Shouldn't be so complicated
Just hold me and then
Just hold me again
-Matchbox Twenty
Sixteen-year-old Elena sat up in bed hearing a dog barking. She groaned recognizing it as her father's Saint Bernard Ares. "Come on Hera," she said to her Irish Setter. Hera raised her head and simply yawned. Elena slipped a flannel shirt on over her spaghetti strap black tank top.
She straightened her white-blond hair, which was messed up due to the few hours of sleep that she had gotten. She turned on her bedroom light blinking her glazier green eyes into the sudden light. Then leaving Hera to sleep on her bed she went outside. The moon was so bright that she didn't need a light when she stepped out onto the porch. The barking had stopped and she saw the huge animal lying on his side. With no thought of what could happen to her Elena rushed forward.
Ares was breathing and seemed fine. Elena knelt beside him. Suddenly noticing the lack of sound in the woods surrounding her house a chill ran down her back. She stood up feeling paranoid. "Hello?" she called softly then laughed at herself. "Yeah as if there's going to be an answer." When she said that someone came up behind her and grabbed her putting a gloved hand over her mouth.
"Don't make a sound," a man whispered his breath hot on her cheek. The feel of his breath sent odd chills through her. She could hear voices in the distance. They walked into her yard and the man pulled her back behind the dog's cage. One man with black hair and black eyes walked closer to the cage glancing at Ares who didn't even
get up.
"Strange," he said softly.
"Quinn!" a girl up ahead called. "Let's go!" He spared the area another glance then followed the others away. She felt the guy sigh with relief. After their footsteps retreated he released her. She whirled around knowing that she should be terrified but not caring.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "And what was that about?" He stepped out of the shadows and she lost the breath she was using to yell. He was tall and was muscular without overdoing it. He had long shaggy black hair that fell carelessly in his eyes. He was beyond handsome, he was beautiful, Elena had never been able to use that word to describe a man but beautiful was the only word that could describe him. He had high aristocratic cheekbones; his lips were perfect but slightly mocking. It was his eyes that caught her. They were a smoky blue, a color that she had never seen before.
Now he raised a hand breaking her shock. "I'm sorry about that," he said calmly. "But it was necessary."
"Necessary?" she demanded crossing her arms. "God, you nearly gave me a heart attack! Who were they? Who are you?"
"You ask a lot of questions," he said blandly. He leaned against the cage taking off his gloves. "Okay, about them, I don't know who they are."
"Why were you running from them?" she demanded.
"Be quiet and listen and I'll explain," he said annoyed. "My name is Drake Dracule." She started at his name. "My parents were weird. Anyhow, I'm new in the neighborhood and I was walking around. They started to chase after me. I ran, they followed, I ended up here, your dog was barking so I kind of knocked him out."
"You knocked my dog out?" Elena demanded fighting the urge to punch him. She could see by the way he moved that her fist probably wouldn't make contact and she didn't want to make him angry.
"Yeah," he said. "So what's your name?"
"Elena," she told him. She stuck a hand out. He glanced at it for a second as if confused but took it when their hands touched there were sparks. She pulled her hand away quickly. He turned around hitting the cage half-heartedly. He then turned back. He reached out a hand, that seemed to be shaking a little, and touched her arm. The same thing. "What's going on?" she asked her voice a whisper. This interrupted his stream of curses.
"We're soulmates," he told her flatly.
"We're what?!" Elena asked.
"Shh," he said. "We're soulmates. We're meant for each other." He snorted. "Yeah right."
She felt oddly hurt. "I'm confused," she said.
"You're also human," he said rolling eyes to the sky. "This so figures."
"Human?" she asked even more confused.
"Hmm…" he mused. "How to explain… You're human. I'm not. Get it?"
"You're not human," she repeated.
"Let me put it to you this way," he said. But he didn't speak; he grabbed her and pulled her to him.
"What are you doing?" she asked her voice small.
"Showing you what I am," he said calmly. "And why you should stay away from me." He then pulled his lips back revealing sharp teeth. She looked at him shocked but at the same time, not surprised. Seeing her lack of fear he leaned over her neck. She felt sudden pain when his teeth pierced her neck then it was gone. She was suddenly thrown into his mind. She saw who he was; a vampire, more than a thousand years old. Responsible for only a few deaths. Those he had killed were in self-defense.
/What exactly do you want to show me?/ Elena asked telepathically.
/I've killed,/ Drake told her almost desperately. /Doesn't that mean anything to you?/
/But you didn't want to,/ she said. /I can feel that./
"You're impossible," he told her pulling away. "Completely impossible."
"I've been told that," she said. "Drake, we're soulmates, doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"What it means to me is that I need to get rid of you," he said.
"Rid of me?" Elena demanded crossing her arms. "What do you mean by rid of me?"
"I said that wrong," he said. "I meant, I need to get you away from me."
"You're two for two," she said getting even angrier.
"I'm going to shut up," he said.
"Follow me inside then explain," Elena said. He obeyed.
"Where are your parents?" he asked looking around.
"They're on a business trip," she told him. They sat down on her couch facing each other.
"Okay," he said. "I'm in a organization called the Night World. That was a group of Hunters from Circle Daybreak after me."
"Come again?" she said.
Drake sighed slightly. "I shouldn't be telling you any of this," he said but went on to explain to her what Circle Daybreak and the Night World were.
"Why was Circle Daybreak after you?" she asked.
"I'm an evil vampire," he said with a grin. "Can't you tell?"
"Right," she said slowly. "Completely evil."
"But I am part of the Night World so they thought that I'm evil and that I've killed," he explained. "Basically we're screwed. Its not like you can join the Night World and Daybreak already hates me."
"So what are we going to do?" she asked her voice small she figured that she already knew.
"Nothing," he said heavily. "I'm going to leave and pretend this never happened."
"Pretend it never happened?" Elena asked.
He offered her a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "It's going to be hard," he said. "But I want to keep you safe." She looked away. He drew her to him and lifted her chin so she was looking into his eyes. "Please say that you understand."
"I understand what you want to do," she said instead. "That's all I can give you."
"That's alright," he said. He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers. The connection was there again, a sort of pinkish haze. She could almost see a silver
cord between them. She felt emptiness, knowing that she would soon loose the
feeling. "Goodbye Elena," he said his voice soft he then walked out melting into
the darkness.
"Goodbye," she whispered barely able to say the words due to the lump in her throat.
I wonder how we can survive
This romance
But in the end if I'm with you
I'll take the chance
Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you
Waiting for you
-Richard Marx
Two years later
Elena stared outside attempting to ignore the argument behind her over musical groups. She leaned back and thought about him. The Millennium war was over. Circle Daybreak had (of course) won. Now they were on a trip to find Ash's soulmate Mary-Lynnette. /Another reunion,/ she thought sadly.
As the car approached his sisters' house she saw four girls and one guy walking out side. Ash was out of the car as soon as it had stopped. Elena saw one of the girls, she guessed that it was Mary Lynnette, launch herself into his arms. She looked away imagining a similar reunion if she could ever find Drake. Then she saw the girl hit him in the arm, hard. "A year?!" the girl yelled hitting his arm again. "That was a lot longer than a year." Elena smiled already liking this girl.
"I-" Ash started but was cut off when she kissed him. Elena got out of the car slowly. She quickly noticed that the other women were vampires. The one stepped up to her.
"I'm Rowan," she said. "These are my sisters Kestrel and Jade."
"You're Ash's sisters," Elena said.
"Unfortunately," Kestrel said dryly.
Elena extended a hand. "It's good to finally meet you," she said. Rowan took her hand and shook it. "I was wondering if you've ever heard of a vampire named Drake Dracule."
"I've heard of him," Rowan said.
"He was a wuss," Kestrel said blandly.
"He's her soulmate," James said stepping out of the car. Kestrel winced but didn't seem too sorry. Elena wasn't too surprised, everyone she had asked had said something like that but most of them had been Night people.
"What do you know about him?" she asked.
"He was really high up in the Night World," Rowan said. "But when the war came he dropped out of site. He did fight," she said giving her sister a look. "But on Daybreak's side."
"Hence him being a wuss," Kestrel said with a shrug. By her smile Elena could tell that she was only saying it to annoy her sister.
"Is he alive?" Elena asked.
"I don't know," Rowan told her. Elena leaned against the car. /Well more information anyhow,/ she told herself. "Come on inside." The others went inside.
Poppy paused at the door. "Are you coming?" she asked.
"Not right now," Elena said.
"If anyone can find him Theiry will," Poppy told her.
"If he's still alive," Elena said. Poppy looked at her hard. "I know, I should be able to tell, I can just get this faint sense, and a feeling of distress, and pain."
"Then he's alive," Poppy said. "You'd know if he wasn't."
"Thanks," Elena said. "I'll just go check out the town."
"That's a whole lot of nothing," Mary-Lynette said. Elena looked at her surprised. She had forgotten about them.
"I'm Elena," she told the other girl.
"Mary-Lynette," Ash's smiling soulmate told her. "I was just saying, our little town is totally dead. We're a no Starbucks town."
"Well I've seen smaller," Elena said with a shrug. "See you guys." She walked down the street.
"Who is she?" Rowan asked stepping outside.
"She's human," Poppy said. "Which makes it even more amazing that she saved Lady Hannah's life."
"What happened?" Mary-Lynette asked leaning against Ash. It seemed as if she was unable to stop touching him.
"Some Night Worlders stormed the mansion," Ash said. "We were working on getting Lady Hannah and the other non-fighters out. They attacked us at the back entrance. While the rest of us were fighting them off Elena got her outside. There some people shot at them. Our people took them out really quick but Elena was shot three times. She had gotten Hannah to the ground and covered her but she nearly died in the process."
"It's good that Aradia was there or else she would have died," Poppy said solemnly.
Guess I had to go away
So much I had to go through
Guess I had to lose you
To realize how much I love you
Can we make the fires burn again?
Burn a little stronger
'Cause I've been alone, and baby
I can't be alone any longer
-Chicago
Elena looked up at the sky. /Where are you?/ She shouted in her mind. /Drake, where are you? I miss you!/ There was no answer as usual. But… She heard a mental groan of sorts. /Drake?/ She asked scarcely able to hope.
/Elena?/ He asked his voice unsure.
/It is you?!/ She cried feeling tears of relief come to her eyes. /Where are you?/
/You can't come,/ he told her. /They'll kill you./
/Tell me,/ Elena demanded. /I have been searching for you for a year and a half! Tell me where you are!/
There was a short telepathic laugh but it sounded a little forced. /You're impossible,/ he told her. She smiled slightly. The smile grew when he revealed to her where he was.
/I'm coming,/ she told him. /I'll be there soon./
He started to protest but thought better of it knowing that it wouldn't do any good. /Be careful,/ he said instead.
/I will,/ she told him. She practically skipped to Ash's sisters' house.
You just call on me brother
When you need a hand
We all need
Somebody to lean on
-Michael Bolton
"I found him!" she cried rushing into the house.
"What?" Poppy asked sitting up straight.
"I talked to him," she said and explained to them what had happened. "I've finally found him."
"He's in a jail," Jade said from her position in Mark's arms. "What's the plan?"
"We need to wait for reinforcements," James said.
"When we talked he was barely conscious," Elena told him. "I won't let him go through another day of pain."
"But you're just completely healed and-" James started, feeling worried for his friend.
"I'm going," Elena said.
"I'm coming with you," Ash said immediately. "I know how it feels for you to be separated from your soulmate."
"Us too," Rowan said.
"I can't ask you guys to-" Elena started.
"We're all going," James said interrupting her. "But I'm still calling for back up. We might need it." They all walked to the car gathered up their weapons and walked into the night.
Guess I had to go away
So much I had to go through
Guess I had to lose you
To realize how much I love you
Can we make the fires burn again?
Burn a little stronger
'Cause I've been alone, and baby
I can't be alone any longer
-Chicago
At the mansion
As they approached the mansion Elena got clear impressions of pain from Drake. She nearly fell when a bolt of pain went through him to her. "You okay?" Rowan asked her.
"Yeah," she said. "Let's just get him out." Rowan nodded. Ash kicked the door open.
"It was unlocked idiot," Kestrel muttered as she walked in.
"I've just always wanted to do that," he protested. "I've never kicked in a door before. It was a new experience." They made their way down the corridor. They made quick work of the vampires littering the hallway. Another group swamped them. Elena grabbed one of the females by her shirt and slammed her against the wall with strength she didn't know she had.
"Where is Drake Dracule?" she demanded. The female almost got away but then Kestrel had her against the wall.
"I won't tell you anything," she swore.
"This stake can either kill you quickly or slowly," Elena told her. "It's your choice."
"But you're one of the good guys," the woman mocked. "You wouldn't do that."
"He's my soulmate," Elena told her, her voice deadly. "No one here will stop me because in my spot they would all do the same. Where is he?" The girl looked at her obviously thinking about not answering then she seemed to just give up.
"Down the hall," she told them. Then kicked Kestrel away and ran. They walked down the hall some more. Finally at the end of the hall there was a door.
"Kick that door in," James told Ash. Ash quickly obeyed. There were more vampires there and Drake was lying on a table. His eyes were closed. Elena prayed to God that he was alive. They fought the vampires and quickly killed them. Elena rushed to the table after the last vampire was killed. Drake stirred and she felt the pain again.
"What did they do to you?" she asked gently running a hand through his hair. She felt the silver cord gently tugging at her.
"We're going to do worse to you," a voice at the front said. Everyone froze then turned seeing none other than Hunter Redfern standing in front of them.
"Aren't you dead?" Ash asked.
"Obviously not," Hunter said. "Daybreak's elite. And you're all going to die." Drake tried to site up but Elena gently held him down.
"This is my fault," he said.
"I'm just happy I got to see you one last time," she told him almost serene. Then they all heard cars outside. Hunter didn't seem to notice. He stepped back before anyone could attack him. A bunch of vampires rushed in. Elena turned and fought without moving away from Drake.
She fought with everything she had in her. But they kept coming. Then there were sounds of a fight beyond the door. Finally they began to over come the vampires a sudden site of blue fire showed her why. They finished off the vampires inside the room then went outside where everything was destroyed including a wall.
"Oops," Jez said sheepishly.
"Showoff," Morgead said fondly.
"That man has more lives than a cat," Quinn said dryly.
"Let's get out of here," Morgead said. James and Ash carried Drake out to the limo.
Take me as I am
Put your heart in mine, stay with me forever
'Cause I am just a man who never understood
I never had a thing to prove
'Till there was you
You and me
Then it all came clear so suddenly
How close to you that I wanna be
-Chicago
Elena stepped into Drake's room slowly. He looked so much better. "Hey,"
he said. She looked at him and was struck by his looks. "I'm really sorry about all of this-"
"If you apologize one more time I'll hit you," she warned sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Fair enough," he said. "How long have you been looking for me?"
"Ever since I joined Circle Daybreak," Elena told him. "Two years. Although there was a half of one year where I was recovering from a few gunshot wounds." At his shocked look she raised her hand. "A long story. What I want to know is: what happened to you?"
"After I left I couldn't get you off my mind," he told her. "Which I expected. I also couldn't plan to take over the world and enslave the humans so I dropped out of site. I began to kill the evil vampires. Then when the battle started I began to fight openly. I was captured after the fights were over and charged with treason.
"They decided that instead of simply killing me they'd torture me." He sighed. "For two months." She gently touched his face. "But," he said covering her hand with his own. "It was worth it to be with you." She smiled. "Besides," he said. "I was only waiting for you to come."
"And guess what I found out," she said.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm an old soul," she told him.
"Which means what?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes playfully. "It means that after I die I'll come back," she told him. He smiled. "Come on," she said. "I want to introduce you to everyone." She started to get up but he reached out to stop her. "What?"
"I've been without you for two years," he told her. "I want to have you to myself for a little while."
"Can do," she said with a grin. Then their lips touched. The silver cord hummed between them finally complete.
Just hold me and then
Just hold me again
-Matchbox Twenty
Sixteen-year-old Elena sat up in bed hearing a dog barking. She groaned recognizing it as her father's Saint Bernard Ares. "Come on Hera," she said to her Irish Setter. Hera raised her head and simply yawned. Elena slipped a flannel shirt on over her spaghetti strap black tank top.
She straightened her white-blond hair, which was messed up due to the few hours of sleep that she had gotten. She turned on her bedroom light blinking her glazier green eyes into the sudden light. Then leaving Hera to sleep on her bed she went outside. The moon was so bright that she didn't need a light when she stepped out onto the porch. The barking had stopped and she saw the huge animal lying on his side. With no thought of what could happen to her Elena rushed forward.
Ares was breathing and seemed fine. Elena knelt beside him. Suddenly noticing the lack of sound in the woods surrounding her house a chill ran down her back. She stood up feeling paranoid. "Hello?" she called softly then laughed at herself. "Yeah as if there's going to be an answer." When she said that someone came up behind her and grabbed her putting a gloved hand over her mouth.
"Don't make a sound," a man whispered his breath hot on her cheek. The feel of his breath sent odd chills through her. She could hear voices in the distance. They walked into her yard and the man pulled her back behind the dog's cage. One man with black hair and black eyes walked closer to the cage glancing at Ares who didn't even
get up.
"Strange," he said softly.
"Quinn!" a girl up ahead called. "Let's go!" He spared the area another glance then followed the others away. She felt the guy sigh with relief. After their footsteps retreated he released her. She whirled around knowing that she should be terrified but not caring.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "And what was that about?" He stepped out of the shadows and she lost the breath she was using to yell. He was tall and was muscular without overdoing it. He had long shaggy black hair that fell carelessly in his eyes. He was beyond handsome, he was beautiful, Elena had never been able to use that word to describe a man but beautiful was the only word that could describe him. He had high aristocratic cheekbones; his lips were perfect but slightly mocking. It was his eyes that caught her. They were a smoky blue, a color that she had never seen before.
Now he raised a hand breaking her shock. "I'm sorry about that," he said calmly. "But it was necessary."
"Necessary?" she demanded crossing her arms. "God, you nearly gave me a heart attack! Who were they? Who are you?"
"You ask a lot of questions," he said blandly. He leaned against the cage taking off his gloves. "Okay, about them, I don't know who they are."
"Why were you running from them?" she demanded.
"Be quiet and listen and I'll explain," he said annoyed. "My name is Drake Dracule." She started at his name. "My parents were weird. Anyhow, I'm new in the neighborhood and I was walking around. They started to chase after me. I ran, they followed, I ended up here, your dog was barking so I kind of knocked him out."
"You knocked my dog out?" Elena demanded fighting the urge to punch him. She could see by the way he moved that her fist probably wouldn't make contact and she didn't want to make him angry.
"Yeah," he said. "So what's your name?"
"Elena," she told him. She stuck a hand out. He glanced at it for a second as if confused but took it when their hands touched there were sparks. She pulled her hand away quickly. He turned around hitting the cage half-heartedly. He then turned back. He reached out a hand, that seemed to be shaking a little, and touched her arm. The same thing. "What's going on?" she asked her voice a whisper. This interrupted his stream of curses.
"We're soulmates," he told her flatly.
"We're what?!" Elena asked.
"Shh," he said. "We're soulmates. We're meant for each other." He snorted. "Yeah right."
She felt oddly hurt. "I'm confused," she said.
"You're also human," he said rolling eyes to the sky. "This so figures."
"Human?" she asked even more confused.
"Hmm…" he mused. "How to explain… You're human. I'm not. Get it?"
"You're not human," she repeated.
"Let me put it to you this way," he said. But he didn't speak; he grabbed her and pulled her to him.
"What are you doing?" she asked her voice small.
"Showing you what I am," he said calmly. "And why you should stay away from me." He then pulled his lips back revealing sharp teeth. She looked at him shocked but at the same time, not surprised. Seeing her lack of fear he leaned over her neck. She felt sudden pain when his teeth pierced her neck then it was gone. She was suddenly thrown into his mind. She saw who he was; a vampire, more than a thousand years old. Responsible for only a few deaths. Those he had killed were in self-defense.
/What exactly do you want to show me?/ Elena asked telepathically.
/I've killed,/ Drake told her almost desperately. /Doesn't that mean anything to you?/
/But you didn't want to,/ she said. /I can feel that./
"You're impossible," he told her pulling away. "Completely impossible."
"I've been told that," she said. "Drake, we're soulmates, doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"What it means to me is that I need to get rid of you," he said.
"Rid of me?" Elena demanded crossing her arms. "What do you mean by rid of me?"
"I said that wrong," he said. "I meant, I need to get you away from me."
"You're two for two," she said getting even angrier.
"I'm going to shut up," he said.
"Follow me inside then explain," Elena said. He obeyed.
"Where are your parents?" he asked looking around.
"They're on a business trip," she told him. They sat down on her couch facing each other.
"Okay," he said. "I'm in a organization called the Night World. That was a group of Hunters from Circle Daybreak after me."
"Come again?" she said.
Drake sighed slightly. "I shouldn't be telling you any of this," he said but went on to explain to her what Circle Daybreak and the Night World were.
"Why was Circle Daybreak after you?" she asked.
"I'm an evil vampire," he said with a grin. "Can't you tell?"
"Right," she said slowly. "Completely evil."
"But I am part of the Night World so they thought that I'm evil and that I've killed," he explained. "Basically we're screwed. Its not like you can join the Night World and Daybreak already hates me."
"So what are we going to do?" she asked her voice small she figured that she already knew.
"Nothing," he said heavily. "I'm going to leave and pretend this never happened."
"Pretend it never happened?" Elena asked.
He offered her a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "It's going to be hard," he said. "But I want to keep you safe." She looked away. He drew her to him and lifted her chin so she was looking into his eyes. "Please say that you understand."
"I understand what you want to do," she said instead. "That's all I can give you."
"That's alright," he said. He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers. The connection was there again, a sort of pinkish haze. She could almost see a silver
cord between them. She felt emptiness, knowing that she would soon loose the
feeling. "Goodbye Elena," he said his voice soft he then walked out melting into
the darkness.
"Goodbye," she whispered barely able to say the words due to the lump in her throat.
I wonder how we can survive
This romance
But in the end if I'm with you
I'll take the chance
Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you
Waiting for you
-Richard Marx
Two years later
Elena stared outside attempting to ignore the argument behind her over musical groups. She leaned back and thought about him. The Millennium war was over. Circle Daybreak had (of course) won. Now they were on a trip to find Ash's soulmate Mary-Lynnette. /Another reunion,/ she thought sadly.
As the car approached his sisters' house she saw four girls and one guy walking out side. Ash was out of the car as soon as it had stopped. Elena saw one of the girls, she guessed that it was Mary Lynnette, launch herself into his arms. She looked away imagining a similar reunion if she could ever find Drake. Then she saw the girl hit him in the arm, hard. "A year?!" the girl yelled hitting his arm again. "That was a lot longer than a year." Elena smiled already liking this girl.
"I-" Ash started but was cut off when she kissed him. Elena got out of the car slowly. She quickly noticed that the other women were vampires. The one stepped up to her.
"I'm Rowan," she said. "These are my sisters Kestrel and Jade."
"You're Ash's sisters," Elena said.
"Unfortunately," Kestrel said dryly.
Elena extended a hand. "It's good to finally meet you," she said. Rowan took her hand and shook it. "I was wondering if you've ever heard of a vampire named Drake Dracule."
"I've heard of him," Rowan said.
"He was a wuss," Kestrel said blandly.
"He's her soulmate," James said stepping out of the car. Kestrel winced but didn't seem too sorry. Elena wasn't too surprised, everyone she had asked had said something like that but most of them had been Night people.
"What do you know about him?" she asked.
"He was really high up in the Night World," Rowan said. "But when the war came he dropped out of site. He did fight," she said giving her sister a look. "But on Daybreak's side."
"Hence him being a wuss," Kestrel said with a shrug. By her smile Elena could tell that she was only saying it to annoy her sister.
"Is he alive?" Elena asked.
"I don't know," Rowan told her. Elena leaned against the car. /Well more information anyhow,/ she told herself. "Come on inside." The others went inside.
Poppy paused at the door. "Are you coming?" she asked.
"Not right now," Elena said.
"If anyone can find him Theiry will," Poppy told her.
"If he's still alive," Elena said. Poppy looked at her hard. "I know, I should be able to tell, I can just get this faint sense, and a feeling of distress, and pain."
"Then he's alive," Poppy said. "You'd know if he wasn't."
"Thanks," Elena said. "I'll just go check out the town."
"That's a whole lot of nothing," Mary-Lynette said. Elena looked at her surprised. She had forgotten about them.
"I'm Elena," she told the other girl.
"Mary-Lynette," Ash's smiling soulmate told her. "I was just saying, our little town is totally dead. We're a no Starbucks town."
"Well I've seen smaller," Elena said with a shrug. "See you guys." She walked down the street.
"Who is she?" Rowan asked stepping outside.
"She's human," Poppy said. "Which makes it even more amazing that she saved Lady Hannah's life."
"What happened?" Mary-Lynette asked leaning against Ash. It seemed as if she was unable to stop touching him.
"Some Night Worlders stormed the mansion," Ash said. "We were working on getting Lady Hannah and the other non-fighters out. They attacked us at the back entrance. While the rest of us were fighting them off Elena got her outside. There some people shot at them. Our people took them out really quick but Elena was shot three times. She had gotten Hannah to the ground and covered her but she nearly died in the process."
"It's good that Aradia was there or else she would have died," Poppy said solemnly.
Guess I had to go away
So much I had to go through
Guess I had to lose you
To realize how much I love you
Can we make the fires burn again?
Burn a little stronger
'Cause I've been alone, and baby
I can't be alone any longer
-Chicago
Elena looked up at the sky. /Where are you?/ She shouted in her mind. /Drake, where are you? I miss you!/ There was no answer as usual. But… She heard a mental groan of sorts. /Drake?/ She asked scarcely able to hope.
/Elena?/ He asked his voice unsure.
/It is you?!/ She cried feeling tears of relief come to her eyes. /Where are you?/
/You can't come,/ he told her. /They'll kill you./
/Tell me,/ Elena demanded. /I have been searching for you for a year and a half! Tell me where you are!/
There was a short telepathic laugh but it sounded a little forced. /You're impossible,/ he told her. She smiled slightly. The smile grew when he revealed to her where he was.
/I'm coming,/ she told him. /I'll be there soon./
He started to protest but thought better of it knowing that it wouldn't do any good. /Be careful,/ he said instead.
/I will,/ she told him. She practically skipped to Ash's sisters' house.
You just call on me brother
When you need a hand
We all need
Somebody to lean on
-Michael Bolton
"I found him!" she cried rushing into the house.
"What?" Poppy asked sitting up straight.
"I talked to him," she said and explained to them what had happened. "I've finally found him."
"He's in a jail," Jade said from her position in Mark's arms. "What's the plan?"
"We need to wait for reinforcements," James said.
"When we talked he was barely conscious," Elena told him. "I won't let him go through another day of pain."
"But you're just completely healed and-" James started, feeling worried for his friend.
"I'm going," Elena said.
"I'm coming with you," Ash said immediately. "I know how it feels for you to be separated from your soulmate."
"Us too," Rowan said.
"I can't ask you guys to-" Elena started.
"We're all going," James said interrupting her. "But I'm still calling for back up. We might need it." They all walked to the car gathered up their weapons and walked into the night.
Guess I had to go away
So much I had to go through
Guess I had to lose you
To realize how much I love you
Can we make the fires burn again?
Burn a little stronger
'Cause I've been alone, and baby
I can't be alone any longer
-Chicago
At the mansion
As they approached the mansion Elena got clear impressions of pain from Drake. She nearly fell when a bolt of pain went through him to her. "You okay?" Rowan asked her.
"Yeah," she said. "Let's just get him out." Rowan nodded. Ash kicked the door open.
"It was unlocked idiot," Kestrel muttered as she walked in.
"I've just always wanted to do that," he protested. "I've never kicked in a door before. It was a new experience." They made their way down the corridor. They made quick work of the vampires littering the hallway. Another group swamped them. Elena grabbed one of the females by her shirt and slammed her against the wall with strength she didn't know she had.
"Where is Drake Dracule?" she demanded. The female almost got away but then Kestrel had her against the wall.
"I won't tell you anything," she swore.
"This stake can either kill you quickly or slowly," Elena told her. "It's your choice."
"But you're one of the good guys," the woman mocked. "You wouldn't do that."
"He's my soulmate," Elena told her, her voice deadly. "No one here will stop me because in my spot they would all do the same. Where is he?" The girl looked at her obviously thinking about not answering then she seemed to just give up.
"Down the hall," she told them. Then kicked Kestrel away and ran. They walked down the hall some more. Finally at the end of the hall there was a door.
"Kick that door in," James told Ash. Ash quickly obeyed. There were more vampires there and Drake was lying on a table. His eyes were closed. Elena prayed to God that he was alive. They fought the vampires and quickly killed them. Elena rushed to the table after the last vampire was killed. Drake stirred and she felt the pain again.
"What did they do to you?" she asked gently running a hand through his hair. She felt the silver cord gently tugging at her.
"We're going to do worse to you," a voice at the front said. Everyone froze then turned seeing none other than Hunter Redfern standing in front of them.
"Aren't you dead?" Ash asked.
"Obviously not," Hunter said. "Daybreak's elite. And you're all going to die." Drake tried to site up but Elena gently held him down.
"This is my fault," he said.
"I'm just happy I got to see you one last time," she told him almost serene. Then they all heard cars outside. Hunter didn't seem to notice. He stepped back before anyone could attack him. A bunch of vampires rushed in. Elena turned and fought without moving away from Drake.
She fought with everything she had in her. But they kept coming. Then there were sounds of a fight beyond the door. Finally they began to over come the vampires a sudden site of blue fire showed her why. They finished off the vampires inside the room then went outside where everything was destroyed including a wall.
"Oops," Jez said sheepishly.
"Showoff," Morgead said fondly.
"That man has more lives than a cat," Quinn said dryly.
"Let's get out of here," Morgead said. James and Ash carried Drake out to the limo.
Take me as I am
Put your heart in mine, stay with me forever
'Cause I am just a man who never understood
I never had a thing to prove
'Till there was you
You and me
Then it all came clear so suddenly
How close to you that I wanna be
-Chicago
Elena stepped into Drake's room slowly. He looked so much better. "Hey,"
he said. She looked at him and was struck by his looks. "I'm really sorry about all of this-"
"If you apologize one more time I'll hit you," she warned sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Fair enough," he said. "How long have you been looking for me?"
"Ever since I joined Circle Daybreak," Elena told him. "Two years. Although there was a half of one year where I was recovering from a few gunshot wounds." At his shocked look she raised her hand. "A long story. What I want to know is: what happened to you?"
"After I left I couldn't get you off my mind," he told her. "Which I expected. I also couldn't plan to take over the world and enslave the humans so I dropped out of site. I began to kill the evil vampires. Then when the battle started I began to fight openly. I was captured after the fights were over and charged with treason.
"They decided that instead of simply killing me they'd torture me." He sighed. "For two months." She gently touched his face. "But," he said covering her hand with his own. "It was worth it to be with you." She smiled. "Besides," he said. "I was only waiting for you to come."
"And guess what I found out," she said.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm an old soul," she told him.
"Which means what?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes playfully. "It means that after I die I'll come back," she told him. He smiled. "Come on," she said. "I want to introduce you to everyone." She started to get up but he reached out to stop her. "What?"
"I've been without you for two years," he told her. "I want to have you to myself for a little while."
"Can do," she said with a grin. Then their lips touched. The silver cord hummed between them finally complete.