A/N: Hey there folks! Sorry for the delay in story. Life has been rather busy for me. So let's get back and see what happened to our dear little Lucian.


Chapter Two

Dana

I ran a hand over my stomach slowly, feeling the life inside of me shift under my skin. A small smile tugged at my lips as I looked out over the garden I had worked so hard to maintain. I glanced to my side as Darrin sauntered towards me. His eyes met mine and he gave me a small smile. I said nothing as he sank down onto the bench beside me. He gently placed his large hand over mine and gave it a squeeze.

"Everything is going to be fine," he said after a moment.

"How do you know that?" I asked glancing over at my husband.

"Because I'm going to make sure it is," he answered simply. "We will find our son."

I closed my eyes at his words. Several emotions crashed over me at once: sorrow of losing my child, anger at having ever left him, and fear for the new life growing within me. If Alice truly was alive and had gotten to one of my children so easily, then who was to stop her from getting the rest? Darrin seemed to sense the warring emotions within and gently kissed my temple, pulling me to his side. I turned towards him and buried my face in his broad chest. I could feel the tears slip hotly down my face.

"It's been nine years," I croaked as the tears kept coming. "We've had no leads for nine years. Even Eamon is unable to track his scent."

"No, not Lucian's," Darrin replied carefully, "but what if he didn't try to track his?"

I pulled away from my husband and wiped the tears off my face. Darrin slowly turned to meet my gaze, the red orbs darkened by things unsaid. My eyes narrowed slightly as I sensed his unease and worry of telling me something. I contemplated infiltrating his mind when he finally spoke.

"I heard what you and the girls said when I had left," he started. "And I did kill someone today: an Amethyst, young and foolish. He was down at Mack's trying to seduce some poor girl. At first I thought my following him to be nothing more than the urge to protect that frail human. The girl was unconscious by the time I got to them. The boy seemed to know who I was though and began to beg for his life." Darrin paused in his story tilting his head to the side as he remembered the events that had taken place. "Then he mentioned our son. He said he knew where he might be located. He said that Tristan would be going to New York in a few days to capture more subjects for Cell research."

"He could have been lying," I said interrupting his story. I could feel my heart clench in my chest in pain but stutter in hope of finding my son.

"Those were his last words," Darrin argued. "I doubt he would lie about something like that. It doesn't hurt to try though."

"And how would we track his scent?" I retorted. "All Amethysts smell alike and in a city that large there is no way Eamon could pick up on one scent in particular."

"You doubt our boy's shadowling?" Darrin questioned with a smirk. "Honestly Kitten, you need to put more faith in that wolf of his."

I said nothing as I looked over my shoulder at the wolf in question glaring at me with such fire I could do nothing more than stare blankly back. Standing just a few feet behind him stood my two girls. Victoria's hair was pulled back in a simple braid that hung down to her waist while Autumn's short, inky locks looked as though she had gone through a wind tunnel. Standing on either side of them were the large golden lion and the sleek red fox, both had their golden gaze fixed on me. Darrin looked at me then what I was looking at. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of our daughters and the three shadowlings. He let out a long, hissing sigh and ran a hand through his raven hair.

"I suppose you two will want to go," he stated crossing his arms over his chest.

"Absolutely not!" I cried looking at him in horror. "There is no way in hell I am letting you two go anywhere near those scientific freaks!"

"Honestly, Mother," Autumn said shaking her head, "do you doubt our abilities as well?"

"I don't doubt what you can do," I argued. "I don't want you two to be anywhere near that scum. He already took one child from me, and I won't let him do the same to you!"

"Please, Mother," Victoria begged coming to kneel in front of me. "Lucian is our big brother. We want to help find him. You and Father have done everything in your power to keep us confined within these walls for the past nine years. We want to help."

I looked sadly down at my daughter. Her eyes held mine, pleading with me. I knew that she was right. Darrin and I went to great lengths to make sure our daughters never left the house. And if they did, they were accompanied by at least three of our relatives. I looked over at Darrin to see the same look in his eyes. I sighed and turned to look at Autumn. Her eyes were narrowed slightly waiting for my reply.

"Well," I began slowly, "I suppose I can't go with you all. It's too dangerous for me to travel with the baby coming soon. And I suppose that means I can't stop you two from leaving."

"YES!" Autumn shouted throwing a fist into the air. Her sister smiled brightly up at me.

"But you must swear to me that you will stay with your father no matter what," I said with a warning glare. "You two are not to leave his side for a second. I want you in his sight at all times. And if somehow you two get separated from him, please stay together."

"We will, Mother," Victoria said leaning up to kiss my cheek.

I touched my hand softly to her cheek and looked over at Darrin. He gave me a smug smile and looked at both our daughters. They began to excitedly talk to one another about their upcoming trip, walking back into the house with their shadowlings not too far behind. Eamon hung back for a moment, his eyes just as green as my own mirroring the hope and worry I myself was feeling.

X X X

Lucian

When I came I finally opened my eyes again I found myself in one of the holding cells located in the basement of the facility. I shakily stood on my feet and peered through the bars of my cell. There were two guards stationed on either side of the cell, both turning towards me to give me a sharp look. I shrunk back slightly and walked towards the wall opposite the bars. I leaned against it and slid down till I was sitting on the cold floor. I drew my legs up towards my chest and wrapped my arms tightly around them. I gently rested my chin on top of my knees and stared off into space. A few moments later I caught the intoxicating aroma of Stella accompanied by the sound of footsteps. She appeared next to one of the guards stationed outside my cell. Her dark brown eyes met mine for a moment before looking at the guards.

"Mr. Ingle needs you to in the briefing room immediately," she told them quietly.

They said nothing in return and hurried off to that Amethyst scum. Stella stood there for a moment looking at the ground. I stayed where I was, perfectly still, waiting for her next move. Her eyes flashed over to mine again and I felt my heart skip a beat. Stella walked closer to my cell door and gently wrapped her hands around the bars. I wrapped mine tighter around my legs to prevent me from rushing up to her.

"You have a family," she finally said breaking the tense silence.

"Well yeah," I replied trying to keep my voice calm. "How else do you think I got on this earth?"

"Aren't vampires changed from humans?" she asked cocking her head to the side.

"Not all of us," I told her. "My mother was once a human but my father was born a vampire. I'm pretty sure the rest of my family were born as vampires too, but I'm not sure."

"So how old are you then?" she questioned crossing her arms over her chest.

"You really wanna know?" I asked with a smirk. She nodded and I shook my head with a chuckle. "By human standards I am only ten years old."

"WHAT?" Stella cried looking at me with wide eyes.

"Vampires grow faster than humans," I said with a shrug. "It only takes us roughly ten years to fully mature. Both our bodies and minds develop at a quick rate than humans. I assume that is one of the things you all are trying to discover through experiments and tests. However, seeing your reaction I take it they don't let you in on a lot."

"Not why vampires were a part of their research," she mumbled looking down at the ground for a moment. "Do you have any siblings?"

"Yes," I said giving her an odd look. Why was she taking the time to ask me such questions? "I have two younger sisters. We're triplets."

"Your poor mother," Stella said with a small laugh. "Raising three kids must have been tough on her."

"Well she only had to raise three for about a year," I snapped bitterly.

Stella flinched at the harsh tone of my words. She met my eyes for a moment, a glint of sadness and pity flashing across her face for a moment.

"I'm sorry," she said after a long silence. "It must have been terrifying to wake up here instead of with your family."

"No it was like waking up on the beach with the sun shining on my face," I said bleakly giving her a dead glare. "Why do you care anyway? Aren't I just an animal to you?"

"I don't know," Stella replied softly. "It's hard to look at you and the others here seeing a human face but knowing there is much more to you than that. With test subjects like rats it's easy to not think of them as actual beings. With you all…it's difficult."

"And you chose to tell me this why?" I asked with a bored look.

"I want to help you," she said meeting my eyes with a look of uncertainty. "But if I do that then everything I've worked so hard to gain will be lost. You have to understand that when I took on this internship it was solely for the money that came with the position. My family doesn't have a lot. I have five younger brothers and I'm the first member of my family to attend college. If I didn't take this job then my family wouldn't be able to survive."

"Poor you," I spat glaring at her. "You want me to pity you over that? Do you have any idea what I've been through? I was taken from my family. At a very young age I was subjected to various forms of torture in the pursuit of "science". And you have to gall to stand there and tell me how hard your life has been? Honey, you don't know the meaning of a hard life till you take one step in my shoes!"

"Did you not hear the part where I want to help you?" she cried with an exasperated look. "I'm not trying to justify me taking a job here. I was merely trying to show that I still have compassion within me. If you really don't want my help then rot here for all I care."

"And how were you planning on helping me?" I retorted. "You can't honestly think it'll be easy to get me out of here. In case you haven't seen by the vast number of guards near me at all times, I'm kind of a big deal around here."

"Well," Stella said with a sly smile, "what if I could get some help?"

"From who?" I asked rolling my eyes.

"Your family," she answered with a smirk.

"What," I said blankly. "You honestly think my family will listen to you? You are currently working for the people behind my abduction. You'll be lucky to get your name out before my mother rips out your throat."

"Well do you have any better ideas?" she asked placing both hands on her hips. Stella gave me a small smirk when I said nothing. "So…where can I find your family?"

"Maine," I mumbled glancing at the floor, "in a small town called Strong. Not a lot of people there so it shouldn't be too hard to find a manor full of vampires."

"Manor?" Stella echoed giving me a questioning look.

"My father has been alive since the 1400s," I said. "With that much time spent on earth, he became considerably wealthy."

Stella said nothing, her eyes widening slightly. I gave her a small smirk before slowly getting to my feet. She watched me warily as I carefully stepped towards her. I wished in that moment I could sense her emotions like my mother. I didn't want to do anything to make her uncomfortable or fear me…she was, after all, willing to help me in any way possible.

"My family won't trust you," I told her gently reaching out to brush my fingers along the back of her hand. She took in a sharp breath and I could feel her shiver under my tender touch. "My mother has abilities like mine so convincing her you mean well shouldn't be too hard."

Stella nodded looking at my hand still placed gently on hers. A light blush dusted her cheeks as her eyes slowly glanced up to meet mine. Her lush, full lips were parted slightly and I could hear her breath coming out in small puffs. I felt the urge to lean down and press my lips to hers. It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to not move a muscle. Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway and Stella jerked her hands off the bars. The two guards gave her an odd look as she scurried down the hall quickly. I watched her leave with a feeling of hope spreading through my body for the first time in nine long years.


A/N: I remember someone asking me how the different vampires actually eat…well in this story you'll get a better look at how that process works. Now don't forget to review! Oh yeah and before I forget, there will be another story that will intertwine with this one so be on the lookout! Thanks again!