A/N: Ok, here it is: the sequel! I'm so glad that you guys are enjoying these and are following the story. Obviously, I still don't own any rights to the characters etc. of Blood Ties. I'm just borrowing them.
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"Concentrate, Vicki!" Henry was becoming more and more exasperated with the blonde sitting opposite him. If she didn't start putting in some effort soon, instead of just seeing the whole thing as a game, he was going to get mad.
"I am! I just…" She looked up at his expression and broke into hysterical laughter. "Why are you taking this so seriously, Henry? Honestly…men…"
"Because, Vicki, this is a very good way to train your mind. Many great figures from history were known to be quite proficient and skilled at it, and you asked me to teach you." He was beginning to wish he hadn't agreed.
Vicki, still chuckling and trying desperately to force her features into a serious expression, moved her knight so that Henry's king was checked.
"Check! I win!" She shouted, delighted that she had done it.
"No, you don't." He took the knight with his rook, and declared proudly, "I now have a clear way to your king with my queen. Checkmate." He folded his arms smugly.
Vicki's smile turned to a frown, and for a moment she actually looked like she was sulking. Then she shrugged.
"Hey, it's just a game!" Henry rolled his eyes at her, but said nothing. He could tell she'd said it just to annoy him, and he wouldn't give her the pleasure of knowing she had.
Vicki took a bite of the now lukewarm pizza she had brought to Henry's with her. Ever since they had returned from Ireland a fortnight before, they had become much closer; Vicki had been opening up to him more and more, at the advice of Maeve, and she found she was actually getting a strange sense of freedom from it. Henry moved to sit beside Vicki on the comfortable couch, draping his arm across the back so his hand was (accidentally, of course….not) behind Vicki's head. He began to play with her hair, twirling a strand of it around his fingers. She sighed, making a contented sound, and he leaned in toward her for a kiss. Just as their lips were about to meet, Vicki's cell phone rang.
"Ignore it…" He breathed, still not willing to open his eyes just in case she actually, miraculously, listened to him. Which, to his surprise, she did. 'Moment rescued' he thought to himself, smiling against her lips before capturing them with his own.
Vicki left Henry's a few hours before dawn; he had some inking to do on his latest graphic novel, and she wanted to get some sleep. Henry had, as usual, gone to bed just before dawn, ensuring the bedroom blinds were down and leaving just enough time to make himself comfortable.
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Henry woke with a start, sitting bolt upright in his bed. The first thing he noticed was how dark it was; his brows drew down in confusion; what was wrong with his sight? He then noticed something much, much more disconcerting – he was breathing. Not only that, but he found that when he stopped, he began to feel light headed and had to quickly suck in more air. The feeling of air rushing through his nostrils, down his neck and into his lungs was very strange to him. His eyes widened – what was happening to him? He looked around, confirming that he was, indeed, in his own bed, in his own room, and, looking at his body, he saw that he was exactly as he had been that morning when he had gone to bed. He jumped out of bed, and actually gasped when he heard a rather odd noise coming from his stomach, which, he had just noticed, felt all tingly and strange. He needed to call Vicki – immediately. She might be able to help. He left his room, feeling rather weak, and actually screamed as he jumped behind the couch; the bright light of the sun was streaming through the window. He checked himself over – no damage.
"Thank God…" He took in a deep breath, the sensation still so alien to him; he hadn't had to breathe since he was turned…When he was human….the pin dropped and, tentatively, he stuck his hand out from behind the couch into the stream of sunlight. Nothing happened. He peered out from his hiding place, looking terrified. He didn't spontaneously combust – he was fine.
"Ok…" He thought aloud, and, still not trusting the sunlight entirely, he only exposed his head as he tried to find the least sunny way to get to the phone. He decided on a course of action and made a mad dash for it, before returning to his bedroom. He silently thanked God for cordless phones as he dialled Vicki's office number.
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When the office number had rung out a few times he started trying cell phones, and finally got an answer.
"No – I'm sorry. If you were Henry you'd be…sleeping." Coreen was refusing to believe that it was actually him.
"Look, Coreen, I woke in the middle of the day, breathing, of all things, the sunlight didn't burn me and my stomach is doing something odd…" He became distracted as it rumbled once more. "I don't really have time for this! Can you just come over here?"
Coreen's eyes went wide – it really was him! Calling in the middle of the day! Something extremely weird was going on…
"Oh my god! Henry! That's so cool! And very weird! I was just on my way in to the office – Vicki won't answer my calls either. I can swing by there first? She's probably out anyway…"
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Coreen arrived at the condo twenty minutes later. Henry answered the door, soaking wet, in his red robe and a towel – he had tried to shower and dress, as he usually could, in a few short minutes but had discovered that he simply wasn't able to. The blinds were drawn and all the lights were on.
"Sorry, Coreen…I couldn't move fast enough…" Henry looked really worried.
"Hey, don't worry. I'll hang out here and you can go put some clothes on!" The blatant hint was taken and Henry returned five minutes later, fully clothed. As he walked back into the room, he noticed something.
"Coreen – I can't hear your heartbeat! And you have no scent…" None of this made any sense – it couldn't even be a very realistic nightmare, because he didn't dream.
"Henry, describe exactly what happened." He went through his experiences in more detail for her, and when he finished she looked at him curiously for a moment. "Give me your wrist." She felt his pulse, and gasped as she felt the speed of it – just regular human rhythms. She dropped his arm and looked up at him questioningly as his stomach rumbled once more. "You're blushing, Henry! Vampires don't blush! And from the sounds of it, you're ravenous…" She reached into her bag and pulled out a bar of chocolate, opened it, and handed it to him. He sniffed at it, and took a tentative nibble of one corner. It was a strange taste to him, but he decided he liked it. A lot. It was gone within the minute.
"Well, I hate to break this to you, Henry, but I think you're…human…" Coreen said gently, wondering how he was going to take the assessment. If he was honest, he didn't know what to think; there were so many questions...
"I think we should go to the office, tell Vicki. Do you think you could try going out in the sunshine?"
"I suppose…But…could we get some more food on the way?"
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A/N: I couldn't concentrate when I was learning chess either, so apologies if I got the Checkmate rule wrong. As always, I'd love to know what you guys thought!