Summary: Henry Sturges has secretly never given up hope of finding a cure to his condition. He just may meet someone who has a clue about it when he least expected it… at a dear price, of course. (Henry/OC)

Disclaimer: No, I still don't own anything. :( Just Rhiannon.


Previously in My Cure

"I just came to deliver the good news…"

"Why aren't I precisely thrilled about it, then?" Henry asks with sarcasm.

"She's willingly staying here in the Dream Realm forever."

"I don't believe you." Henry says with pride.

"Don't worry, no more nightmares about Rhiannon hunting you down." Corinthian smirks at him as if he was a cold-blooded murderer. "Your life without her shall be your nightmare from now on."

Henry suddenly wakes up in his bed and freezes.

No…


Chapter 4:

The next 24 hours become the worst nightmare that Henry has even experienced. He can't sleep anymore. He walks about town not paying attention to anything or anyone. Abe, Joshua and William can't rescue him from his sadness, no matter what they say or do. It's as if he's built a cell and has locked himself in and thrown the key to the bottom of the sea.

Even Mary has noticed this change of behaviour and feels sorry for him. They're all at the shop discussing the matter while Henry is outside staring into the void.

"Don't tell me he's been like this since Rhiannon left?" Mary asks Abe whispering. "It's as if he's not there anymore."

"You bet." William agrees with her.

"She shouldn't have left town." Joshua concludes a bit angrily as he leaves to the back of the store to fetch some goods.

"This is my fault." Mary suddenly feels guilty about what she did and said to both Rhiannon and Henry. Abe is surprised to hear this.

"Wait, why are you saying this now? You had nothing to do with it, did you?" Abe gently asks her.

"I'm… awfully sorry." She's about to shed a tear and goes out of the shop.

When she approaches Henry, she feels the urge to say something or apologise to him, and when she opens her mouth to speak her mind out, Henry suddenly sighs, but he never looks at her, not even when he says these heartfelt words:

"We were not cousins." He makes a small pause. "And she won't come back here. It doesn't matter anymore."

Then, he leaves her standing on her own in front of the shop and he goes back home.


Rhiannon is trying her best to release herself from the imprisonment that Corinthian has devised for her, but it's getting harder than she initially thought. Then, he unexpectedly comes into her cell. Rhiannon does not even stop trying to break free from the ropes on her wrists even though he's right there, staring at her.

"Rhiannon," Corinthian softly tells her when he sees she's been unsuccessfully trying to cut these stupid ropes. "really?"

"What do you think?" She says exasperated and mildly angry at him.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Not really. I just think you should respect me more, but I'm not mad." She's telling the truth.

"I knew it. There's too much goodness in you…" He says lovingly and smiling at her. "Rhiannon, I…" He says as he comes closer to her.

"Don't get me wrong, Corinthian. I may not be mad at you, but you know that I still disapprove of what you're done to me and I'm expecting you to end this." She says serious as hell.

"I see… I've got to be more patient with you and wait a bit longer…" He whispers back at her devilishly. "… until you realise this is actually best for you."

"You must be kidding me!"

"I just wouldn't like you to get bitten by him…" He says with a dark voice. "Anyway, if you get bored, you can sing, dear Rhiannon." He says leaving, shutting and locking the door again. "I do hope that you will change your mind. The sooner, the better." He insists from behind the door.

She falls silent, clenches her teeth and stares menacingly at the bloody locked door. Now she's truly angry.

"There's no way I'm gonna sing in here, Corinthian." She yells at him although she can no longer see him. The door of the cell has no window. "I'm not gonna do it to please you. Because I know that's the real reason why you want me to sing."

"Sure, luv." He answers with cheek from the other side of the door. "But you can't do anything to bother me in the current state of affairs either. So… you might as well at least please me, Rhiannon, or else you won't get out of here."

After a couple of minutes of raging internally, Rhiannon starts to sing Hunter, by Dido. Corinthians smirks at himself, even though the choice of this song has a very specific purpose. Of course, it's not meant to please him, for the lyrics are quite clear on the matter:

"… If you were a king up there on your throne
Would you be wise enough to let me go
For this queen you think you own
Wants to be a hunter again
I want to see the world alone again
To take a chance on life again
So let me go…"


A couple of days go by. It's Springfield's anniversary celebration.

It's a wonderful, sweet evening. A public party takes place in downtown. People celebrate the birth of their hometown and they're crazy about it. The local festivity has usually called the attention of the smaller towns nearby, allowing an endless flow of people to come and have a drink and dance here. The local shops take advantage of this situation and they make huge profits thanks to this celebration. In addition, in an overcrowded town there are usually more cheering, thefts and mild episodes of violence due to drunkenness. There may be a lot of evil vampires out there too who might be having the time of their lives, but Henry doesn't care anymore.

Why can't these bloody people just stop making so much fucking noise! – Henry thinks with rage as he's lazily sitting on the couch of his living room. – I'm sick of it already! If I didn't know any better, I'd snap their little necks in a matter of seconds… The mere idea of having some peace and quiet is tempting me to do it…!

Henry clenches his teeth and tries his best to chill out, but he just can't.

It's 8:30 PM and a touring band sings When She Was Mine, by Lawson. Henry is in no mood for celebration, but he can't escape this general madness, not even at home. His house isn't insulated and the sound of music and talking and cheering can be clearly heard through every single wall, door and window. He hasn't shaved or combed his hair today, but far from messy he just looks even more gorgeous. He's drinking whiskey on his own in this extremely noisy living room and now not even a high level of alcohol in his blood can help him ignore and not make sense of the lyrics of this beautiful song.

She had never been mine, but I guess I feel torn as if she actually had. She was free, gentle and gorgeous; and I was purely careless. I let her brand her name in my heart even though none of us ever realised of it, I guess. If I were alive, I'd say that life sucks…

I guess she'll never come back.

Then, the crowd outside suddenly makes a great deal of noise and whistling. The lead singer of the band is babbling something about a local beauty who he's been told that she really knows how to sing.

Great. Now I have to endure one of those stupid young country women who firmly believe that they sing heavenly. Just perfect. These idiots…

Henry sips from his glass of whiskey and then the young lady starts to sing Mine, by Taylor Swift. Henry recognises her voice instantly – and automatically spits the whiskey out due to the amazement.

Rhiannon!

Then, he becomes extremely nervous, lets the glass fall on the floor and rushes to the front door, unsuccessfully tries to open it (then he remembers he had locked it just in case Abe or his friends came by to pity him) and has to find the keys and turn the lock. When he just can't bother to do it because it takes so long, he grunts, destroys the lock and doorknob and exits the house like a madman. Once he sees her, he's dumbstruck. She's wearing a lovely light blue dress and her curls mildly dance as the evening breeze blows. He comes closer to the stage, trying to swim in this huge sea of people. He smiles like a fool in love. Rhiannon sees him and it's as if she can't believe it. She smiles at him surprised, but she's got to go on singing.

"Henry!" Mary suddenly calls him from a few feet's distance. She's with Abe. Both of them come to him to speak to him about Rhiannon. "Good to see you! Rhiannon has just come back and my parents didn't let her go until she sang something on the stage. You know how insistent they can be!" She seems to be more cheerful than a couple of days ago, although she still regrets her behaviour.

Abe comes closer to him and whispers: "She's asked me where the hell you were, Henry. When I've told her you had locked yourself at home and built a barricade of sorts against the world, she immediately wanted to come straight to your home and tell you you're an idiot… Well, you know her." He chuckles lightly. "But then Mr and Mrs Todd desperately wanted her to sing something and… well, you can see the result yourself. Everyone adores her."

When the song is over, a deafening wave of applauses fills the air and they eventually let her go after what it seems to be an eternity for Henry. All the neighbours want to congratulate her on her flawless performance. Rhiannon spots Henry at one given point and smiles at him through the crowd. Time goes by… The sun sets. He's about to lose his patience and gets slightly angry. That's when he can't bear the waiting anymore and breaks through this ocean of people surrounding her. He apologises and everything, but when he gets hold of her wrist, he pulls her out of the multitude without looking back or apologising for anything. He doesn't stop until they get to his home and he locks the door as he can. When they're finally alone, he turns around and Rhiannon is standing in the parlour with him, raising an eyebrow at him as if she's having fun.

Then, he finds enough strength within him to ask the following.

"Has Corinthian harmed you?" He asks seriously and deeply worried.

The question erases her beautiful smile from her face.

"No, he hasn't." She replies calmly. "He just locked me up, but I managed to escape. I didn't think it would take me that long, but anyway… I'm here." She finishes off with a warm smile on her face.

The band starts playing and singing Wanted, by Hunter Hayes.

"He may come back for me, though." She whispers seriously.

"Then I'll kill him." He says seriously, threateningly. His voice is suddenly so dark and strong that she really fears he will make his threats become true. He takes a decisive step towards her as he locks his eyes into hers even though he's got his dark glasses on, but she senses the daring look in them quite clearly.

"Henry, he'll kill you the second you try it." She whispers soothingly. "Please, don't."

One of her rebel locks falls on one side of her cheek as she utters these last few words and Henry sighs almost inaudibly as he inwardly enjoys this brief moment. Then, he takes his glasses off and leaves them on a small side table where he usually leaves his wallet and keys when he gets home. Then, he looks back at her and he realises of the bruises she's got on her wrists. He immediately freezes and he almost hesitates so as to ask about them. Rhiannon notices that.

"He did this to you, didn't he?" His voice becomes the angriest grunt she's ever heard from his lips.

"It's nothing." She whispers back, trying not to give it much importance and mildly shaking her head, although her wrists still hurt a little bit.

His dark eyes go back to staring at hers and she feels as if a lightning strikes her spine with desire.

"Please, stay…" He whispers with a hot husky voice as he approaches even more, but at a slow pace. "… with me."

"Henry, I…" Rhiannon whispers weakly to him. "I should…"

I shouldn't have let this go this far. – Rhiannon thinks. – I'm sorry, Henry. I knew this would eventually take over you… Lust. Desire. I should've left the minute I heard those rumours about you asking about me around town. I should've been brave enough to tell you the whole truth from the very beginning. I shouldn't have ever come back tonight even… But I admit I'm not flawless. I really enjoy your company in ways that no one has ever made me feel. And it hurts me to admit that I can't live without these moments I share with you… I can't help wanting more of them, so I hope you can forgive me for this one day.

Even I crave for love.

Henry comes closer and closer, until his nose barely touches hers. They don't say a word and they keep staring at each other. Then, he raises his hand to put her rebel lock behind her ear and he gets the chance to hold her nape passionately and he kisses her. Both of them close their eyes. She turns crimson and feels amazingly weak right now, so much that she leans on his chest and he has to hold her by the small of her back. She feels that familiar pain on her heart which makes her frown and feel dizzy, but she doesn't say a word, tries to hide it and kisses him back. This kiss is just too good to be broken.

She puts her hands on his chest and then she realises that this kiss is making her feel really hot. Physically. So does he even though he's a vampire. The weaker she gets, the stronger he becomes. That's why he takes the lead and nails her to the wall, still wrapping her up in his arms like before and snogging her wildly as the band keeps playing this romantic song. She immediately grants him access to her mouth and tongue. She moans at a very low volume in his mouth… This makes him crave for her more. Her dizziness becomes unstoppable and she obviously loses too much strength. Henry notices this instantly.

"Rhiannon…" He whispers worried.

He recognises the symptoms. She doesn't answer. Thus, he swiftly carries her in a bridal style in his arms and carries her to his bed. As he does so, he's holding her with his left hand right beside her left breast… and then he feels something going on. He feels the urge to take her no matter what, right here, right now, even though she's not feeling right.

"Henry, I have to…" She whispers feebly.

He has to deliberately suppress all these wild lusty feelings for her. He hisses and clenches his teeth like a wild animal and then he leaves her on his bed and gasps and grunts as he lets himself fall on his knees, trying his best not to touch her anymore. He manages to keep his hands off her and closes his eyes tightly, although he feels he's insatiable right now, as if something had possessed him.

"It's my weak spot…" Rhiannon whispers. "… Desire's mark."

"What?" He asks her also whispering.

"I'm sorry, Henry. I should've told you earlier about this." She turns her head to him and with her half-closed eyes, she goes on explaining what she means by this. "You're under the effects of Desire's mark. You've just touched it through the fabric with your left hand when you were carrying me to bed."

"What's this… Desire's mark?"

"It's a special punishment tailored by Desire of the Endless, my aunt/uncle." Rhiannon goes on explaining, whispering quite slowly. Henry falls silent. "Desire has both sexes… One day she/he wanted to pick up a fight with my father, Lord Morpheus, arguing that her/his powers were greater than my father's. She/he argued that the basic product to weave dreams is purely desire. Therefore, she/he was producing all the material that my father needed to make people dream, implying that he was dependent on her/him, even though my father was older and more powerful. She/he was obviously wrong… Not all dreams are made entirely of desires. There's much more to them… Anyway, they both got mad and my aunt/uncle Desire decided to make me pay for it, since I was Lord Morpheus's most beloved creature… She/he wanted to harm him by injuring me permanently, for as long as I exist. That's why she/he branded the skin of my left ribs with a special mark that makes men feel an incontrollable lust for me. It will last forever. That's Desire's mark."

"This is…" Henry tries to answer, but he fails because the intensity of the effects of the mark is too overwhelming. He stares at the floor because he thinks that if he looks at her, he'll let himself go. "beyond ruthless. It's…"

"I've been enduring the effects of the mark for some years now. It gets weird when you notice that all men are looking at you as if you were a princess, a meal or… a slut. But I'm strong enough to beat any man who might try to rape me, for instance. It's nothing new to me anymore. But…" Rhiannon makes a small pause. "even though I'm worried about it, especially for you, I don't want to feel sad. And I definitely don't want you to feel sad for me."

"As easy as that?" Henry asks whispering as if he couldn't believe what he's just heard from her lips. "I can't believe it. This is serious. You can't treat this issue lightly." He says seriously then, not daring to raise his eyes from the floor.

"I don't." She suddenly answers as calmly and relaxed as ever. "I just don't want to hide myself for the rest of my life because of it. That's all."

They fall silent. Henry's obviously feeling blue for her fate. Then, Rhiannon opens her mouth to speak again.

"Hey, cheer up, Henry." She whispers, trying to sound happy. She makes him lift his eyes to her by putting her forefinger right beneath his chin and lightly pressing it upwards. He doesn't resist it. "If I'm gonna live here under your roof, you might as well at least promise me not to spy on me when I'm using the bathroom." Then, she giggles a bit. "I mean it, Henry." She stares at him lovingly, smiling. He stares back at her. Then, she goes on with her usual spunk: "Some single men usually have stupid bothersome habits like this one or… criticising women before they actually meet them, hunting vampires or trying to drink their pains away."

Then, Henry smiles broadly at her as she giggles.

"And yes, I noticed the whiskey, Henry. And it doesn't suit you…" She makes a slight pause to ponder on something else. "… your dishevelled hair and rough beard, however,…" She whispers playfully. This makes Henry mildly giggle in the end. "That's better." She whispers.

"I know that a soulless vampire like me does not deserve to be under the same roof as an angel like you," Henry whispers lovingly and kisses her hand politely. "but I'll make it up to you. I swear it'll be worth it."

She blushes mildly and thinks what the hell he might have in store for her… But in the meantime, Henry stands up and then he sits right by her side on his bed. Rhiannon holds her breath and her heartbeat starts to speed up.

"Rhiannon," Henry whispers hesitatingly. "I don't want to scare the hell out of you, but I'm not leaving you alone tonight."

"W-What do you mean?" She whispers back not daring to take anything for granted.

"I don't trust Corinthian. He could come back for you tonight. Don't you think so?"

"Maybe. So?"

"I'm not leaving you. I'm not losing you again."

They fall silent and stare at each other's eyes for what it seems to be an eternity. Henry's lips are half-parted and inviting Rhiannon to come closer and fall. She swallows lightly and in the blink of an eye she knows. She knows… Rhiannon blushes wildly and smiles a bit hysterically.

"No, Henry, don't even think about it!" She whispers back to him aggressively. "We're not sleeping together!"

"Don't panic. I swear I won't touch you…" He tries to sooth her in vain.

"I can't trust you if you're unconscious, Henry. If something happened, it would not be your fault but the harm would already be done! I can't risk you touching the mark again. No, Henry. I'm sorry. I'm going…" She says as she tries to get up, but she just can manage to sit up on his bed because Henry stops her by protectively holding her by her shoulders. They go on arguing face to face.

"What if he comes back for you and takes you away with him again?"

"Maybe he won't come. Maybe I'll wake up and kick his ass." She says defiantly.

"Don't speak like that. What if he comes and you can't wake up?" He asks worried.

"I'll risk it, Henry." She says not thinking twice about it. She wants to get rid of his hands, but Henry just changes their position and hugs her tightly. He leans his head on her left shoulder.

"Rhiannon, for once in your life, please, listen to me." He whispers into her left ear, putting his whole faith in these sentences. "Stay. I'm not gonna hurt you. Just stay."

She falls silent and bites her lower lip.

"This… This is madness." She whispers back weakly and delightfully.

Then, she stops applying force on her muscles and she lets him take over. Their bodies softly fall on the mattress; their heads, on the pillow; and Rhiannon sighs almost inaudibly as she puts both her hands on his chest. The mark is now facing the mattress, which makes Rhiannon a bit calmer, but not completely. At least Henry's hands are far from it for the time being. Then, she leans her head on her hands on his chest because she doesn't dare to look into his eyes right now (or for the rest of the night for that matter). She's blushing wildly. So is Henry, who leans his chin on her head and tries to get some rest. They're still dressed, but they don't dare to get a change of clothes right now.

"Henry, remember… Don't touch it. No matter what." She whispers kindly and sheepishly to him.

God, I swear I would. – Henry lustily thinks. – When I've touched it, I've felt a huge relief from social constraints and conventions that I've never felt before in my entire life. And every fibre of my body is craving to touch it again… to feel that good again.

As an answer to her goodnight comment, Henry just kisses her hair and whispers back:

"Goodnight to you, too."


A few days later…

"This cannot go on like this anymore." Vadoma insists with anger as she throws the morning's paper over the table at Adam. Too many pieces of news today deal with missing 'people' (i.e. vampires) in a particular area. "Don't you think we should do something already?"

"Of course, Vadoma." Adam answers back with great care and vehemence. "Henry's gone too far this time. I never expected him to find such a good hunter. This is going to be most unfortunate for him, though."

"Oh, so you suddenly worry for this random man he picked up to become a hunter now?" Jack Barts asks him with sarcasm.

"You know I don't mean that." Adam swiftly replies. "If I fancy turning him, I will. I presume he'd be devastated. If not, I'll kill him myself."

"So you're suddenly whimsical, aren't you?" Jack concludes. "You used to get rid of them without even hesitating. Who's the man anyway?"

"Vadoma, sweet luv, can you take care of this, please? The sooner we know about him, the better."

"Certainly." Vadoma smiles devilishly at him as she comes closer to him. She's obviously satisfied with the current mission. "I really hope that what I find may please you, Adam." She whispers to him as she massages his shoulders. By the way she utters this sentence, it's very patent that she lusts after him and that she's willing to do absolutely anything for him.

"What you will find will definitely not please me, Vadoma. I'm quite sure about that." He says seriously, ignoring her advances. "You may go now."

Then, Vadoma frowns and leaves.


"This is absolutely immoral!" Mary complains to Rhiannon with too much vehemence. She feels as if she should stand up and leave. "You can't allow this, Rhiannon! No, you must come back home with me. I'll convince my parents. Don't worry about that. I'll… invent… something. But you must promise you will not…!"

"Mary, please, calm down, for Christ's sake!" Rhiannon exclaims trying to soothe her. "But he's my cousin…"

"No, he told me you're not actually cousins! You lied to me!" Mary's eyes seem to go out of her skull due to her bewilderment and overwhelming eagerness to hold on to morals. "Lying is a dreadful sin! I've talked about this with Abe and he also thinks that…!"

"ERRRR… WHAT?!" Rhiannon asks her flabbergasted like never before. "WHO TOLD YOU WE'RE NOT COUSINS?!"

"Henry himself did." Mary answers seriously, yelling madly. "Everyone has been lying to me about it. I hate you so much, Rhiannon!"

Henry, - Rhiannon thinks with anger. – you'd better start hiding, because if I find you, I'm gonna kill you!

"Mary, I'm sorry. I swear I did it to protect you from…" Rhiannon tries to apologise in vain.

"I'm sick and tired of everyone trying to protect me!" Mary complains almost out of breath.

Rhiannon falls silent. She's too scared of her dear female friend.

"Are you alright?" Rhiannon finally manages to kindly whisper to her.

"Yes, I am." Mary answers after some time, quite calmer now, when she's regained her breath and usual tone of voice.

"Abraham told you the truth about our team and our mission, I presume." Rhiannon whispers to her matter-of-factly.

"Yes… I was thunderstruck at the beginning, but then…"

When Abe had talked to her about it a few days ago, she got half-angry, half-scared-like-hell at the beginning, but when she realised that this issue is deadly serious and that their job is crucial for the survival of humanity, she calmed down and seemed to fall into a phase of acceptance.

"Then what?"

"About Henry and you… You can't live together. Impossible! Besides, we both know that he likes you… very much… Do you really think that he won't try to…?" Mary then falls silent and turns crimson.

"Not again… Mary, believe it or not, he's already tried and he's been strong enough to refrain himself from doing it to me." Rhiannon whispers back to Mary with serenity. "We haven't done it, Mary. Trust me."

Mary falls silent, but she's got some doubts. That's quite clear.

"But how long will he be able to resist it? I mean, he's a man… Well,…" Mary hesitates, but she's not afraid of saying the word 'vampire' anymore. So now that she knows the whole truth (including Henry's and Rhiannon's real identity), she feels the need to intervene. "… a vampire. And a male…"

"Mary, please, you can trust us. Our morals are intact."

No matter how much Rhiannon insists, Mary just doesn't buy it. She can't. That's why she's been constantly annoying Abe all the time about this for the last few days.

And she's got no intention to stop.


"HENRY!" Rhiannon yells at him when she comes home and shuts the door. She's so fucking angry that her eyes glow like embers. Henry immediately comes to the parlour to check if everything's fine.

"What's going on, Rhiannon?" He asks worried.

"Why did you tell Mary we're not cousins?! Are you out of your mind?!" She says desperately.

"I honestly thought it didn't matter anymore. I didn't care about anything anymore…" He says sadly. "You were gone… I still wouldn't care if you hadn't come back."

They fall silent and stare into each other's eyes even though Henry's wearing his popular sunglasses. Rhiannon turns crimson at his last sentences and her anger fades away. Then, he goes on as calmly as he can manage:

"Has Mary told you?"

"But of course she has! She's become literally mad!" His question sets her on fire again. She wants to pull her hair off. "She's the most burdensome pain in the ass that I have ever met in my life! God!"

"Thank God she doesn't know about vampire hunting." He tries to cheer her up.

When Rhiannon falls silent, blinks her eyes a couple of times and stares at him with a serious, angry face which means 'you-don't-know-about-it-do-you?', Henry raises an eyebrow at her and asks bewildered:

"She knows already?!"

"Abe told her everything." She displays one of her beautiful but fake courtesy smiles.

"No…" He sighs.

"Yes, I hate him too right now."


Tonight is a hunting night again. The team has gathered outside Henry's house, dressed for the occasion, of course.

"Corinthian, I still don't get it." Rhiannon says half-angrily, half-calmly, trying to focus. "What are you doing here? Really…"

"I don't trust this guy." Corinthian says with pride and quite seriously. He can't take his eyes off her. Her tight leather outfit does not help. "And I still believe you shouldn't live under the same roof as him."

"Good, you can team up with Mary and annoy me to death!" Rhiannon exclaims with sarcasm. Both Henry and Abe raise an eyebrow at her comment. "But tomorrow. Tonight there's a lot of work to do. Now go."

"Please, Rhiannon, don't mention Mary. She's…" Abe tells Rhiannon quite calmly. He doesn't want Corinthian anywhere near Mary, for obvious reasons.

"It's OK, Abraham. I understand and I'm sorry. Corinthian's just getting on my nerves." She says also calmly.

"I'm not going anywhere until you give me a positive answer. If you promise you'll come home again, I swear I'll let you do as you please. I won't ever stop you, but you must leave his house." Corinthian insists as he comes closer to her. "Rhiannon, please. Come back to the Dream Realm. It's your place."

"Corinthian, I…" Rhiannon tries to reason with him before Corinthian tries to reach her arm with his hand.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" Henry asks with cheek, cutting her speech. He feels threatened because Corinthian is getting too close to her.

"Henry, please…" Rhiannon whispers to him feeling tired of this whole thing.

"You wish." Corinthian answers back to him with too much pride, ignoring Rhiannon's plea. The tension between both is unbearable: they both frown at each other and they clench their teeth.

"I'm not enduring this any longer." Rhiannon sounds really angered. "There's a lot of work to do and none of you is helping one little bit. I'm sick of it already. If you want to stare at each other to death, that's perfectly fine with me!" Her voice is now a lot more sarcastic. "Please, go on! God forbid that I should intrude! In the meantime, Abraham and I can go and hunt some vampires tonight. That'll definitely worth doing at least."

"Wait, Rhiannon, please." Corinthian begs her very politely and kindly.

"Don't play with me, Corinthian." She looks as if she'd kill him right now. Her voice is serious like hell because she knows that he knows that she loves it when she's treated with such kindness in a conversation. "You haven't even apologised for what you did and yet you dare to show your face to me and demand that I come back as if you ruled over me."

"I'd neverever…!" Corinthian panics when she mentions these last few words. "You'll always rule over me. I can't ever think of…" He falls silent and doesn't dare to go on speaking. He knows his rank and that she's the one who saved his ass one day. He owes her. Besides, she's Lord Morpheus' daughter… His creator and master. And she's his dearest creation, made of his own flesh and blood. She should be put on a pedestal and be adored like a goddess – that's how he looks at her. "I understand you're still angry with me and I beg your forgiveness. I made a foolish mistake and I swear I shall never ever do it again. I'm… so sorry, Rhiannon."

They all fall silent. Rhiannon keeps staring at Corinthian as if she was checking whether he's telling the truth or not.

"I hate you when you speak like that." She whispers back to him as if she'd pull off her hair.

"So you forgive me?" Corinthian asks feeling mildly hopeful, staring into her wonderful, soft eyes.

"I shall think about it and let you know when I have made a decision." She says playfully, faking a delightful smile of hers.

"You're mean to me!" Corinthian complains.

"What did you expect?" She asks with irony in her voice as she crosses her arms over her chest. "And please say something that doesn't piss me off. For your own good, that is." She finishes off with a broad, fake smile. Henry can't help but letting out a low and brief chuckle. Corinthian looks meanly at him, but Henry just looks amused.

"I shall never question your decisions. I'm sorry." He says seriously.

"You may join us to hunt tonight, but Henry and Abraham should approve of it, of course." Rhiannon finally says. This leaves both Henry and Abe dumbstruck. They stare at her as if they think she's mad. "What?! He might come in handy! He's strong and quite able to hunt vampires, I believe. Are you willing to help or not?" She asks Corinthian point-blank, staring directly at him. "It might be considered as a… way to show you're sorry and apologise for what you did, if you want." She says trying to push him.

"Fine, I'll do it." Corinthian accepts. Rhiannon smiles.

"Whether you're a good hunter or not, it doesn't mean that we should forgive you, lest forget what you did." Henry says using a dark, mildly aggressive voice.

Before Corinthian can answer back as he usually does, Rhiannon breaks in again and she seems pretty pissed off.

"If anyone else dares to speak up again in that direction, I'm gonna brust. I swear I'm a loaded gun right now. Don't tempt me to pull the trigger. Am I understood?" She says with badly-contained ire.

No one dares to say anything further. Henry feels hurt because he's partly responsible for her current anger. He feels the need to come closer to her and soothe her, but right now he cannot do that. He'd prefer to do it in the privacy of his home. He'd kiss her and hug her all night long… just as he's been doing for the last few nights since she came back. And yes, for him it feels like paradise: her soft skin against his, her sweet scent drowning him, her mark tempting him… But there's a lot of work to do right now.

So they fight and kill some vampires in the next few hours. Unbelievable as it may seem, Henry and Corinthian have proven to be a good hunting team. It was Rhiannon's idea: she just didn't want to hear any of them complain about each other on their backs, so that's basically why she sent them away together. They manage to kill a large quantity of vampires and bring the corpses to the graveyard quite regularly and, since they don't bother to talk to each other, they work swiftly and efficiently. Meanwhile, Rhiannon and Abe stick by the graveyard to bury the corpses they bring and to kill only those vamps that happen to hang around nearby.

Corinthian proves to be quite handy when it comes to scaring the hell out of them and killing them. He's even more ruthless than in all nightmares that Henry has ever experienced. Both Henry and Abe accidentally mentally agree.

Since the local anniversary celebration, lots of vampires have stuck around town and, even though all the events and concerts finished a couple of days ago, they still hang around and feed on innocent people. Tonight they have duplicated the amount of hunted vampires.

"I would've never imagined we'd do so much work tonight." Rhiannon points out to Abe while they're digging more graves to bury those unfortunate vamps who have been killed by them tonight. "And there're still lots of other vamps out there."

"We cannot manage to kill them all tonight." Abe says frowning. "We will have to continue tomorrow. The sun will rise in an hour."

"Are you afraid that we might be late? I mean," Rhiannon asks hesitating a bit. "for some innocent people. If we don't kill them swiftly enough, they might kill people that we might've been able to save."

Abe seems to ponder about it as if he had already asked this same question for years on end. Rhiannon spots his concern.

"We just can't be everywhere, any time." Abe whispers back, half-defeated.

Rhiannon sighs almost inaudibly as they stare at each other.


They all agreed to meet at the graveyard at 5 am and bring with them the last vampires they would hunt tonight so that Abe and Rhiannon could bury them and then they could go back home. The time has come and Rhiannon lifts her head and spots Henry and Corinthian coming back carrying a couple of dead vamps each. She smiles proudly as she stares at them. A rebel small lock of hair falls on her face and caresses the skin of her left cheek as the early morning breeze kisses every inch of her body and hair.

This delightful sight leaves both Henry and Corinthian thunderstruck.

Out of the blue, a vampire appears out of nowhere and knocks Abe down. Rhiannon is also caught off guard and she falls on her back as the aforesaid vampire jumps on her in a nanosecond. Henry gets tense and runs as fast as he can towards her. Thanks to his super speed, he's able to put his own arm between that vamp's fangs and Rhiannon's porcelain-like neck. When that vampire bites his arm thinking he's biting her neck, Henry lets out a painful growl.

"Aaarrg…" Henry tries to refrain himself from yelling.

"Henry, no…" Rhiannon whispers worried.


Hi there!

This is it. I know it took a while, but this chapter needed a lot of revising and reworking. I had a mental chaos of stuff that I wanted to fit in here… Anyway. I hope it turned out well. Got some embarrassing surprises for you in the next chapter… ;) Some humour and some serious stuff coming, I promise.

Please read and review! I'm serious. I love comments!

Luv,

Denim Jean