Ok. I know it's been a long time, but please bear with me. I don't plan on leaving this unfinished.
Thank you to everyone for their patience.
Ostend, Belgium: Evan's Secret Lab
Nina watched her daughter move around in the pseudo-womb. The hybrid baby looked more like a human baby now, but hair covered her entire body. Nina could watch this child for twenty-four hours a day and not grow tired of her. Evan had asked her to do just that and to write down what she saw. She already had a clipboard filled with today's notes. Their daughter had been very active. Nina knew her daughter could survive outside of her environment, but it would make her life a lot a harder if she were to be "born" at six and a-half months.
The door swung open behind her, the scent telling her that Evan had come in.
"How's Sonya?" Nina swivelled around in her chair, holding out her clipboard while she did so.
Taking it out of her hand, Evan glanced at his wife's notes and nodded to himself. He hadn't heard her question.
"Evan, how's Sonya?"
"What? Oh, she's fine. The medication I put her on is working. Kraven's disappeared though. Left sometime around 3:30 this morning. Sonya does not know where he went, but she seemed to know he would do something like this. She wasn't surprised when I told her I couldn't find him."
Nina snarled when she heard Kraven's name. All the lycans knew about his treachery to Lucian. When she first learned that he was there, Evan had to restrain her from killing him. Instead, he reminded her that his death would jeopardize everyone at the facility.
Nina turned around and looked at her daughter. She looked like a puppy scratching in a dream at that moment, with her leg kicking out and retracting automatically. "She's dreaming."
Evan placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "What are we going to name her?" They'd been arguing over a name for several months, tossing ideas over dinners of blood and raw steaks.
"Hope."
Evan smiled. It suited the baby in front of them.
Marcus glanced at Erica's sleeping form. She would wake up soon, the sun had almost set. He hadn't touched her in the past two weeks. He had wanted to, but feared her reaction. Most of the cuts and bruises from John had faded away in the first two days, but Marcus would often awake in the middle of the day to hear Erica crying in her sleep, screaming "No! Not again". He would wake her up and hold her until she went back to sleep. He would then quietly slip out of her bed, his was in another room, and take an ice bath.
They had been staying in the one town for some time while Erica's mind healed. He had bought some gym equipment for him to train with. Erica often came in to watch him go over forms of the martial arts he had learned throughout the ages and quietly asked him to teach her. She said it would give her something to do other than sit in bed and think about what had happened. Marcus slowly agreed and wondered how long he would be able to resist her. She was a rapt pupil.
A noise escaped Erika's lips as she stretched. Sitting up, she wasn't surprised to find Marcus in her room. He held out a mug of warm blood to her. Thanking him, she closed her eyes and sipped her warm breakfast. He was so thoughtful and charming. Good looking to. She let her mind wonder to their first encounter in the elder's chamber. Absent mindedly she held a hand up to her neck and rubbed the spot where he had bit her. She wondered how he thought of her.
Opening her eyes again, she saw Marcus's unreadable blue eyes watching her intently, some of his blond hair fell down into them. Setting the mug down, Erika got out of bed. "What are we going to do once we leave this place?" It had been bugging her for the past two weeks. She had left Ordgohaz to search for Marcus, hoping to find out why he had been killing every powerful Vampire there was. She would have thought he wanted their support as a ruler. Now she had found Marcus, she did not know what to do.
"I think I want to return to Ordoghaz. I've been away for a month. Surely the coven is still in disarray and I need to reestablish my place as the remaining Elder." He stated this fact as it was the most obvious in the world. In truth, it had been bothering him since he had found Erika.
He himself did not know why he had gone on a killing spree, but lately it had been more obvious. The lycan side of him did not tolerate disobedience or insubordination. All the vampires that he killed had at one point in time been unruly and had threatened him with mutiny. He had instinctively gone out and put them in their place. However, one vampire remained: Kraven. His Betrayal to Amelia deeply angered him. She had been Viktor's younger sister, and his good friend growing up.
Erika had told him what had happened before he was awakened, how he came to be in the state that he was. She was not scared of the hybrid before her. And right then, that was all that mattered to the elder. He would deal with the rest of the Vampires later. He also knew that Kraven had not been since the night of the great battle that claimed Lucian and Viktor. Marcus had a deep respect for both of them now. Singe's memories surfaced in his dreams at night.
Of course, Marcus had been privy to the reason the war started. He only supported it because if he did not, then his coven would be at stake and Viktor would have found a way to put him in a permanent sleep.
"So, when do we leave?" Erika's voice brought him out of his reverie.
"Whenever you're ready."
Selene rolled her eyes at Michael. "Why not? Why can't we go find Kraven?"
"You're still recovering." Michael knew that her body had already healed completely. He wanted a couple more days of just her to himself before they left though. They hadn't really talked about the baby since she cried in his embrace that fateful night.
"That's bullshit." She turned away, brown hair flying around her head as she strode out of the gym to her bedroom, they had gone back to sleeping in different rooms after Michael "released" her from his med-lab. She missed his warmth during the cold days, but she'd never admit that to him.
Michael grabbed her wrist before she made it to the door. "Selene, please. Just a couple more days. Bear with me." Pulling her to him, he wrapped an arm around her waist. She stiffened in his hold, but he ignored it. Moving his other hand up to her neck, he tilted her head just enough so he could burry his head in her hair. Breathing in the scent of her, he gasped.
"I almost lost you." His voice was thick with emotion. He lifted his head from her hair to look her in the eye. "We lost a child, Selene. People just don't snap their fingers and say, 'Ok I'm over it.' Not most people."
Selene placed her arms on his chest, pushing him away a little. "I am a Vampire, Michael. I didn't feel anything for three hundred years. Not until I met you." Bloody tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She felt like she had let Michael down when the baby died inside her. "It hurt so much, Michael." She blinked and a tear made it's way down her cheek. Then she slowly returned his embrace so that her head rested on his shoulder and his hand stroked her hair. They stayed like that for a little while.
"Please, Selene, just one more night. Then we can leave. I promise." Selene's head nodded against his shoulder. Somehow, Michael knew that their days of separate beds had ended again.
Sonya was furious. She was not as sick as she had been, but she was still sick. And her hormones, were way out of control. Kraven had left her. He hadn't really been talking to her since they had arrived, but still. She was carrying his child! She felt her canines elongate. Glancing in a mirror she saw her brown eyes turn blue. She had been learning what triggered the change inside of her. Usually it was strong emotions or hunger.
She was amazed at the blood lust inside of her. She craved blood every two-three hours now. She hoped it was because of the babe. Thankfully, she had stayed relatively slim so far. She knew her precious figure would go to waste before the end of it though. Evan allowed her to move around the lab. She had met a few other vampires, but most of them came in and left quickly, they were only there to talk to Evan and swap news. Evan disappeared a lot and rarely spoke to her about anything but the child inside of her. Touching her flat stomach, Sonya muttered, "I hope you're with it," under her breath.
Kraven pushed a hand through his oily hair. He needed a shower. And he needed to get back to Ordoghaz. A passing vampire had told him the coven was in disarray. Slan was trying to take care of it, but no one respected the new regent. Members were quickly loosing respect for him and there was talk of revolt. Kraven thought it was time to return to his home and take control again.
Ok. So that's Chapter seven. We are actually getting somewhere. There's going to be more action coming up. However, I have finals soon, so I don't know when I'll be sitting down to write the next piece. Please review.
