Chapter 1 Not Everything Is How It Seems

Helen sat on her couch as she looked on at the fire, thinking of what she could have done different she was the only one left out of the five. John was somewhere in the world reeking havoc as he did so well Tesla was in the lab still trying to reverse the effects of the de-vamper as he named it and even the thought of being mortal made him cringe, but the fact was it was having a bigger impact on Helen than it was the others.

Watson had died helping them get the source blood, Clara had died defending the sanctuary and yet she wasn't even supposed to be there, Nikola was now mortal, john was somewhere in the world and that left Helen. The last of the five, her father's worst nightmare, one of the things he never wanted to see.

Helen walked throughout the sanctuary, it felt empty without Ashley, little things would remind her about the daughter that was viciously taken away from her, little things Henry would say or abnormal's that Ashley had brought in and so on. She needed to get away from it all forget about work and everything that was dragging her down; all in all she needed a holiday a rarity amongst everything.

Helen strolled to her room in search for her bags, it was time for a getaway, a holiday and most possibly an adventure without the others, something she needed to do for herself. Retreating to her villa in France, for some quiet time, to think, relax. It took under half an hour and Helen was making her way to her submerged garage that was very well hidden. And as of yet so far no one even noticed she was gone, for now that was.

Arriving at her villa any hours later, Helen drove up her drive way. Hidden behind a valley it was quiet, serene, calm, a place of true beauty. Stepping inside Helen placed her bags in her room as she made her way around opening up the windows, and turning on appliances she would need later on and most important was her in ground pool made of marble and stone, elegant and graceful.

It was fast approaching night, turning on the lights Helen made her way to her wine cellar looking for two wines in particular, and hopefully Nikola hadn't gotten to them first. Coming to a stop at one rack Helen scanned finding her desired wine and yet it had survived Nicola's last visit. 1875 Domaine Puig-Parahy Rancio. Helen smiled as she wondered how Nikola had missed the bottle of wine, but now she had better things to do than think about him, she had a bottle of wine that needed her attention as well as dinner, and not forgetting a fabulous booked picked from her library.

For the first time in months Helen dosed lightly her drams filled of memories of Ashley, her first step, word, even abnormal filtered through her mind as an odd noise and lights swept though the room. As Helen jumped up drawing her pistol she never went anywhere with out it. Looking out the window she watched a helicopter land on a nearby hill, red flashes lit the ski as four personnel or what Helen could make out as personnel appeared beneath the helicopter before disappearing beneath a hidden cavern that emerged from the hill. From memory Helen never recalled an entrance let alone there being a submerged labyrinth or anything being concealed below the valley if there was she would've known about it.

What was happening here?

One minute a helicopter was there, four people appeared from nowhere, then they everything and all vanishes. Helen was determined to find out what was going on and at all costs. If she had seen correctly four people teleported to that hill, powers only from the source blood, something the cabal had access to and maybe there was still some left that could be retaken and stored for safe keeping at least. A possible cure and a reversal to Nikola's de-vamper, she could only hope, but Helen never put much into hope it had never done anything when she did and nothing good ever came out.

Helen didn't sleep well that night as her earlier and happier memories of Ashley turned into horribly and frightening events that played out after the cabal had turned her, taken advantage of her, and used her to there needs. Her worst and her last fateful act as she tried to take her life, and yet after all she had done a small part of Ashley had survived as she sacrificed herself to save her mother, and if Helen was in Ashley's position she would have done the same thing. Ashley's actions were not of her own but what the cabal had commanded them to do, actions that could be reversed and would have been if they hadn't gotten the source blood.

Helens torment of hours ended as she woke up in a sweat, wet and gasping for air Helen slowly rose as she sat on the end of her bed, rubbing her face trying to rid the memory of her nightmare one that wouldn't be easily forgotten.

After a hot shower Helen packed her bag holstered her gun, one on both sides, and an extra one attached to her belt. heading out Helen headed for the hill as she looked around, and much to her surprise it was as if nothing had ever stepped foot on the hill, it was bare, covered in grass, looking around she noticed blood smeared across a small rock out of the corner of her eye, following the trail it lead Helen walked over the ridge and yet the blood continued. After walking two kilometres Helen came to a stop to a small fresh water creek and she spotted ore blood smeared across smaller rock, until she made her final discovery. A body mutilated, torn, destroyed. Kneeling down for a closer look it was male, and it didn't take long for Helen to make the connection, bites, scratches, mutilated. A vampire was here or had been.

Her holiday was well and truly ruined, more work but it this had to be solved, for everyone's sake, one thing Helen was sure of she didn't want a crazed vampire running around eating people. Holding something in mind for Nikola if this was a vampire of some sort, it might hold something install for Nikola and he could once again be his self again, he hated being mortal, a glimmer of hope and a very dark tunnel that he was caught in. Helen needed to keep this under wraps all she needed was him to come out to her villa, drink all her wine, almost get himself killed and herself in the process, and get into trouble, trouble they may not ultimately be able to get out of.

After three hours of stopping and starting Helen returned to her villa, with the body, as she took it down to the morgue. A villa with a morgue, not something you saw everyday. Turning on her TV Helen switched to the news seeing something she didn't want to. Another three bodies had been found as the police thought they could be dealing with a serial killer. A sick and twisted one. The were miles off. Helen need to see the bodies, something she did immediately, phoning the morgue and police station, she was to see the bodies tomorrow at nine am.

Amongst all the confusing and fear Helen was wishing and hoping Nikola wouldn't see the article or news flash but that was so rarely the case and he never missed much when it came to that, soon enough he would be here, making her life a misery while he tried to get his own life back.