CHAPTER NINE

Bethany tossed and turned asleep in her bed with the covers pulled around her. Nightmares were haunting her sleep once again. They never seemed to give her a moment's peace. Even in her dreams, she wasn't safe anymore. Finally, Beth bolted upright in bed, her eyes wide since she woke in fear. She quickly flung out her hand to stop whatever was floating from crashing to the floor on reflex. Her powers were acting up again and it was more unusual for something not to be flying around the room that to have something flying. Her control hadn't gotten worse, but she wasn't using her powers now. Apparently, they were going to find someway out, one way or another. To her surprise, the thing that was floating was the bed she was in. Gently, she set it back on the floor attempting not to make too much noise incase someone should hear. She then sighed, partially in relief and partially in annoyance.

Bethany threw the covers off herself and stood up, her bare feet touching the cold floor below her. The girl had to fight not to shriek from surprise, the stone was so cold. She quickly put on her boots in an attempt to keep her toes warm. Beth couldn't remember the last time she was warm. She was always shivering or had her coat wrapped around her. Wherever she was, it was cold…very cold. Why couldn't vampires ever pick hiding places that were warm? Oh right, because that would be convenient. In her life, nothing was convenient. The girl grabbed her coat and pulled it on over her shoulders. Well, she would've if she could find her coat. She had set it in the chair the day before, but it wasn't there now. Could it have moved in her sleep? Where did it go?

"Good morning, Bethany."

The girl jumped and turned toward the door to see Keeran. Her stomach fell as did her heart. Why did he always have to be around? To make things worse, in his hand was her coat. Well, that answered one question.

"May I have my coat back please?" Beth said holding out her hand. Keeran paused for a moment, an amused smirk on his face before he handed it to her. Surprised that he did what she asked, the girl took it quickly so they wouldn't touch and pulled it over her shoulders. Well, she was warmer, but not warm entirely. Still, every little bit helped and having her coat did make her feel better. Beth pulled her coat around herself for comfort. It was something familiar in an unfamiliar and honestly quite frightening place. It almost gave her a sense of security. Right now, that sense of security was the only thing keeping her sane.

"Out of curiosity, my dear…" Keeran began and pulled something out of his pocket. Beth, who hadn't been looking at him before, glared up at him. "why were you carrying this around?"

Keeran held up a necklace on a silver chain. The pendant was a deep blue stone with the profile of an angel on it in diamond. Bethany froze. He found her mother's necklace. Oh God, what was he going to do with it?

"Give it back, Keeran." Beth told him, her voice frozen and dangerous. She leaned forward to grab it, but Keeran jerked it out of reach.

"Is it important to you?" he asked smirking. Beth glared at him. She knew that he knew it was because of how she had just tried to get it back. Why was he making her say it out loud?

"Just give it back!" Beth demanded, sounding slightly panicked. She tried to grab the jewel again, but it still evaded her because of Keeran's speed.

"I think I'll keep it, unless you can prove that it is of no use to me." The dark boy teased her. Apparently, he was having too much fun with his game of keep-the-family-heirloom-away-from-Beth.

"Keeran, it was my mother's. It's just a trinket. Give it back, please." She hated that she had to do this, but if it got the necklace back, it would be worth it. That necklace was the only thing Beth had left of her mother's. It meant the world to her. Keeran looked at Beth's face and then at her outstretched hand. The girl couldn't believe that she was almost begging someone to do something. Worse, she was almost begging Keeran. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

"I'll keep it." He said and the jewel vanished into the black folds of his cloak. Beth's hand balled up into a fist and it fell to her side. Both her hands stayed clenched to vent her anger. She turned away from Keeran and closed her eyes. Oh God, this could not be happening. Her entire world was falling apart around her and she had no control over it. She felt trapped. Every small comfort she had was slowly fading away, leaving her unsheltered. She didn't think her sanity could take much more. Bethany fought not to shake from fear, anger and sorrow. It was all pressing against her chest from the inside out, making her feel like she would explode. She would not cry. She would not cry. Suddenly, Beth realized that there was a pair of hands on her shoulders.

"No death threat yet?" came Keeran's voice in her ear. She could feel his breath on her skin when he spoke. It was so cold. She couldn't help but shiver involuntarily. She could hear the smirk in Keeran's voice when he spoke again. "You really are losing your touch."

"Get away from me." Beth demanded shaking him off. She moved away from him, but didn't look back at the boy at all. She was just too mad and she didn't want him to see that he had almost won. He had almost broken her. She refused to give him that pleasure. She would never let him think that he'd won, never.

"I'll leave you, then." Keeran said. She could feel his eyes on her back. He didn't move for a moment and neither did Beth. Finally, Keeran turned and left, locking the door behind himself. With him finally gone, Beth fell to her knees, shaking and near the point of tears. Things were getting worse and she was about to crack. The worst part was that she knew it and she couldn't do anything to change it. She had to keep her powers from Keeran, but that meant not using them. That also meant that they were coming out in other ways. Every nightmare she had sent the room spinning. That meant she couldn't sleep without risking revealing her abilities. She hadn't eaten much in the past three days or slept. Her senses were always on high alert, making her tense and it made it even harder to sleep when she tried. She couldn't keep this up much longer. Her body just couldn't take it, not to mention her mind.

Beth wiped angrily at her watering eyes.

"Get up." She told herself. It was silly to sit here, weeping on the floor. She had to do something other than be helpless. She couldn't be helpless. She wasn't going to go down without a fight. Beth forced herself to her feet and placed a hand inside her pockets in an attempt to warm her frozen hands. Deep in the corner of her pocket, Beth felt something she hadn't before. It was paper. The paper was folded so tightly and smoothly, that the texture almost vanished into the leather. That was probably why she had never felt it before. Beth pulled it out and then sat on the edge of the bed. What was this? She didn't remember putting anything in her coat pocket. Then again, the last time she might have done that was before Keeran had kidnapped her. Since then, he had made sure that all her weapons had been removed. He must have missed this in his search. The papers were a note addressed to her. It was sealed with red wax and a cross seal. Beth had to smiled slightly. It was from Mori. She'd recognize her seal anywhere. The girl pulled the note open and another, unsealed piece of paper fell into her lap. It was another note, again, addressed to her. Bethany left the unsealed note in her lap and read the one with the seal. Yep, it was from Mori. Beth knew her long, neat handwriting anywhere.

Dear Bethany,

I must tell you something, but you are sleeping at the moment, so I'll leave you this note inside your coat pocket where you are sure to find it. What I have to tell you is very important and you are in terrible danger. I know Keeran has taken a liking to you from your numerous, spite-filled rants about him. Bethany, Keeran is high up on the list of people we suspect and has been on it since the beginning. You have to be careful around him. We worry; William and I. He worries about you, Bethany. I have found him to be fairly competent when matters that concern you have come up. Trust him.

Mori

"I get this now." Beth mumbled to herself. She hated irony right now, but a small smile was pulling at the corners of her mouth. She did feel a little bit better. Mori had tried to warn her. She just got the message too late. Well, at least Mori was trying to prepare her. Too bad she just had terrible luck. If Keeran had waited one more night, Beth probably wouldn't be here now. Sighing, Beth then picked up the letter in her lap. There wasn't a wax seal on it or anything. It was just folded into equal thirds. The girl unfolded it and recognized the messy, large hand writing as Will's. What did he want? Bethany was sure that he didn't want to speak to her anymore. She remembered the last time she saw Will and that stupid fight they had…over Keeran. Now, she regretted leaving the way she did. Will couldn't have known. Shaking those memories out of her head, Bethany read the note.

Dear Beth,

I have to tell you that I am truly sorry. I know that you could never do what I said. I just don't like Keeran around you. I don't trust him. You don't see the way he looks at you, like your some treasure that can be easily stolen. He'll do anything to take you away from me and I don't want that. I hate him for that, which is why my reaction was so severe. He's nothing but a power hungry prick and I don't like it that he has set his sights on you. I'm worried about you, Angel. I don't want to see you hurt, and I didn't mean to hurt you. I hope that you can forgive me. I want you safe. Even if you don't forgive me, please just be careful.

Will

As Beth read, the note got harder and harder to read because her hand was shaking so badly. It took her several tried to read the last two lines. Will wanted her safe. He did care about her then. Please just be careful, he had asked her. Well, this wasn't exactly careful, now was it? When she was finished, Beth quickly folded both notes up as they originally were and put them back in her pocket. It took her a little longer than it should have because her hands were still shaking. She then quickly pulled her coat closer around her, her hand over the pocket that held her notes. They cared about her and they would find her. She just had to hang on till then. God, she needed them with her now. She needed to see them, but it helped to know that they were still out there. Beth missed them. It was so hard. No comfort, no safety, just constant anxiety. She needed her friends. No, they weren't friends at all. They were family, and she missed them more than anything. Then there was Will…Oh goodness, Will. She closed her eyes to keep the tears that were welling up in them from falling.

"Will." She whispered, her desperation for him evident in her voice. "Oh Lord, I want to go home."

- - -

There was a loud explosion and Mori jumped slightly. After several days, she still hadn't gotten used to Will's experiments that were forever going wrong. She closed the book she was reading and went to the room that Will had set up as a lab. She need to at least make sure that the boy hadn't hut himself. Mori opened the door to hear William cursing under his breath. She almost smiled. Well, at least she knew he hadn't planed that explosion. Will, who still hadn't seen Mori, pulled his goggles off and ran his fingers through his hair. He had been working on this for days. Why wasn't it right yet? Maybe because his brain wasn't exactly on his work.

"Having problems?" Mori asked calmly. Will jumped and turned around like a frightened rabbit. It was almost cute.

"I didn't see you there, Mori." He said, one hand clutching his heart. It was racing. Mori could hear that. However, most of the fear was gone from his eyes. Why didn't Bethany ever act like this when Mori entered a room? Oh right, it was because Bethany was used to her.

"Most people don't." the dark girl answered flatly. Her eyes scanned over the chemicals that Will had laid out across the long table he was working at. The table was covered in papers that were covered in his messy handwriting. It vaguely reminded her of Carl's work station. The only difference was that Logan was napping in a chair in the corner. Well, napping wasn't exactly the right word. Watching intently was more like it. The dog had his ears pointed toward William even though his eyes were on his master. The dark girl gave the boy a look. "May I ask what is causing such a ruckus?"

"I'm not really sure." Will answered quietly as he shuffled papers around to create some space on the table. He blew a fire out that he had going under a beaker before he ran his hand through his hair again. Mori just watched him. The boy's mind was obviously not on his work. "I'm just testing various things at the moment."

Mori nodded. He was staying busy. He was trying to keep his mind off of something…or someone. Well, wasn't that what they were all doing? Mori knew that Gabriel was doing the exact same thing. She would never admit it, but Mori was doing everything she could to keep her mind away from her worry about her long time partner. One thing was for sure, Keeran would soon realize how big of a mistake he had made.

"Do you need any help?" Mori asked, attempting to be polite. Will paused, thinking. His sapphire eyes were one Mori when he tilted his head slightly. Oh dear, the boy had an idea. Well, this could be problematic for Mori if he had anything dangerous in mind. Logan jumped off his chair and made his way over to Mori, who absentmindedly patted his head. Logan wasn't going to complain. The dog looked at Will and tilted his head in the same direction, as if to ask what he was thinking. Finally, Will was able to put his thoughts into words.

"You've been hunting longer than I have." He almost hesitated, wondering if he should ask what he was about too. Still, it would definitely help him, maybe even Bethany. It demanded to be asked. "What do you know about vampires?"

Mori tensed up a little bit, but didn't let it show. Naturally, he would ask the one question that was getting dangerously close to her little secret. William didn't know about her condition, and Mori wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

"I know quite a bit." Her voice smooth and calm. After over two hundred years of being secretive, Mori had become a phenomenal actress. Will didn't pick up on a thing. Will nodded once before he started moving papers around on the table. Finally, he found what he wanted, a blank piece of paper and a pencil. Will sat down on a work stool before he glanced up at Mori. The girl was giving him a look. This was quickly turning into an interview of some kind.

"Could you tell me what you know?" he asked her as politely as possible. He was twirling the pencil between his fingers, unable to sit still for too long. Still, his face was calm and looked as if he was talking to an old friend. He wasn't sure if he and Mori were friends or not, but they were at least allies. That was good enough for him. Mori sighed in exasperation and looked at Will. He just looked right back at her, simply waiting for an answer. She had to admit that the boy had more patience than most his age.

"Alright." Mori answered finally and pulled up a stool. She sat down and crossed her legs before Logan curled up at her feet. He rested his head on his paws, but he kept his ears up, listening to their entire conversation. After taking a breath, Mori began. "Vampires are immortal creatures, members of the walking dead. They need blood of others to sustain their life. Their own blood is dead, so they need live blood to keep their bodies alive."

Will nodded as he started scribbling down information. Well, that made perfect sense to him. Mori didn't hesitate in continuing. There was so much to tell and so little time to get it all out. She didn't want this to be a long conversation.

"Vampires don't have souls. Therefore, it's hard to kill them because of their undead state. Their body must go back to the way they were when they were alive, so they heal very quickly. The only ways to kill them are by spraying them with holy water, burning them, cutting off their heads or staking them through the heart. After one of those things has been done, the ashes must be scattered or else the vampire will heal and cease to be dead. Those methods only work on the lesser ones, of course. It takes extreme amounts of power to kill higher vampires, like Dracula."

"How much power?" Will asked curiously. He had looked up at her and was tapping the end of his pencil on the table. The look in Mori's eyes hardened and Will stopped tapping his pencil. Of course, the cause of Mori's annoyance was not William. It was the subject he was on.

"A lot." Her voice was frozen. It was clear that that was all the detail she was going to give. "They are fast as well. Vampires can't go out in sunlight either or they'll burn up. They are strictly creatures of the night. Since their bodies aren't used to sunlight after being dead, the body dries up when there is too much exposure. Crucifixes will keep them at bay since they are a kind of unholy demon as will garlic and red roses. Vampires can only cross large bodies of water in their coffin. Don't ask me why, I haven't figured that part out yet. They also have no reflection. I don't fully understand why, so don't ask. All I can tell you is that it has something to do with their undead state. Is that enough?"

Will nodded, scribbling frantically on the piece of paper. Well, he certainly picked the right person to ask on this one. Mori was a fountain of information. Finally, once he had finished and glanced over his notes to make sure he hadn't missed anything, Will set down his pencil and glanced up at the dark girl. "Do you handle a lot of vampire assignments?"

Mori simply nodded. "I do."

"How many?" Will seemed intrigued. He'd never gone up against any major vampires before. Well, he'd have to see if bullets and explosives worked on them…mainly explosives.

"Too many." Mori's voice was frozen once again.

Will then fell silent for a moment. He looked up at Mori. He could see why she had the deadly reputation she did. She was dark and mysterious, but she certainly didn't look like a murderess, which made the monsters surprised when she killed them. However, it was obvious that she knew what she wanted. The air of confidence around her couldn't help but be noticed. The girl was an absolute force and one that was not messed with without dire consequences. Still, she had managed to surprise the young chemist.

"You aren't bad, Mori." Will told her as he got up. He moved back to his chemicals, lighting a small fire under a beaker. Mori's icy eyes followed him as did Logan's. The dog rose to his feet and padded over to the boy. Will smiled at the wolf-like canine and patted his head. Logan seemed pleased. "Despite what your reputation says."

"And what is my reputation?" Mori sounded very converstional, as if the answer really had evaded her. Will couldn't believe that her own reputation would have done such a thing. Will shrugged as he let the flame grow higher.

"That all you are is a cold, heartless killer that's unstoppable."

"They got one thing right then." Mori answered, a teasing smiled dancing in her eyes. Will just looked up at her questioningly, moving only his eyes to look at her. Secretly, he was hoping that the one part that was true wasn't the heartless killer part. Mori almost smiled when she continued.

"I am unstoppable."