THIERRY
Thierry stared down at his hands, unbelieving. He wasn't sure he heard right. But, the doctor repeated himself. Thierry felt his heart hit the floor.
Hannah, his Hannah, was dying. That couldn't be!
"Are you sure?" he asked Dr. Redfern, "I mean, really positive?"
The doctor looked as if he was about to reprimand him, but then seeing Thierry's angry glare, he quickly spoke.
"Sir, the cancer has spread, " he answered, shaking his head, "I'm afraid there's nothing else we can do."
Thierry gritted his teeth, "There has to be. There has to be something!" he cried out.
Dr. Redfern, sighed, shook his head and agreed to go over her tests again, though he knew it was futile.
"I'll go and check the tests again, Lord Thierry." he said as he slipped out of the room silently.
"Thierry?" Hannah's voice was weak, and barely more than a whisper of wind.
Thierry was by her side instantly.
"What is it, Hannah?" he asked, his eyes looking to Hannah as if they would overflow with tears at any second.
"Remember Thierry..." Hannah paused to take a breath, but it turned into a fit of violent coughing.
Thierry didn't know what to do, he just watched as Hannah's coughing grew worse and worse.
Finally, the coughing slowed, though it didn't stop.
Hannah looked up at Thierry, tears in her eyes from the coughing, and said, "Remember, I won't be gone for long."
There was a pause, and during that pause, Thierry feared for his soulmate's life.
He had found her, and after all this time, she'd finally lived to be older than 17. They'd only been together six months, though. Never long enough.
What seventeen year old developed fatal cancer? She had gotten worse in the past eight weeks, now she was so sickly. He knew she wouldn't survive the next hour,
much less the night.
Then Hannah resumed her talking. "Remember, I'll be back in my next life."
"I promise, I'll wait for you, Hannah." Thierry said hopelessly.
I promise, he added, mentally.
Then, she choked and wheezed, then all the life seemed to flow out of Hannah.
And all the reason to live out of Thierry.
Just then, Dr. Redfern came back in.
"Lord Thierry?" He said cautiously, "Hannah's cancer has spread and..."
The doctor trailed off as he saw Hannah's lifeless body.
"We'll take care of everything for you, my Lord." Dr. Redfern said, before wheeling the bed out of the room and away from the distressed Thierry.
"Hannah!" Thierry cried, both aloud and mentally.
I can't live through this anymore!
With that last thought burned deep in his mind, he left the hospital building. Walking a short way, his head down, lost in despair. When he was out in the courtyard, he saw a tree.
I can't live through this anymore, he thought again, feeling deep anguish.
All the life force he had left, just seemed to gush out of him and into nothingness. Drifting sub-consciously closer towards the tree, he could see it. Oak. A strong wood. Strong enough to pierce strong skin.
I should end it all, I should..
His last thought was cut off by a calling. Not a verbal calling, a mental call, like, a whisper. A psychic whisper like the wind blowing through your hair...
Wait.., the call beckoned to him.
Is it..? Could it be..? his mind raced as he turned in all directions.
He faced the hospital. No, it couldn't be. It's too soon, she never returned so soon.
He started towards the hospital again.
Maybe she's not dead, he thought, maybe..
His thoughts cut off again.
He heard the call again, pulling him towards the hospital. But, the voice said search.
Why would it say search if she was in the hospital, he thought to himself.
Search, the mental call said, and then it was gone.
He stared up at the hospital, towards the third floor. Hannah would have been taken to the morgue, down under the building. Yet, the pull he felt was coming
from the third story, fourth window from the east.
Hannah was most definitely gone, for when he touched her lifeless body, he didn't feel the familiar zing of electricity.
Yet, he heard her call. And, he could only hear the call if she had returned and was inhabited in a body.
What amazed him was it was so soon. He usually had to wait for years, sometimes hundreds. But mere minutes after one form died?
Thierry shook his head, ashamed at what he just thought of doing. He couldn't end his life.
He promised. He promised he would wait and find her again. That's what he'd do. He would listen to her call. He would wait and search for her.
He turned from the tree and walked quickly inside the mansion. He went straight to his office and sat at his desk. And, waited.
SARA
Three floors up in the same hospital in I.C.U. sector, a man in a lab coat and a blood tray brushed past a nurse. She was about to do her rounds, when the guy bumped her shoulder as he walked quickly, not stopping to apologize.
"Excuse you." she said, not fazing the man as he hurried away.
Rude bastard, she thought.
The nurse set about checking on a coma patient, looking over the machines, then coming to check the unconcious body. She stopped short, noticing something not quite right.
That wasn't there before, she thought to herself, looking closely at the patient's face. I better call the doctor, she thought.
Beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep.. Startled, the nurse turn towards the noisy machine and hastily silenced it. A look of shock came over her face, as she looked at the reading. She spun around, opening her mouth to question herself..and stopped short. The black-haired girl in the bed stirred, her eyelids fluttering.
"Oh, my, God!" she cried, aloud, bringing her hand to cover her jaw-dropping expression.
Punching the button for the P.A. system, she practically screamed out, "Dr. Redfern to I.C.U! Dr. Redfern, please report to I.C.U.!"-
Seventeen minutes Later...
"Okay..follow the light for me please. Now, do you remember your name?" Dr. Redfern asked gently.
"Yes, it's Sara..Sara Cheveyo." the young woman answered back, squinting as the light was flashed in her eyes again.
The doctor looked in her face, frowning.
"Is that your whole name?" he asked, wanting to be sure she knew who she was.
"No," she shook her head, "It's Sarana Marie Cheveyo." she replied, questioning with her eyes.
Lowell spoke up, "Sarana's greek for 'princess'." he joked patting Sara's hand.
Dr. Redfern looked at her again, "Your greek?"
"On her mother's side." Lowell cut in again.
Sara glared at him, sending him a message.
Shut up.
Lowell grinned and shrugged.
The doctor smiled at her, "So, you just go by Sara?"
Sara nodded, wondering what he could be getting at.
The doctor took his stethoscope and checked her heartbeat and breathing.
"And, what about 'Cheveyo'?" he asked, trying to carry on conversation.
"It's Iroqouis." she answered, before Lowell opened his mouth, "It means 'secret' something, I'm not sure." she replied, pulling on a few strands of her hair.
"Ah, I see." the doctor said, patting her head, "So, your Native American?"
Sara nodded.
"On her father's side." Lowell cut in once more.
"For Goddess sakes, Lowell!" she started, then stopped.
What did I just say? she thought to herself.
Lowell and the doctor stared at her, both wearing the same expression of astonishment and disbelief. The doctor frowned and looked pensive, considering.
Lowell just looked plain confused.
Maybe I should call Lord Thierry, Dr. Redfern thought.
He pulled the light out again and said, "One more time, please."
Sara sighed and tried to keep her eyes open, as the glare flashed her eyes once more. He seemed curious about her eye color.
I mean, I know they're not a normal color, she thought, but still.
Finally, put the light away and gazed at her right cheek.
Hmm.., he thought, she tan, and even though, it's still distinctive. I'll tell her it's pigment discoloration, but it just stands out so clearly.
He reached out and wiped his fingers against the pale pinkish mark.
Could it be..? he started to think, I mean, only seventeen minutes ago, Hannah passed away. And, now this girl awakes from a coma and she has..his thoughts trailed off.
Then, he finally sat back on his stool and grinned.
"Well, no brain damage, no amnesia, no trauma to the brain, and all your tests have come back clear. I'd say you could leave here in a week, barring any relapse."
Sara gazed back at him in awe, pondering.
Why'd he touch my cheek like that? Is something wrong with my face or something? she thought to herself in horror.
"So, I'm okay? I'm not..scarred or..disfigured?" she asked, haltingly.
A deep laughter rumbled out of the doctor, " No, of course not! You just seem to have developed a sort of..birthmark on your cheek there."
-
SEARCHING
He paced restlessly in the darkened study, worry furrowing his brow. He hadn't worked for a couple of weeks, but he wouldn't bother with that now. He knew she was out there waiting, somewhere, just..where?! He had heard her call, in his time of great distress, he heard her, like a lifeline pulling him back from a sea of sorrow.
Start looking.. that's what I need to do now, start looking for her, he thought, sternly, I'll have everyone look everywhere, in other cities, in other states, as long as she's found. We'll start with schools and clubs where teens hang out. I will find her.
The secret group of people was gathered in the great dining hall, all magnificently decored in oak and mahogany.
Thierry stood at the head of the massive, elongated table with friends and members of Circle Daybreak sitting all around. There was James and Poppy, Rashel and Quinn, Thea and Eric, Gillian and David, Ash, Jez and Morgead, Maggie and Delos, Miles, Mark and Ash's sisters, Keller and Galen, Nilsson, Lupe, and Blaise and Phil..
That was a surprising twist there, he thought to himself, grimly.
"Alright, everyone, I need your help, so, listen up. People, we have a lot of ground to cover." he announced, taking on a tone of authority.
Thierry started giving orders, making plans, assigning duties. They would dispatch in groups, searching, scanning, reporting. They would search a new state as fast as was possible. They would check the newspapers, check schools. Maybe she was already inhabited in a body, he thought. Surely, she had to be for he heard her call and that could only happen if she reached maturity. There was still a mystery, though.
Only two weeks had passed since Hannah had died, and he heard her call. It happened so quickly, he was astounded. She came back, reincarnated and it was fast. It usually took years, then it would start all over, searching, finding, loving. Which is why he had to find her now. She came back so soon for a reason. And, he had to find her to discover that reason.
Thierry shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He glanced around the room, at the members of Circle Daybreak. The group he started to help those of the Night World, who had human soulmates, and those who didn't, be together without fear of death. For those were the rules of Night World: Never tell a human about Night World. Never fall in love with a human. And, the members of Circle Daybreak, broke both of them.