Unexpected Allies & Predators

Darcy

I remember the last time I saw her. I hate to be away from there. After the things that I have uncovered thus far, I fear for her safety. I dislike my youth because of my inexperience. I wish that I was better prepared. My kind lives a long time; often we go away and come back posing as our sons.

For example, my father was impossibly old by human standards, but my mother was his first wife.

How can we do it without being caught? It is complicated but doable; I just hope to find my companion soon. I don't fancy a long lonely life.

I sit to read the record of the time right after I left her.

Record...

… Bye, my dear, I think to myself. Her aroused scent is embedded deep in my senses. What is or was she thinking about? I know that it is for me. I hate to leave her with that predator. He will be after her if she comes near him.

I warned Collins with my eyes; I am his ruler, well, I will be when I decide to take my rightful place. I'm going to have to do it soon; my father is not coming back, not now, maybe not ever.

Collins knows this family is out for him, I know he received my message. I hope he heeds my warning. I agree with Uncle Rod; he has a mixed heritage. He has a predators blood mixed with ours, I can sense it around him.

There are nasty predators around. Abominations that is what they are, the entire lot. They come thru cracked portals; too bad that they are challenging to detect. There are also others, all over the place, but most don't even know their ancestry. It is best that way.

Damn George, allowing the dark to rule him; I could use his talents. My father thought that he wasn't lost since his father's strong heritage was part of him, how I wish. I think his mother is around poisoning him. If we could rescue him, I would be grateful; it is my daily prayer. He is a true warrior, so if I found his mother, I would kill her, burn her body and scatter her ashes; and maybe, we could win him back. I also miss his father. He is dead, to this world anyway, his mind was intact. We were able to save his other life. We think it was aunt Catherine's doing,

George was the one who discovered Collins' secrets and much about Aunt Catherine. I still hope he returns, but now it feels hopeless.

"Ruben is here; he has a message for you. I wanted to tell you; I saw my cousin taking to Wickham." Johnathan tells me.

I raise my eyebrow, "So what? George can be friends with anyone." Or does Johnathan know something I don't?

"Don't know, he seems off after he talks to him."

"I will check him thanks." Shadow grumbles, you need to do that.

Why do you dislike them? He is quiet, so an idea crosses my mind. Johnathan family's name is Snoops, for a reason. They were master snoops, and I wonder if they might have something on Shadow. An idea worth exploring. He dislikes many of my people, he hates the Teds, Theodore Jonathan, and Theodore Ruben.

Shadow growls, You are ridiculous and wrong.

Am I? I wonder and snicker; I think that I am on the right track. I hear him growling, now I am sure. Probably it is related as to how he manages to take over while I am sleeping.

I close the door of my room; I am anxious to look at my Alm above my eyebrow. I uncover it with a pass of my hand and look at the mirror in which I see it. We are all born with it, and it is modified upon birth during our naming. The Alm is around barely raised mark, it identifies families and bloodlines. We all have them. The dots came with us when we arrived, the knowledge of how to form them is in the old books.

As the ruler I am obliged to record my day, others have choices I don't; thus, I remove the recording dot and place it on top of my journal, where it will transcribe the critical events of the last day. Nobody can read them unless I am in trouble or dead, At the same time, I move the second dot to the recording slot.

Meanwhile, I look at my Alm, carefully. It now has a strange symbol, one I have seen often; it is on the coin I never take off. If not the same they are similar, meaning what? I think of possibilities and make a decision.

We need the old books, but the price is my freedom. And that is too high because I don't want all this responsibility. The vaults will not open unless I take my place.

I always dreamed of George as my third, not my second, that will have to be either Bartlett or Richard, not sure which one of the two, the other will be our ambassador. Bull and his brother will be part of the echelon. Then there are the elders, Aunt Catherine, Uncle Eustace, Uncle Rod, along with others all around the globe. No, I don't want it. Damn George, all his promises were mere lies.

George's great-grandfather was my great-great aunt's bastard child. So he is of my blood. We didn't know that until the day my father told him. He found markings belonging to my family, and he insisted he was my father's son.

I now uncover my arm where it also burnt, and I only see a tattoo, a small one. The mark that I now have is a flower, I think. Occasionally, minor marks like this one appear on all of us, but we don't know their meaning because we have lost a lot of our knowledge.

I call Pick, but Swift also comes. Mucky must be prowling around his favorite goddess, Miss Bingley, he is incorrigible. We all have tried to no avail. He likes her and now brings her dead birds, he drops them by her feet hoping for a pet, not a scream.

Swift growls, he is not happy when I tell Pick his duty for the next days. I laugh, so he also has a tender heart for Elizabeth? Or is he after Miss Cleo? He starts whining softly, "You can help, but only help. She cannot have a pack living with her." He goes cracker dog and runs in circles chasing his tail that is suspiciously long. "No tail, no, no." I laugh. Yes, that is their saving grace, they are clowns.

Now, I call Bull, and ready a few things for her for my enchantress. I wrap a shawl with something extra, something to protect her against Collins.

Before I go to sleep, I call Thunder, just to look around the area. Maybe I will see the shadows and figure out what they are. Bull joins me; he is fast.

We go back to my room, we haven't changed, and I don't worry since I am sure that my door is locked. We like to be in our pure form when together. Shadow likes to pull rank. He always wears all the symbols of power; my father used to laugh.

Hurst doesn't knock and just barges in, we didn't hear him.

We freeze, what comes next is a surprise, Hurst might lack in many ways, but not in imagination.

"How exciting, no, no need to worry. I have seen you before, I've been noticing. Did you know that your books call me in the library? Are you a fairy? You can trust me, all my life I suspected beings as you existed. I saw the little dragon, he is that, isn't him. Or are you angel, wait you wear a circlet, a Fey prince, no…"

"No, no, no," I stop him.

Bull is guffawing. Hurst looks like a young child, a look of innocent wonder.

"May I?" I ask because I want to touch his mind, not an in-depth search.

He nods eagerly. First thing I see, I have to close my eyes, Louisa is everywhere; these aren't memories that I should see, my, my. I want to laugh. No wonder he goes to 'sleep' as soon as they can make an excuse.

Quickly, I concentrate on seeing his intentions; he has none, all he truly wants, is to be part of my life. I search my heart, and all I see is a loyal ally, I could use one.

"First Bull and I need a couple of drops of your blood," he doesn't even blink an eye and pulls a small pocket knife, pricks his finger and stretches to me.

He doesn't ask why; Bull makes a face, meaning that he is trusting us.

Hurst is mesmerized looking at me. I touch the blood and put it on my tongue; Bull does the same. We both smile because we taste the same thing in his blood.

"One of your ancestors, ahem, long ago, was one of us. Ahem, very distant, imagine that."

Bull looks at me; he is a little surprised when he hears me but lets it go.

"How do you know?"

"Because you have a faint trace of a compound only in our blood."

"Gawd, I like that. Are you made out what? May I touch?"

I nod.

"Warm, stone, skin, what? I know, I am asking too many questions. Sorry, I am just so excited. Louisa will be looking for me. Whatever you need, am at your service. So what are you? A vampire?"

"No, we are not from this world, but we are not predators," I answer; he needs to slow down.

We go over a few things. I point the concentrator at Hurst. Since I took his blood, I can mark him invisible to human eyes, but others like me, within my circle will recognize him as trustworthy. He vows according to our laws, and we explain that the vow is binding and the consequences of breaking it.

Before he leaves, I ask him to watch out for Collins. He doesn't need more warnings; he already knows that neither Louisa nor Charles can be told.

"Before you leave, I understand why you feel the books, because of your blood. No wonder that you have such a keen eye, and you are a good hunter."

He comes and grabs my upper arm, in a sign of affection, "This and the day I found the book are the best days of my life." Before he leaves, I touch him again, a gift.

"That was unexpected," Bull comments, "why didn't you tell him the entire truth?"

"I did, sort of. I have a theory I need to test. It is good to have an ally."

I read more, and once I finish reading, I am more concerned than ever. I hope Hurst has kept quiet. I am sure he has. He couldn't have come forward at a better time. Damn Bennett, he is something else, a spineless greedy fool, and now to meet with Georgiana.

Xxxxx

Elizabeth

Mr. Collins has not left me alone and hunted me down every second.

Today we are going shopping. Of course, he was quick to come with us. By now nobody likes him. His good looks only impress my mother.

We are enjoying the day. I have several new books and ribbons. We go by the best dressmaker, "Let's look at the new fashion plates," I tell my sisters. Once we decide which dress we want, we pick the cloth for a dress for each of my sisters.

For a change, we don't worry about the price of the best looking cloth. Afterward, we go by the cobbler for new slippers to match the dresses. They all look so happy; I am as well.

We stop to buy new reticules and a new perfume bottle. Finally, we buy sweets to bring home.

My sisters all thank me profusely, "We will look better attired than the superior sisters," Mary declares, and we all agree.

All is nearly perfect until Mr. Collins manages to ruin the day.

"Why do you have so much coin with you and why do you spend it frivolously in garments your sisters don't need? Such finery is better suited for life in London, one they will never see. Besides, you should be saving your money for your future family and not wasting it on others."

He speaks loud enough for the entire street to hear him, and I blush furiously red. Pick who is following me along with Swift, who now appears at Longbourn regularly, snarls at Mr. Collins, who is genuinely afraid of the drag-dogs as I call them.

I assume the other two dogs are the same than Pick, which begs the question, why does Mr. Darcy own them? Is he a warlock?

Nonsense, those so-called witches, warlocks and others like them, are only charlatans. Or are they? I must wonder since I doubt my own nature.

I think of talking to my father, but he would think I am mad. Maybe Charlotte, no, I dismiss that right away, before sundown Maria would have told the entire town. I have no option but to wait for Mr. Darcy.

My day isn't over, we have a card game at Aunt Phillips, who I detest and the feeling is mutual. If my mother is loud and coarse, Aunt Phillips is the same tenfold and a bigger gossip than Mother.

We all walk together, you guess with not one, but the entire pack in tow, and I am sure Miss Cleo is hiding in the shadows following as well. This indicates how much they distrust Mr. Collins.

That is the other thing, they might have animals, but their intellect is that of a young human child, and they possess the cunning of a seasoned warrior. Besides that, they are naughty, stubborn, quite disobedient, and willful, each one of them; however, Miss Cleo shows a bit more restraint.

Mr. Darcy knew that I would be safe with Pick, though I fear that my mother might soon discover Cleo.

Mr. Collins has not yet asked me to marry him, but I am sure it is a matter of a short while, and I have made my mind up. I plan to leave home and go and look for the Von Stern before I marry him, never, I wouldn't do so.

Phillips Home- Wickham and Predators

Wickham honed on Elizabeth and wondered who the stranger was; there was something familiar about him. Oh dear, he knew, he now wore his hair short and dark. He would stop him and wouldn't allow one like him to prey upon humans.

He might have fallen hard, but he still retained his training and his vows. Collins was a predator, and he had no regard for ones like him.

"A gambling den, this will not do my dear, I must remove you from this place. It might seem innocuous, but it is full of wickedness and temptation." Collins grabbed Elizabeth's arm and gave Wickham a cool look.

Wickham laughed with glee, "My dear vicar, this is a family home, your zealous comportment is risible; so please don't give others an excuse for a good laugh."

Elizabeth looked at Wickham, a very handsome officer; yet, something about him stopped her from agreeing with him. She sensed some sickness on him, couldn't describe it, like a black wrap around him.

For once she agreed with Collins, "Not that I think this is a den of gambling," she chuckled at the silliness, "but I have a headache, if you are going home I will go with you, let me tell Mother."

Mrs. Bennett smiled slyly and encouraged her to walk back with Mr. Collins. Elizabeth suddenly realized that she had made a mistake, and going alone with him might not be a good idea.

a/n Hmm...