A/n: We do not own Companions of the Night

Chapter 4: Those Three Steps

"That you're mine." He replied nonchalantly. His hands snaked around her waist as he smirked freely.

"Huh?" she asked, getting her breath back and pulling back to sit up straight.

"You heard me," he replied, still nonchalant.

"…How?" she asked slowly, processing it, seeing it wasn't so bad at all, being Michel's that is.

He just looked at her coolly, and then began to get up while saying, "Come." He pulled her up with his hand still snaked around her waste, where he led her to the bedroom.

He sat her down on the bed and he stood and looked at her for a moment. He was thinking about something, and then decided. He pulled up his sleeve and bit into his wrist while Kerry watched in horror. He held out his bleeding wrist to her towards her mouth. "Don't take a lot, just a little.

She gawked at him, "Wha… What?"

He sighed, but then explained, "To make a marking complete, you have to take some of my blood and swallow it. It's not a lot and it won't harm you in any way."

"I…" she stuttered, looking at how close his bleeding wrist was from her mouth.

He watched her carefully as he put his bloody wrist up to her lips. Inwardly, she flinched. But without any reason to back her up on what she was about to do, she took his wrist in her mouth and let it fill with his blood.

He then jerked his wrist back as she sat there awkwardly with a mouth full of his blood. He couldn't help but smirk at her, "Swallow, Kerry."

She shook her head with her eyes wide.

"Well, don't spit it out here." He warned. "If you have to spit it out, at least do it by a window."

She was still shaking her heard, but stopped and tried to figure out why he said 'window'. While she was thinking of that, she began to slowly swallow. When she was done, she realized why he had said window. His blood would dry up in the sun then.

While she thought of this, she was looking down. When she looked up, she was looking at a smirking Michel.

It was an awkward silence for a moment, but then Kerry shot up, "I have to go brush my teeth, my tongue, my whole frickin mouth. He laughed as she ran to the bathroom.

But before she made it through the entrance of the bathroom, Michel grabbed her shoulders using his vampire speed to catch up with her, and slammed her into the wall, kissing her at the same time. She was startled at first, but very soon, let in as he kissed her frantically.

He picked her up by the waist as she wound her legs around him. Still kissing, he walked back over to the bed, where they laid down with ease, lips barely parting.

With both their shirts now off, so close to what Kerry thought as he reached for her pants, he stopped himself out of nowhere and pulled back looking at Kerry, who looked startled at him pulling back out of nowhere like that. He just smirked at her and then said, "You're too innocent for that."

"Uh…" was all she could get out as he lazily rolled off the bed.

"Put your shirt back on, Kerry," he said, not looking at her, but at something else. He reached out and grabbed his shirt while she just sat there stuttering incoherently.

Just then, Vince burst through the door. Kerry let out a shriek and hid under the covers.

"I told you, Kerry." Michel said. She could hear him smirk.

"Well, well." Vince said, realizing what was going on.

Kerry put her shirt on under the covers and came out from under the covers. Both were staring at her.

After a moment of silence, Michel said, "You're shirt is on backwards, cheri."

She blushed and threw the covers back over her head. She could her them laugh.

But Vince stopped suddenly and sounded surprised, "You marked her."

It was silent as Kerry crawled out of the bed and over towards them. Instantly, Vince grabbed Kerry's hair and pulled it to the side. It was more of jerking her hair, actually. Michel growled lowly.

"My, My. You did." He swung Kerry around to face him, "Three steps," he said, holding up three fingers. "Taking your blood. You taking his. And then…" he trailed off with a smirk and looked at Michel.

Kerry gasped, realizing it instantly. She tried to jerk away from Vince, but he didn't let his grip slide. Michel growled louder this time and then ordered for Vince to let her go.

Vince just smiled almost evilly and let his grip slip. Kerry jerked away and walked behind Michel, where she felt the safest at the moment.

As if just forgetting about that moment, Vince was ranting off status, "I think we may have gotten them off course. They went in the opposite direction of us. But we should probably stay here for the day just in case."

"Probably best," Michel agreed.

"I don't trust her in the day," Vince said after a moment.

"Then get your own room," Michel said coldly.

Vince looked shocked at that, "One day with her and you vulnerable; you want to take another chance with fate?"

"I would never…" Kerry began, she then considered for a moment, and then said, "Well, at least not to Michel."

Vince raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you saying if I were to stay here in the day, you would kill me?"

Kerry thought for a moment. The fact that she had to think about it aggravated Vince, "No. I would be tempted. But then Michel will most likely kill me if I were to do that."

Vince snorted, disgusted.

"I said I wouldn't. That means you're safe. What more do you need?" Kerry asked innocently.

"Let me take your blood." Vince said almost seductively.

Michel snorted with laughter, but his voice was sharp, "Like that's ever going to happen. That's the whole point of a marking. She's mine and no one else can touch her." Michel paused for a moment, "Kerry," he said in a not-so-sharp-voice, "Go watch TV, alright?"

She looked between the two of them but didn't sense any tension. She nodded and walked back into the room were about a half an hour ago Michel marked her.

The TV was still on the news. She began to look for the remote, too lazy to get up and change it herself. As she looked, she began to hear about a breaking news story about a mysterious fire started in a family home.

Finally, she found it. She plopped herself on the couch and was about to change the channel when she screamed in horror.

Michel was at her side in no time at all. Kerry didn't move when he yelled at her as to why she screamed. She just sat there and stared at the TV. And then he saw.

It was her house that was on fire at the moment. It was engulfed in flames. Kerry began to feel wetness go down her cheeks, but she didn't bother to wipe them away.

"Dad. Ian!" she called out and leaned over. Two icy hands came around her waist and pulled her back on the couch before she fell on the floor and hit her head on the coffee table. She leaned against Michel's shoulder.

"I don't think the hunters went the wrong way. I think they knew exactly where they were going." Michel said away from Kerry.

She then heard Vince's voice, "You think the hunters did this?"

"Marsala already knew where she lived. It's possible. As a matter of fact, I think it's more then possible."

Kerry peaked up to see Vince and Michel. They both were stern.

"We'll leave at midnight." Vince said.

Michel nodded in agreement, "Gives us two hours to get there and two hours for the smoke to clear."

"Until then, just watch and see if they find anything." Vince said. He walked towards the door, "I'll be back in about an hour, in time to leave."

Michel nodded, now watching the TV and pulling Kerry closer. She closed her eyes as more tears strolled down her cheeks.

Kerry looked up at her house from the sidewalk curb, and tears prickled in her eyes, but she held them back.

"Michel, where do you think my dad and Ian is?" she asked quietly, hoping that they hadn't been killed in the fire. She could still see smoke coming from the singed ruin that was once her home. Once the place where she tucked Ian into bed at night after reading him a bedtime story. Once the place she'd spent valuable time helping her dad. Once a home where she felt secure and safe….

"Kerry," Michel whispered back, keeping his expression guarded, which told Kerry that he didn't expect the best outcome. "I smell your father's blood…." Kerry's eyes widened and her brows pressed together in grief. She put a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob, and Michel tentatively put his arm around her in case she fainted.

"Oh," Vince sneered. "Suck it up! You're the one that involved yourself in our affairs. You should know the consequences."

"Vince!" snapped Michel, shooting him a dark look. Michel looked down at Kerry with concern flittering across his features for a moment.

"Yeah, yeah. I forgot now that you marked her, she'll be first priority. Great… Well, I guess, this rules out killing her…since you'll die as well."

"WHAT?!" Kerry exclaimed, forgetting her lament momentarily. "If I die, he dies?" Vince nodded, giving her a superior look. Kerry turned her wide, frightened eyes on Michel who slightly frowned. He threw Vince an ungrateful look before Kerry said, "Michel? You marked me, knowing that when I die, you do also?"

Michel cringed.

"Kerry," he started soothingly, looking her straight in the eyes, hoping to distract her from the question.

"OH NO!" Kerry said loudly, breaking their shared gaze and shaking her head. "You'll tell me all about marking...but later. Right now, I need to find Ian. Unless you can smell his—"

"No. I don't think Ian…perished."

Kerry gave a weak smile, then gave her house a piercing glare.

"He's not inside then?"

"No."

"Where would he have gone?"

"Do you have any relative nearby?"

"No."

"Do his friends live nearby?"

"No, actually, they live on the other side out town."

Vince shuffled his feet, drawing attention to himself, and he suggested, "Why don't we just get back in the car? We'll drive, find a hotel, and watch the news later? I'm sure they'll mention your family. This town is dull enough to advertise the drama for as long as they can get away with. Which will be days, by my estimate."

Kerry looked longing at her house, then turned her back on it. She wanted nothing more than to rush to the rubble, shift through it to recover something, anything, from her previously normal life with Ian and her father. But, with a side glance at the sharply watching Michel, she knew he'd hold her back before he'd even reach the top of her driveway. From the looks of the house, Kerry presumed that her house was very unstable, and therefore, dangerous. And, if it put her in danger, it put Michel in danger who was now bonded to her. With long look at the exterior walls which had crumbled inward during the fierce fire caused by hunters, Kerry walked lifelessly back to the car with Michel and Vince following her lithely.

"Kerry?" Vince asked, looking thoughtful. "Did the hunters know you had a little brother?"

Kerry scowled at him, taking out her emotions on him seemed too tempting. "Why do you care?" she snapped angrily.

He gave her a flippant look.

"I WAS JUST ASKING! DAMN! I JUST THOUGHT THEY MIGHT HAVE KIDNAPPED—"

"Vince!" hissed Michel, widening his eyes in pointed warning.

"Oh…my…god." Kerry said slowly, her eyes fearful again. "Dad's dead, and Ian is kidnapped." She started to sob again, but Vince interrupted.

"Crying isn't going to solve anything!"

Kerry looked at him, thinking, and it dawned on her. Vince was right, Kerry mused. She had to find Ian, save him, whatever it took, she would give. She had to find him—at any cost. He was her last existing family…and she owed it to her father to find her little brother. Since she wasn't there to save them….it was all her fault.

Kerry sniffed, her feature taking on determination, then she grasped Michel's cold hand lightly.

"Let's go." She said, letting herself into the back seat of the car. Vince occupied the front seat, revving up the engine in a matter of seconds. Kerry cursed vampire speed. Michel opted to sit in the back seat with her, and Kerry found his presence comforting and welcome as she held in her emotions. She felt Michel staring subtly at her, and she wondered what he was concentrating on, until she started to feel weary. Her eyes drooped of their own accord, and lethargy swept down her body. Her head felt too heavy to hold up. With her last conscious action, she laid herself on Michel's lap, much to his surprise, and whispered, "This is getting old."

Sorry for the wait everybody, but i finally updated...now if i could only get my twin to do her part and update her part of the stroy. (Ahem) Please go and bug VampLoverNight92. As you should know, she also writes this stroy. So, go start a cult or something, a lil get together and bug her for me D thanxs. Enjoy the story.