Chapter 23: Chapter Twenty Three – First Quarter

Chapter 23

 

Lua - Tunis, 2022 CE

 

"Lina, I can't afford anything on this street…"

I stand hand in hand with my vampire, wearing my lacy red backless dress, uneasily looking down the rows upon rows of designer brand storefronts in Tunis' high end international shopping district. 

"I know you can't, but I can!" Lina smiles at me, as she drags me forward by the hand. 

"Uhh, this place makes me uncomfortable. Lina, I'm really too poor to be here."

Lina cheerfully wraps an arm around my shoulders. "Not anymore you aren't! You're my thrall. That means that my multi generational investment portfolio is now your multi generational investment portfolio!" 

"You have an investment portfolio?" I eye my vampire suspiciously as she pulls me down the marbled, palm tree lined sidewalk. 

Lina looks down at me. I can feel that she's amused at my innocence. "Aww, you're cute." She giggles softly as she boops me on the nose with the calloused tip of a fingernail-less finger. 

"What?" I pout at her. 

Lina giggles. "You think I bake pastéis de nata for a living? C'mon Lua, you've seen my pastelaria, I get like four customers a day!"

"Oh, I guess I never really thought about it. So you're rich then?" I ask.

"I guess you could say that. I spent the first couple centuries after my imprisonment working as a mercenary. There was plenty of that kind of work to go around back then. I made some smart investments with my multiple lifetimes of wages. Florentine banking in the fifteenth century, Hanseatic shipping in the sixteenth century, Sugar refineries in Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, Essen coal mining in the eighteenth century, Da-"

"Ok, ok, I get it. You're the type of person Chama says we should eat." I boop Lina's nose right back.

Lina fake scowls at me. "Whoa! Nobody eats me, I'm the one that does the biting here!" She smirks down at me as her hand falls to my waist, pulling me closer. 

I roll my eyes. "Ok, fine. But even if you can afford to buy me things, I'm not sure I want you to. I mean, I don't think anything on this street is really me, you know?"

"Not even that?" Lina stops me in front of a shop window, pointing at a short lace, light pink, sleeveless, A-line dress.

Oh my goddess, that's a beautiful dress!

I hesitate, squirming under the weight of Lina's bicep wrapped around me. I know that lying is useless when Lina will just feel the truth anyway. 

"Fine, that is a really cute dress…" I mumble. 

"I bet it would look a whole lot cuter with you in it." Lina whispers in my ear. 

"Linaaaa." I whine.

"Come on, you're trying it on." 

"Do I have to?" 

Lina's determined face looks down at me. "Yes, you do. You're my girlfriend now. That means that I'm going to dress you up as cute as you can be!"

A grin grows on Lina's face. "I also know you really want to. So, are you going to walk in there and put on that dress, or am I going to carry you in there?"

My lip quivers as I look into the eyes of Lina's serious expression. I can feel that she doesn't mean that, that she'd respect whatever I want to do or wear. But I also feel that she really wants to carry me into the store and…

Oh goddess! 

"Lina!" I shout.

Lina smirks at me, knowing exactly what I felt in her emotions. I hesitate again.

Maybe I do want her to do that to me…

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The thought had just appeared in my mind right as Lina effortlessly snatches me up in one swift motion, pulling me into a tight princess carry. I let out a high pitch yelp as Lina promptly pushes open the shop door and carries me inside. 

We are greeted just inside the door by a tall blond attendant with a short pixie haircut, wearing a white pants suit. If she is surprised or uncomfortable by Lina carrying me, her expression doesn't betray it. 

"Good afternoon madame, how may I assist you?" The woman asks in a French accent, addressing only Lina. 

Lina nods at the pink dress. "I'd like to put my girlfriend in that dress!" She says assertively. 

"Certainly! Right this way, please…"

 

---

 

"See, I knew that dress would look cuter with you in it!" Lina beams down at me as we step out of the store. I don't bother hiding my giant smile. 

It is a really cute dress.

"I'm quite the fan of your new outfit too!" I tilt my head and bite my lip through my grin. 

Lina stands smirking down at me in her new all black outfit. Dark black slacks tightly hug her frame, with a tight black blazer resting gently atop a black crop top that leaves her toned abs fully exposed, glistening under the Tunisian sun.

We take a moment to look into each other's eyes, exchanging a few emotions back and forth, before simultaneously breaking into a giggle. 

Lina wraps her arm around me, pulling me tight against her body. "C'mon cutie, we're not done yet. Let's get you some jewelry to go with that dress!" 

I don't protest this time as Lina pulls me down the street. We meander through the shopping district, only taking a small detour to walk through a park, and share a bowl of a spicy chickpea soup with eggs, peppers, and a ton of garlic that I learned is called Lablabi. 

Goddess I love soup!

"I think this is the place!" Lina cheers.

I'm pulled out of my soupy daydream to find myself in what looks like a dirty alley. The sun is low enough in the sky now that it can't be seen over the buildings. 

"Uh, are you sure? This doesn't look like a jewelry shop, Lina." I shift nervously in my new white heels. 

Lina frowns. I can feel that she is uncertain too. "Nadia said to look for El Naddaha."

I sigh. "I don't know what an El Naddaha is, Lina."

"That's El Naddaha." Lina says, pointing at the alley wall. 

It's dark, but on the wall I can just barely make out a grimy mural of a beautiful woman, wearing a thin, sheer white dress, and standing knee deep in water. Her hand stretches out to me, and her eyes glow bright blue, in a way that I find eerily inviting.

"C'mon, let's see if anyone's home. Lina grabs my hand and drags me up to the mural. She promptly knocks three times on the woman's face. 

We stand in awkward silence for a long moment. 

"Uhh, Lina… It's just a painting." 

The words barely leave my mouth, when suddenly the blue eyed woman moves. Her hips slowly begin to sway on the stone wall. She spins gracefully, then gently beckons to us, as if gesturing that we should follow her. She turns and dives into the water behind her.

A crack and a crunch sound before a low rumble emits from the wall. The bricks slowly start to peel away, revealing a small hole, then a bigger hole, then even bigger, until Lina and I find ourselves standing mouths agape in an open doorway. We look down a dark staircase, leading into an unknown abyss. 

I feel Lina's eyebrows raise without needing to look at her. "That's interesting!" She says. 

I clutch her bicep tighter, moving close to her side.

"Well, c'mon then. Let's go shopping!" Lina joyfully shouts.

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