A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but reality called :-(

Special thanks to my reviewers and readers.

Artemis Is Awesomeness: Thanks so much for your idea, now I'm just gonna decide how to write it, you know, with all the 'things' I've been planning for ahead. Anyhow, keep your eyes open for ze surprise! And yeah, Lorcan is in for a jumbo surprise!

So…Here's another chapter – as by now, I'm pretty sure you've noticed ;)

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Chapter Two:

The hand yanked her into a cabin before she had time to do anything but gasp. The Cabin was unfamiliar for a moment as panic crept into her. She spun around sharply as she heard the door close. Then she saw Jez standing there, looking entertained, and she relaxed.

His cabin was large by the normal standards, and that was because he owned this ship. A narrow hammock hung in a corner, with the white sheets twisted in every possible way. A metal cabinet stood by a small, cluttered desk, where he worked. The desk was set in front of thick, heavy curtains. She doubted that there was a window behind them because Vampirates avoided sunlight and windows.

"You don't have to scare me like that, you know." Natalie said softly, rubbing her other wrist.

Jez Stukeley was a Captain of a currently unnamed ship. He'd been turned into a Vampirate at Twenty-three by Sidorio, the vicious Captain of the Blood captain. He'd spent some time on that ship, serving as a deputy alongside Johnny Desperado. He'd been happy before the girl standing in front of him had arrived and had been resurrected by lightning, changing the road of his life. He'd run away from his only home, disobeying his Captain, who was like his father without ever regretting it. He'd survived the bloody fight that had broken out that evening.

"I didn't mean to," he said to her. "I was wondering what you were doing while all of my crew's just starting to wake up."

"I was going back to my cabin," Natalie told him, her lips widening into a smile. "Before you could ask me that question."

"Guess I did," he said, grinning softly. He turned away from her, and pulled the heavy curtains back to reveal a dark sky behind a huge glass window. The sight left her breathless---it was so beautiful. The room's darkness dissolved in the pure silver moonlight, and she could see the glittering waves below the ship. The sky was full of scattered stars. She could feel Jez's eyes on her.

"I didn't know you had a window here…" she paused as he stepped closer to join her. "Isn't this dangerous for you?"

"No." Jez closed his eyes as if he could feel the sea breeze on his pale face. His fingers closed over hers. He looked in total bliss, as if he didn't care about the world.

"Ever since I started taking your blood, I've been changing in very strange ways." His eyes opened again and he watched the sea. "It's like I'm addicted to it…you don't mind if I talk about it, do you?"

Natalie lowered her eyes and shook her head. She leaned against him. "No. I don't mind. C'mon, tell me. What does my blood taste like to you?"

"I can't explain." Jez sighed. He suddenly dropped her hand and leaned against the glass so that he was a dark shadow in front of silver. The lighter high lights in his otherwise dark hair stood out. "Natalie, are you happy here?" he suddenly asked her, his tone changing dramatically into a sharper one.

"Why do you ask that?" Natalie asked him, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I get these weird feelings sometimes, as if you're hiding something."

Natalie shook her head, smiling peacefully as she took his hand in hers again. "I'm happy here, as I've told you a million times. Why do you worry so much?"

His eyes lowered to hers, his lashes like delicate black strokes of a pencil on a white paper. He was handsome, even when he was frowning, or was just expressionless, which was the usual expression he wore. Blank. Right now, it he wore a different expression—the one she'd never seen before. She found it hard to look away.

"Promise me," Jez whispered, resting her slender fingers against his cheek. "That you won't leave me. Or at least when you do, tell me before you go."

"I'm not planning to, and I hope I never will," she smiled up at him. She envisioned herself swooning right now, and cracked an even wider smile. She wouldn't do that in front of him. She'd never really had swooning fits before, and wondered how it would feel. Jez would obviously panic.

Silence ensued. After a moment, Natalie pulled away from him and started to leave. He sighed softly, watching her as she went away. She walked like an angel-or floated around like one. He hoped she was right. She was five years younger than him, and his mates often told him that it was hard to trust a younger woman. But he trusted her, and believed in what she said.

Jez Stukeley leaned in forehead against the cool glass, and closed his eyes. The coolness soothed his nerves, and he thought what he was going to do that night. For a hundredth time, he wondered if he was going to do the right thing---or what would be her reaction.

::^!^::LATER::^!^::

Jez knocked softly on her door, and held his breath. His heart was hammering like crazy-if he had a heart. Fine shudders went up and down his spine as he waited. Beneath his hand, the smooth door felt rougher than usual. He could hear her heart for the other side of the door. He heard her as she sat up from her feet and came over to the door.

Bare-footed. He thought and smiled. Oh, how he adored her!

"Who's there?" a soft voice from the other side of the door asked suspiciously. Jez pressed his cheek against the wood, and breathed, "Can you guess?"

He could hear her breathe. He waited patiently, but of course he didn't need to for a very long time. With no hesitation, she snorted.

"Jez." She said, without hesitation. "You've scared all of your men away from this door. Not even Kenyon comes this way anymore."

As if on cue, a tall lad appeared on the other end of the corridor, his nose buried in a thin leather book. Jez, on recognizing the dark hair and grey eyes, said sarcastically, "Of course. Kenyon would be the last person on this earth to really think about something I say."

Kenyon Westerfield passed by, ignoring Jez. He disappeared around the corner, up towards the deck. Jez leaned against her door.

"You gonna let me in or am I gonna break in?" he asked her.

"You sure you wanna break in?" she teased him. "Because I'm not going to let you in."

Jez rolled his eyes. "Aw, c'mon. I'm lonely and cold out here." He heard her laugh, and the strange tingles inside him increased.

"Natalie, you are so cruel." He stated. "I'm standing here for the past ten minutes, and you're not opening a simple door."

"Jez, please. I'm having issues in here."

"Really?" he was amused.

"I'm planning how to climb the Mount Everest and then to take over the world."

"You are going crazy in there."

"I was crazy before I met you, Jez Stukeley. Really, can you wait for another minute?"

"Oh, alright. I hope your one minute doesn't mean the whole night."

And then he waited. His fingers slid around a small box inside his pocket, and the shivered again. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but he had to tell her this. He'd been waiting for it for a long time. Leaning against the door, he wondered again. Was it too early? He hoped not. A dull flush started to creep up into his pale cheeks. The points of his upper canine teeth sharpened, but and, they always did when he was overwhelmed.

"Uh…Jez, I think you should come in." A startled voice came from inside as the door clicked open. "I don't know what's…"

Jez pushed the door open gently, and his fingers dropped from his pockets. He walked in the room, the neat little room, and looked around. A bed was pushed up against the bare wall, the covers piling onto the floor. An alarm went on inside his head. She wasn't there.

"Natalie? Where are you?"

No answer came.

Natalie had disappeared.

::^!^:

Meanwhile, for the Nocturners, the night was tension-free. The new member of the crew, Leo, was introduced to everyone. Grace stayed by his side, though she started to feel awkward. What do you do if a really handsome stranger appears and asks you to be by his side for the rest of the night? She could've replied that she had some plans she didn't want to cancel, but all the words had evaporated from her tongue. Instead, she'd started to give him a tour. She hardly qualified for the job, but Leo had insisted.

When Grace had begun to tire, they'd went back up on the deck. A ribbon of green had appeared in the east; it was about to dawn. Leo was enthusiastic to see the Dawning Bell, and after that, watch the sea as the sun came up, but Darcy gently told him that if he stayed there, it would be dangerous for him.

"Oh, I don't know," He said, shrugging. "I've spent a lot of time in the sun before."

Darcy looked at him pityingly. "Of course you have. When you were a mortal. You need to go inside now, Leo."

"How stupid is he?" Lorcan muttered in Grace's ear, from where they stood, next to the sails. He'd dragged her here, insisting that he wanted an opinion of hers on something. So far, Lorcan hadn't even brought the topic up, and was looking extremely sullen.

Grace narrowed her eyes at her friend, before saying, "Lorcan, I don't know what your problem is. Look, he's new, and he's eager to learn. He's also very young. He'd been turned only a few weeks ago. He told me."

"Humph."

"C'mon, stop it."

"Stop what?"

"That expression of yours. It makes me think that someone might be a bit jealous." Grace grinned up at him, her green eyes locked with his sky-blue ones.

Lorcan flashed a grin back, taking a small step forward. "Me? Who said I'm jealous?"

Grace laughed, shaking her head; she managed to hug him this time. He stiffened as she did, but didn't push her away. "Hey, Lorcan, you want to stay up late?"

"Mmm. I have to think about it," he teased her, but he was surprised too. "Why asking?"

"I don't know. I've been so busy with Darcy that I haven't seen you much."

Lorcan took her by the hand and started to lead her inside. His touch was cold as ever, but his fingers trembled slightly around hers. They passed Darcy, who waved at them once, before climbing down towards the front of the ship where she turned into wood. Almost everyone was gone now. The sun burned the Vampirates to death. Lorcan had once risked his life out in daylight to assort Grace to the Diablo. It had burned his face, singeing his eyebrows and his eyes too sore to open. Grace was sure he wouldn't do that again, staying out. If he did, she knew she'd kill him before the sun did.

"I think I'll skip this meeting today." Lorcan decided. "I'm bushed. I need sleep, okay?"

Grace sighed, and nodded. He held her hand a bit longer, squeezed it once, and then disappeared to his room next door. She pushed open her cabin's door, and was glad that she at least had a window. Grinning, she pulled apart the curtain and flopped down on the bed. She kicked off her shoes, thinking that he was probably right. She'd walked through half of the known places in the ship, and she was exhausted.

Some people couldn't sleep in the light. But Grace Tempest had learned to do so, because she'd come to value the sunlight that bathed her room. She was snuggling under the covers when she noticed something on her desk. The desk had been given to her by Jez Stukeley a few months ago, the very special desk through which he or Natalie often communicated with her. She slipped out of the bed, and walked over to the dark piece of furniture. A folded note had appeared in the centre of it, with a neat 'G' scribbled upon it. Grace knew that it was Jez's writing, but he hadn't written anything to her ever since Natalie had changed her home. It had just been Natalie's letters.

Curious now, Grace carefully unfolded the stiff paper and realized that it was Jez Stukeley's writing. But it was no longer neat; instead, it was rushed and it reflected that something had happened.

With her heart hammering loudly in her chest, and hoping everything was alright, she began to read:

Grace-

Natalie's disappeared. I don't know where she went. She was just behind the door, and she seemed surprised about something. I went in, and she'd just disappeared. Please, look around the Nocturne for me. She's a half-vampire like you and Connor, I think she…I don't know what I think. Please. I'm waiting for your answer.

-Jez.

When she was finished reading, Grace Tempest could only think three words:

Where was Natalie?

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A/N: Well, there's another one! Hope you liked it ... but if you didn't, can't say I blame you! I was pretty tired when I wrote this! And I've got a massive writer's block. Anyway, do me a massive favor please?

Review?

Until the next chapter, then.

~dawnghost.

And oh, people, please do me another favor and read&review Conversations. It will make my day.