Sparklyshimmer2010 – Yes I can have Lorne, besides we're all in the club now and no he doesn't have green eyes, doesn't make him any less gorgeous though. I'm glad you liked the science bit in the last chapter; I spent ages working on all the science behind the vampires lol. Hope it came out plausible. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

Steph7085 – Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked all the science stuff in the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too.

Jammeke – I'm glad the science bit all sounded logical, I spent forever trying to work all that out. If I had to choose between shopping and the beech, I think I may choose shopping lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

LadyNiko – It was difficult coming up with my own take on the 'curse', I wanted to make sure it all made sense. Thanks for the review; I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Stargatecrazy – (bows for applause) I spent forever coming up with the science stuff, glad it came out right. Vampire Sparky babies would be very cute lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for the review.

Saphiretwin369 – I'm glad you liked the last chapter and Rodney's, Carson's and Zelenka's bit, it took me ages to come up with that lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

ManicTater – I'm glad you liked the last chapter and the introduction of more people, I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

- - -

Chapter 10

Ignoring it seemed to have become the only way she could deal with it. If she thought about it, if she took any time to really ponder it, she was going to lose her resolve. So she kept it at the back of her mind, a dull but growing ache that served as a constant reminder of what she was, what she needed. The time would come where ignoring was no longer and option and it would come soon. She'd been through this once already and she knew that in only a couple of days, if that, the dull ache would turn into an unbearable pain and an exhaustion that would flood through her entire body.

Elizabeth shook her head and forced those thoughts back to the back of her mind. They seemed to keep creeping forward and they gained more ground each time. As her strength left her she struggled to do more and more, so far she was keeping her wavering energy from showing but things as simple as keeping warm suddenly seemed impossible. Grabbing her jacket from the back of the couch she pulled it on and left her room.

John had given her the freedom to do as she wanted when she wanted. It was anther thing that was holding her here, the freedom that had been returned to her was just part of a growing list of reasons she wasn't so sure she was ready to die. However, ready or not, she had to do this, she could not live her life as a monster.

Having no other place to go Elizabeth headed down to the great library. She loved it in here, so much history and so many untold stories all laid out in front of her. It was peaceful, no one but she and John ever came down here. John had taken to lighting the fire in the huge beautiful fire place and the large chairs and couch that surrounded it had been dusted clean.

She curled up on the couch and pulled her most recent book into her lap. She smiled slightly at the sight of the last book she's read, it was currently resting on the armchair John had been sitting in last night. She'd told him about it when she was reading it and he'd started reading it as soon as she'd finished, she didn't think reading was something he did very often.

She must have been there for an hour when she heard the sound of the door opening behind her. She didn't turn around, it could only be John. A minute later he dropped down next to her on the couch with a slight bounce and a heavy sigh.

"Bad morning?" she asked without looking up from her book as she turned the page.

"Yeah," he replied after taking a moment to really consider the question. "Bad is a good word for it."

Elizabeth looked up from her book, taking in his annoyed expression and tense posture. "You wanna talk about it?" she questioned and he sighed again.

"Something's going on, a few vampires have gone missing which isn't all together unusual but the elders have been in chamber more often than usual and a couple of people are acting like they know something the rest of us don't," he explained sounding more worried now than irritated, at least until he spoke a again. "I've had Michael in my face gloating all morning, about what, I have no idea, he wasn't real specific just very gloating."

"Well, judging by how fast word spread about me, you'll probably find out before long," she told him, lightening the mood a little and John smiled. He let out a long deep breath and seemed to finally relax before looking around him.

"Now, where'd I put my book?" he questioned mostly to himself but Elizabeth pointed to it with a smile.

- - -

Returning to work was proving harder than she'd expected it to be. It felt like she was betraying Elizabeth, that somehow by returning to work she was moving on with her life. She knew that wasn't the case, in fact the exact opposite was true, it felt like her search for Elizabeth was only just beginning.

She pulled into the employee car park behind the restaurant and got out of her car. She just stood there for a moment, staring at the building, it seemed like so long ago that she was last here, it seemed like another life. So much had changed since the last time she had come to work. Her closest friend had disappeared, she had discovered an entire world she could never have imagined existed outside of the movies and had been around more crazy people than she cared to think about. Add to that the fact that she now had vampires and their servants hunting her down and she'd say yes, her life had changed.

Teyla braced herself for what promised to be a very not fun seven hours, only with her luck could she have landed the morning shift on her first day back. It was still dark so she quickly pulled her thoughts back together and ran through the restaurants back entrance, was she trying to get the blood drained out of her? If she was then standing outside, alone, in the dark while she had vampires hunting her was a great way to go about it.

As she walked to her locker it was like she had stepped into the wrong restaurant, people who would normally have greeted her with a smile were avoiding so much as making eye contact with her. She reached her locker, opening and tossing in her coat and bag. She took a deep breath to calm herself before she closed it again.

"Teyla," she heard Laura shout and smiled as her friend walked over to her, shooting irritated looks at their colleagues who were staring. "Want me to hurt them?"

Teyla laughed lightly and shook her head "I think they're all just waiting to see if I've had a mental breakdown and if I haven't then will I and when."

"Well it's good to have you back, it hasn't been the same without you," Laura told her with a small smile.

"Or Elizabeth," Teyla added and Laura was silent for a moment before nodding her head.

"Have you heard anything yet, from the police I mean?" she asked and Teyla sighed. She had not told Laura about her own investigation into Elizabeth's disappearance or what it had turned up. The last thing she needed was to get dragged off to the loony bin in a straight jacket and she didn't want Laura getting involved, this was far too dangerous.

"No, I haven't heard anything," she replied, it wasn't a complete lie; she hadn't heard anything from the two detectives that were investigating Elizabeth's case officially. "Come on, we should get to work."

Laura nodded and the two of them walked through to the front of the restaurant. The last few preparations were being made before opening at 7.30, Teyla was about to get stuck in and help when Damien walked into the room and saw her. "Teyla, can I talk to you?"

She followed him to the side of the room, out of earshot of everyone else. "How are you doing?" he asked her and Teyla had a feeling she was going to be hearing that question a lot, she might as well get used to answering it.

"I'm fine, it's hard but I'm fine," she told him as honestly as she could, she was a long way from fine but that wasn't something she could tell her boss.

"Don't push yourself," Damien began "If you want to go home at any point you can and if you need more time..." he told her but Teyla cut him off.

"Damien, I'm fine," she stated. She was glad to have as great a boss as Damien but she didn't want sympathy right now, all she wanted was to get this shift over with.

- - -

John knocked on Elizabeth's door with a little more force than he had intended to. Michael was still taking great pleasure in taunting him about what if it is he was taunting him about. After John had left the library this morning he'd run into Michael several times, on top of that, a brief run in with Chaya had told him she knew something as well. He hated being kept out of the loop and it was really beginning to grate on his nerves now.

He took the time between knocking and Elizabeth calling for him to go in to calm himself down. When he entered the room Elizabeth was sitting at the dresser brushing her hair. She didn't turn around, instead choosing to use the reflection in the mirror to look at him.

"Hey," he greeted as he moved to sit on the couch, grabbing the cushion that had previously occupied the space and holding it beneath his arm.

"Hey," she replied as she watched his movements. He'd come to know her fairly well – which was strange considering it had only been a week since he'd met her – and he could tell just from her voice that something was bothering her. "Did you figure out what Michael was gloating about?" she asked and he shook his head.

"No, but he's still gloating about it, hopefully the idiot will let it slip sooner or later," he told her "Now are you gonna tell me what's up with you?"

She smiled and dropped her head slightly "Just thinking about stuff."

"Like the thirst for blood you're feeling again," he stated and she looked at him, slightly surprised. "You didn't think I'd forgotten or that I wouldn't notice the signs did you?"

She smiled again, it was a sad smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and it told John she was more confused that she realised. "Do you feel guilty?" she asked taking him by surprise and yet, somehow he had expected the question. He looked at her reflection, their eyes meeting as she searched her face for an honest answer.

"Every time," he replied and she sighed turning around in her chair to look at him properly.

"It's just... harder now," she explained "I was so ready to die; at least I thought I was, now I'm not sure."

"I know it's not an easy decision to make, to take someone's life or lose your own but it's one that we all have to make," he told her and Elizabeth looked at the floor. "The guy I used to know, the one that reminded me of you, he starved himself to death."

Elizabeth's head snapped back up "He refused to feed?"

"Yeah, he fed several times, was a vampire for about six months. The guilt just became too much for him and he locked himself in his room. He got weaker and weaker to the point where he was offered a blood pack because he was too week to go out and hunt. He refused it, wouldn't even give himself the luxury of a quick death, he died in a lot of pain," he explained and Elizabeth looked horrified but he knew this was something she needed to know if she was going to ignore the thirst.

"I hate you for doing this to me," she stated quietly and despite himself John was stung by the comment.

"Me too," he replied honestly, he would never understand why he'd done it.

- - -

It was a little after 2 o clock in the afternoon and her first shift was finally over. She'd spent the whole thing trying to ignore the whispers of her colleagues, their staring eyes and repetitive questions. She grabbed her jacket from her locker, putting it on before grabbing her purse.

"What are you planning to do with the rest of your day?" Laura asked as Teyla shut her locker and headed for the exit.

"I have some things to do," she replied.

"Like what?" Laura questioned.

"Just stuff," Teyla replied vaguely as the two of them walked through the employees exit. She immediately spotted the car next to hers and the man leaning on it.

"Miss Emmagan," he greeted.

"Detective Lorne," she acknowledged before turning to Laura. "I gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow," she told her and tried to ignore the look of concern on her friend's face, she didn't need that right now.

Lorne glanced warily at Laura who had not yet left. "Got someone else for you to meet," he told Teyla who nodded.

"Do I have time to change?" she asked fishing her keys out of her bag.

"Plenty, the meeting's not for a few hours," he replied as she pulled open her car door. "I'll follow you," he told her as he got in his own car.

When she pulled up outside her apartment building she waited for Lorne to find a parking space further down the street. They went inside the apartment and Teyla hesitated only for a moment before letting him in, she had after all only known him for a few days.

"Make yourself comfortable, I shouldn't be long," she told him and hurried through to the bedroom.

"Dress warm," Lorne called behind her. She closed the door, pulling some dark trousers and a polo neck jumper out of her wardrobe and changing into them. She walked back out of her room to find Lorne sitting on the couch flicking through television channels. "Day time TV sucks," he stated when he saw her.

"Who are we meeting?" she asked him curiously.

"A contact of mine, he's a vampire," he replied and Teyla froze, she wasn't haven't the greatest of luck with vampires and he wanted to take her to meet one. "Relax; he's been feeding me information for over a year now."

"Why would he do that?" she questioned sitting in the armchair.

"Because his sister did the same thing that you're doing when he disappeared, she tried to find him and ended up on the vampire's hit list. I've had her relocated, she has a fake name and a whole new life," he told her "I keep him updated on how she's doing, he gives me information when I need it, the only thing he won't tell me is where the vampire home is."

"And you want to ask him about Elizabeth?" Teyla questioned and Lorne nodded.

"At this point we can't even be sure she's alive, this way we can find out," he stated.

"So we won't be meeting him until after dark then," she said more to herself than to him. She really didn't like going out in the dark at the moment but she figured if she wanted to keep looking for Elizabeth, she was going to have to get used it.

- - -

It was cold and dark and Teyla wanted nothing more than to go home, back to the relative safety of her apartment. She got out of Lorne's car and followed him to the abandoned warehouse their meeting was going to take place in. It made this whole thing so much creepier, the door creaked as they opened it in the otherwise silent building.

"Guess he's not here yet," Lorne stated and she looked at him, trying and failing to keep her fear out of her eyes. He had a wooden stake tucked into the waist band of his trousers and he'd given her one as well, she too had tucked it into hr trousers, allowing her coat to cover it. The quiet sound of footsteps caught their attention and Teyla turned to see the man she guessed was the informant. He looked normal, like anyone she might see in the street during the day, there was absolutely nothing about him that screamed vampire and she found that rather unsettling.

"Laden," Lorne greeted as Teyla stepped closer to him.

"Detective," the brown haired vampire acknowledged. "My sister?" he asked immediately.

"She's getting married," Lorne told him "To the doctor I told you about, they're thinking about setting the date some time next month."

"Married," Laden whispered to himself "I wish I could be there to see that."

"I'm sure you do, now for my information," Lorne said, getting to the point, the less time they were in this building the better. "We're trying to find out about a woman who was recently attacked, we need to know if she was turned or killed. Her name was Elizabeth Weir, she was attacked about..." Lorne began but stopped abruptly, his eyes darting immediately tot he side.

Teyla followed his gaze and felt every muscle in her body tense up when she saw the man walking out of the darkness. He looked at them both, a hunger in his dark eyes that Teyla had seen only once before, on the face of the vampires who attacked her in the street a few nights ago. A quick glance at where their informant had been standing told her that he'd already made a run for it and was probably long gone now.

"I think you may be getting in over your head detective Lorne," the man stated as he walked toward them. Lorne immediately put himself in between the vampire and Teyla, until another emerged from the shadows on their opposite side. Two more appeared behind them and another two walked through the door they had used earlier, they were surrounded and severely outnumbered.

Lorne grabbed the wooden stake from behind him and Teyla mimicked his actions, holding the piece of wood tightly and praying she'd be able to use it. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, her breathing was so fast she thought she might pass out and she was shaking. One of them lunged for her but Lorne cut him off, tackling him to the ground. As another vampire jumped into the fray, Teyla found herself being grabbed from the side.

She tried to pull herself away but his grip on her arm tightened, unfortunately her stake was in the hand that was currently immobile. She brought her other hand up and it connected with his face, knocking him back and loosening his grip on her enough for her to pull away. Unfortunately she moved straight into another vampire who grabbed both of her arms, holding her in place as he bared his long vampire teeth.

She struggled violently against him, used every ounce of strength she had to pull away and somehow she managed to get her hand free. She lifted it, brining the stake down into his chest and washing as surprise and fear flickered over the vampires face. He let go of her, falling to the ground and she didn't need to check if he was dead or now. Turning around two other vampires, including the one whose nose she had most probably broken moved in on her. Before they could reach her one of them was pulled away, he was slammed into the ground and the man who had saved her the other night loomed over him, stabbing his chest with a wooden stake identical to the one still in her hand.

He moved his attention to the second vampire and Teyla turned to where Lorne was still struggling on the ground. One vampire had him pinned down and another was closing in on him, Teyla ran towards them, stabbing the stake into a vampire's back where she knew his heart should be. He threw his arm back, knocking her away from him and she hit the floor with a thud. The vampire reached for the stake still stuck into him and Lorne was able to kick him off. He tried to struggle free from the vampire that was holding him down as the other one finally succumbed to death. Lorne reached his arm to the side where his stake was laid on the ground, having been lost in the struggle. His fingers wrapped around it, pulling it closer to him to get a stronger grip and he hit the vampire in the shoulder with it. It didn't kill him but it slackened his hold on him enough for Lorne to turn around and hit him in the chest.

The final vampire died and Lorne jumped to is feat, walking over to Teyla and helping her up from the floor. They both turned to look at the final man in the room "You must be the vampire slayer, never thought I'd actually end up meeting you," Lorne stated as the two men sized each other up.

"That's the second time you've saved my life, thank you," Teyla said quietly and Ronon turned his eyes on her.

"Stop getting in trouble and I won't have to keep saving you," he told her and she had the distinct impression it was more of an order than a suggestion.

"Wish it were that easy, mate," Lorne commented.

"If you don't want to end up dead then I suggest you find a way to make it easy," he said a note of irritation in his voice as he turned to leave.

"I think we should follow his lead and leave," Lorne suggested as they left the mess of bodies behind and headed for the car. Lorne drove her home, waiting outside until he saw her enter the building safely before he drove away. Teyla all but ran into her apartment, locking the door and drawing all the curtains. She went into the bathroom and turned the shower on allowing the water enough time to heat up as she sat on the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"God Elizabeth," she whispered quietly "I'm gonna get myself killed looking for you."

TBC