, tell him I shall attend!'

'Yes, my Lord'

The sound of the bell sounded, alerting them the hour of brunch had arrived. 'If I may be so bold as to ask you to join my family and me for brunch this afternoon. I know you are busy men' Bison stepped forward, 'I was going to suggest dinner, but your agenda is already booked'

'Forgive me' Lord Aiden replied, 'for I already have an appointment for brunch that I cannot get out of'

'I, however, do accept your invitation' Lord Patrick smiled, 'I would like to learn more of your family'

'Mr. Bison, ladies!' Lord Aiden bowed once more. 'Brother' he said, and left with his servant.

'Well then, lead the way, Mr. Bison'

'Oh yes! Rosalie…' Bison gave a short nod and offered Rosalie his arm.

Rosalie took her brother's arm and saw Anne's face light up when Lord Patrick offered her his own to escort her to their table.

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Allen-Bison Residence

Present time

'You were eavesdropping! That conversation was private'

'Yes, it was! I have no habit of listening in on ladies' conversation, but when one is called an ugly masculine woman… You do tend to hear more! At least your sister didn't think so…'

Rosalie scoffed. 'I always was the older one when it came to brains. Your charms didn't work on me'

'Come on, they did a little bit…'

'A tiny speck only visible under a microscope'

'That hurt, so you know! But I'll take it…', Raven smiled.

'Tell me something in all honesty, Patrick', Rosalie said thinking back on that time and Raven held up his hands in a –ask away– gesture, 'Were you really going to marry her?'

'No…'

'I figured as much; Anne was a nice person, but sometimes came over as a gold-digger and the long wait for your reply said a lot'

'No, that wasn't it. It may not have seemed that way at the time, but I was in a really bad period of my life. I had lost my wife the year before… Yes, I too had married. For someone like me, the pain tends to linger for quite some time. Marriage wasn't anywhere close to my thoughts, but I did not want to flat out refuse her. Your sister was a wonderful person and though it had been brief, I'm glad to have known her'

Rosalie smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. 'If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have made it off the ship alive…'

'…and you owe me nothing, as I have said before!'

He rescued her and her sister from the tragic sinking, made sure they were brought to a good home and paid their caretakers, so they wouldn't come up short with the extra mouths to feed. He didn't ask for anything in return then and even helped her in the early years of witchcraft, but then he disappeared, until now… saying he still didn't want anything- Rosalie found it hard to believe. Even more now with the enlightened prophecy. It spoke of the vampire clan and now with Patrick, a vampire, so close to Marina… something was up.

'What are you doing with Marina, Patrick?'

'I go by Raven now…'

'What. Are. You. Doing. With. Marina. Patrick?', she repeated with pauses between each word.

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'What are they talking about in there?', Marina sighed looking back every 10 seconds, entering the kitchen. Jane looked up and smiled. 'I see she threw you out too'

'Too?'

'Yeah, same thing with Julie. She wanted to talk to Dante alone… didn't take this long though'

'When did she throw her out? Before or after the introduction?'

'After of course… wait, what? She didn't even let you introduce him?' Jane threw the sponge into the sink making the soapy water splash.

'No… I barely even had the time to wish her happy birthday before she shoved me out', Marina walked up to the table. She moved the appetizers aside and started mixing the ingredients for the frosting, 'It was weird!'

'It sounds weird! Who is he by the way? You've never mentioned him the times I called you?'

'Because he wasn't there. My twice over neighbor brought him to me little over 3 weeks ago. He was attacked and pretty much bleeding all over. I didn't think he would make it; he was unconscious for almost an entire week. When he woke up, he told me bits and pieces of the attack, what he remembered, but it's still a bit scrambled'

'He has amnesia?'

'Yeah, kind of! It's been clearing up slowly these past days. He's been remembering stuff from helping around the house. Things he's probably done before… Binny's also been to the police station, but no one has reported him missing'

'That's bad. I can't imagine not being able to remember my life. He should be glad he was brought to your house. If no one's looking for him, the authorities would've put him in a home or something'

'I know, I couldn't let that happen… it didn't feel right'

'That's not all you're feeling', Jane lifted her eyebrows, 'I see the way you look at each other or when you steal glances when you think the other's not aware. When did that happen?'

'I don't know, overtime we talked more, started a healing process for both our situations…' Jane knew she was talking about her brother and father, '… and I'm the only one that he can talk too, since Binny is having serious trust and safety issues. If he wanted to hurt us, wouldn't he have done it already?'

'Not if he doesn't know if he should. Has he done anything? Or has anything happened to make you suspicious?' 'No, he's normal around me. Very useful around the house, comforting to talk to… just normal'

'Normal doesn't make him look at you like that… you're not telling me something! Oooooh, did you sleep with the injured, helpless man in a moment of comfort??'

'What?! NO, come on Jane, does that sound like me?'

Jane laughed, 'No, I'm just pulling your leg… or did he do that?... no, sorry, I'm stopping, I'm stopping!'

Marina shot a bit of icing off the spoon and it landed perfectly on Jane's shoulder, making her laugh hysterically. 'So you're saying nothing happened? Okay, I believe you…' Jane started on the dishes again and Marina finished the icing batter.

'There was a moment in the field…'

'I KNEW IT!' Jane quickly turned around, throwing the towel in the sink this time.

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'You told her you have amnesia?'

'I never said that... When I did not give her my full name, only what one of the attackers called me, she assumed I'd forgotten it'

'Do you know who attacked you?'

'I know exactly who attacked me; I never forget a face. The only thing unknown to me is which clan he belongs to'

'Sounds like an awful lot of danger to me' Rosalie said, 'I don't want Marina mixed up in this! I want you to stay away from her!'

Raven laughed at this, 'I can't do that Rose… I won't do that! She's important to me… Do not ask, because I don't know why… I just know! She makes me feel things I had long forgotten…'

Rosalie sighed. There really was nothing she could do to keep him from Marina… Even with the twins combined she wouldn't be able to take him on.

'Would it put you at ease if I tell you I mean her no harm? Just like I didn't harm you?'

'At ease?! No, it would not ease my mind! Maybe you won't hurt her, but some other vampire might! Can you guarantee me that no one will hurt her? Can you?!' Rosalie bellowed, 'You were attacked before you were brought to her, which means someone knows how to hurt you…'

'Hurt, but not kill! They caught me off guard because, believe it or not, I had a death wish. All that's changed now and I have your granddaughter to thank for it, Rose! She took care of me without actually knowing who or what I was… am. I promise you, harming her has never even crossed my mind'

'I was attacked by a vampire a few weeks ago…'

Raven perked up at those words. 'What did he look like?'

'I don't know really, he was wearing a cape and tried to stab me with some sort of blade… doesn't matter, really, I'm pretty sure he died soon after' Rosalie wickedly smiled.

'That spell has gotten stronger over the years I see! Especially with three witches… I assume Jane and Julie… interesting! Yet I do not get why a vampire would attack you?' Raven stood up and paced the small sitting area.

Rosalie thought about mentioning the prophecy and that she was fairly certain that that had something to do with it, but something in her held back. Raven hadn't mentioned anything that hinted he knew Marina was tied to the prophecy and she decided to let sleeping dogs lie… it'll all be over after Marina drinks the potion today. 'I don't know' she said, 'he decided 'shoot first-ask questions later', so that's what we did. Only for him, there was no later… it's a shame he ran'

'Well, I'm glad you're still safe. However, the amount of time spend in here… is making the others suspicious. Shall we go out and celebrate your 110^th birthday?'

'Are you planning on telling her what you are?' Rosalie threw at him before he could open the door. 'Yes, should the need arise, but not now. She's barely coming to terms with the loss of her brother and father; She wouldn't be able to handle believing in something like me too… Her reaction to me will differ immensely to her believing in witche-- I see!' Raven added, when Rosalie unknowingly lifted an eyebrow. 'Are you planning to tell her you're a witch?'

'No, for the same reasons as yours and more and we'll leave it at that. Now wheel me to my guests, Pat… Raven!' Rosalie added with a commanding voice and accommodating stubborn face. She sat down in her wheelchair and waited for him to push her.

'Yes, your highness!' Raven smiled.

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A/N:
Special thanks to the ladies from RWN for my featured rebel interview. And to Quiana for making my featured rebel gift: Crux Deveraux (aka Dark & Dangerous)