After chatting with Rosa for hours, Anika’s exhaustion was beginning to catching up with her. She drove back to her apartment trying to figure out what she was going to tell Brandon. She said she would call him and let him know what her plan was, and while the information Rosa gave her was helpful, they might end up at cross purposes down the road. Rosa wanted to see the sun so badly, and Xenosa wanted that for her friend. Yet, she had made a promise to Brandon after she fell, and he had saved her ass more times that she wanted to admit. Anika yawned loudly, her body’s need for sleep making itself known. She let herself into the apartment, and fell onto the bed. She was asleep the second her head hit the pillow.
She was awoken barely three hours later by a loud repetitive thumping noise. Her brain immediately jumped to the conclusion it was probably Colin messing with her again, the little shit. She grabbed her pistol and looked through the peep hole. Instead of the ghoul, it was her neighbor, banging his head against her door, with enough force to make it rattle. When he looked up she saw that his eyes were dripping blood. Beyond him she could more bodies, other neighbors, blood looking black under the dim light of the streetlamps.
The wood of the door was beginning to splinter as a result of the relentless assault, and she backed up, taking aim. When the figure broke through the door, she fired, but the bullets didn’t seem to phase the creature at all. He held up his palm and a bright white light emitted from his hand and Xenosa barely had time to register “oh fuck, angel” before the light exploded. She felt pain course through Anika’s body as she took cover behind the couch. The angel was quickly approaching, hand still glowing, and more bodies were coming through the door. For a split second she considered letting everything go, and burning these motherfuckers, go out in a blaze of fury. However, even if Xenosa did manage to survive, which wasn’t likely, Anika would be burnt in the process. She would have never existed.
“Screw it”, she thought. Instead of facing the approaching angel, she made a running leap out the window, transforming just before she hit the glass. Xenosa streaked out into the pre-dawn, moving as fast as she could, but she was still pursued by angels, that looked like seagulls with rockets attached to their shoulders. Xenosa dimmed her fire, and instead green flared across her form, and the plasma drive allowed her to outdistance them, enough to land and hide. She watched them fly off in different directions, and once she was certain they weren’t coming back she assumed Jennifer Winter’s form.
“Why am I such a fucking idiot?” she muttered in German. She spoke the words perfectly, even though speaking them felt weird on Jennifer’s tongue.
She watched the sun rising, considering what to do. She needed to get to safety, and quick. Her first thought was to go to Rosa, an insistent nagging that Xenoa knew was coming from Jennifer. Logically she knew that wouldn’t be the best choice, since Rosa was just going to sleep. Which left the rest of the group, or Brandon. If she was still being watched it would put the others at risk. She didn’t feel like Jennifer was being watched, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.
She walked to the motel the hunters had checked into. It was a few miles away, but Jennifer was in good shape, so it wasn’t too much of a strain. She knocked gently on the door, waiting until she heard footsteps near the door. She whispered, just loud enough that he could hear her, the first words she had ever spoken to him. “Meine name is Anika Wolter. Ich mochte Ihren helfen, Geist ihrer Frau zu finden”.
“Who the hell are you?”. She could hear the suspicion in his voice, and she couldn’t blame him for that. It must be strange for him, looking at a African American woman that he’s never met, who was speaking german at him with a weird Texas accent. Not just any words, the words that had put him on this path.
She tried again, hoping he would understand.
He paused, before whispering back “Anika?”
“Yes, well sort of. Can I come in?”
He opened the door for her, and she felt a rush of gratitude. He was consistently pulling her ass out of the fire. Mostly fires of her own making, but he was always there, no matter what. Whatever came next she was going to make good on her promise to him, and she was going to to be smart about it. He sat down on the bed and looked at Jennifer, waiting for an explanation. She briefly considered what the others would say, once she told them what happened. She could hear Daruis say “What the fuck did you do?” and Grey’s disapproving glare. Brandon just listened, without any judgement.
“Is Anika gone?”
She bit her lip. “No, not really. She just…is going to be out of the picture for awhile, until things settle down.”
“Ok”. Again his words were neutral. “What are you going to do now?”
“I have to go back to the vampires. Jennifer has to be seen there, or the cover might be blown. With Anika being hunted, that can’t happen. But, I think I’m piecing together what the vampbros are doing, and I’m not going to let them succeed. We will put Jenny to rest, no matter what”.
He took Jennifer’s hand and squeezed it. “I know we will”. If she were in her true form, her fire would not be burning with reckless hatred, but with determination. She was glad she ran, or she would never have this chance to redeem herself.