Thunder rumbles above my house and one of the babies strikes out, startled. The lights flicker and I groan slightly, of all the times for the power to go out it had to be now. My five months are up and the kids know it. Presently, I'm in the spare off the living room with a clear plastic tarp under me. A fair amount of blood is pooled around me, that's what happens when a vampires water breaks... what else is the mini vampire going to survive on?

Pain sears my lower abdomen and my back arches against the light blue wall behind me. I'm not completely in the trace yet and I wish it would take affect soon. Another boom of thunder followed by a bright flash outside the window above me and then I'm plunged into darkness as the power flashes out. Now my only illumination is the frequent lightning strikes, but honestly, that is the least of my concerns right now.

With a small start, I realize that my body is starting to numb, a dull burn in my throat is the only thing telling me that it isn't my imagination. One by one, my cramped muscles relax as the trance nears. Then I think of something that almost made me cry... no one would be around to take care of them after they were born. I would be unconscious for some time, they would be half grown. A strangled whimper escapes my clamped lips. But even this sense of horror can't last long against the trance as even it melts into nothing.

The debilitating labor pains had started just as suddenly as the storm, I hadn't had my cell with me when I was in the kitchen getting a bag of blood. I was lucky to have made it in here period. Carol had been checking in on me everyday since I quit Treasure Island temporarily, but she had gotten stuck with a boring night shift tonight of all nights. And despite McKay's promise, I hadn't had one single communication from Todd...

One last stab of pain broke through the numbness before everything seemed to take a back seat and I felt myself slump into the corner as my vision darkened to nothing.

oOo

Finally, home.

I glanced at Faith's house through the sheets of pouring rain. The thunder part of the storm had ended two hours before I was let off but the rain had picked up tempo. I pull into my driveway and throw the car in Park before shutting off the engine. With a relieved sigh, I get out and make my way into my house. Automatically, I reach over to flip the switch for light but nothing happens. Stupid. Power had gone out all over Vegas around three last night, and even though it was five now the power hadn't been returned. TI had at least had a generator so it wasn't plunged into darkness.

Feeling beaten down, I walk through the entrance way and go into the kitchen to get a glass of cool orange juice. It was suppose to be cold. I place the glass in the sink before I look at the my five month old new couch, and my thoughts veer toward Faith next door. It is early morning, but maybe she will be up still. I hadn't said anything but I was worried about her sudden insomnia that seemed to prevent her from even resting let alone sleeping. These last few weeks had been killer, on both of us. Faith had looked like a ghost before I had headed off to work last night. Only thing is... ghosts I don't think looked pained every time they breathe.

Worry floods my mind as I look over at the front door, maybe I should just go over and see how she's doing, let her know that I'm back. I also hadn't said anything about her being alone all the time now, her significant other, from what I had gotten out of her, hadn't contacted her since he left. In my book, that is beyond cruel.

Sighing heavily, I grab my keys from the bar separating the entrance and step back out into the down pour. I lock the door before jogging along the brick path that I had had put in for just this reason. I stopped at Faith's door and knocked on the smooth hard surface. I didn't see an candle light or anything but that didn't mean anything, she liked the dark. I wait six seconds before knocking again, harder this time. I pause mid way when the door squeaks on it's hinges as it opens ominously. I have a brief flashback to every horror movie I've ever seen with a scene like this and my breathing hitches for an instant.

This can't be good.

Cautiously, I step inside, happy that I can see without having to swipe the rain out of my eyes now, but still a little freaked out. Faith isn't that careless. A little strange, yes, but not careless.

" Faith?" my voice echoes eerily in the seemingly empty house. I suppressed a shiver as my eyes adjusted in the din. I doubt I'll ever understand why she painted her walls black, or why all she ever has to drink is this weird cranberry tomato stuff that looks like fresh blood. I know she joked once about being a vampire and saying her significant other was an alien, but jeez.

" Faith? Are you here?" I step further into the house, closing the door behind me to keep the hard rain out. Wishing desperately for some form of light, I pull my cell from my back pocket and flip on the lantern mode. The screen went white and when I pointed it in front of me cast a spooky glow over the dark house.

Chewing my bottom lip, I walk into the living room but I don't see anything to tell me why the door was open. A feeling of dread filling my body, I go to the kitchen. The dread to to out right hysteria as the light hits a large dark spot on the wood floor. Resisting the urge to run out into the night screaming, I inch forward, straining my senses for any sound other than my own. Hearing nothing, I kneel down and reach my hand not holding my cell down into the dark spot. It wasn't wet, but crusty. And now that I was closer to it I detected a slight coppery scent to it. Shaking I stand up, fearing for the life of my friend. The dark stain had to be blood, at least an hour old.

Trying to keep my head clear, I head back to the door, with ever intention of standing in the rain calling the police and crying my eyes out. I was in between rooms when a soft sound reached me. I nearly jumped out of my skin before I realized it was the sound of a child, I had heard it enough from day cares and my sister's little ones.

Faith had been pregnant.

Scared senseless of what I might find, I walk back into the living room, following the soft but obviously pained sound of more than one baby. I narrow it down to the furthest door, the spare room the I had helped Faith decorate on one of her good days. The door was cracked open and I could see a sliver of light blue wall and wood floor. Ready to jump back at a moments notice, I push the door open. First I see the wicker chair with light blue cushions, then the full sized bed with off white coverings, the window had it's curtains pulled back and I could see the back yard. I pause when I see plastic on the floor, fearing the discovery of Faith's body completely, I push the door open suddenly. My cell slips from my grasp and falls to the floor with a sickening crunch before the light winks out. Surrounded by darkness again, I run over what I had seen.

Faith, prompt up in the corner a top the plastic, dried blood pooled around her in a dark mass, and two slightly wiggling forms by her feet. Her face had caught the glow, her eyes open and unseeing, her skin paler than was humanly possible, she had looked like she had actually shrunk in on herself or something. The forms at her feet had to be the twins... how long had the poor things been laying here, helpless?

Knowing my cell was broken, why else would the light have gone out, I stumble forward and lean over to pat the ground for the babies. I flinch when I touch Faith's left foot, it was to cold. Something brushes against my other hand and I feel small fingers flexing.

Starting to cry, I grab the painfully frail forms of the pitifully quiet babies. They were crusty with dried blood and what ever else is in a womb, and they hardly moved as I walked sadly to the wicker chair. I couldn't take them outside in this rain, I couldn't call for help...

The baby on my right gave a dry cry, like it was choking on a swollen throat. My heart constricted as I pulled them into my rain slicked jacket. They stopped moving after that and I honestly feared the worst. My vision blurred as tears started to flow freely, everything was just wrong. It wasn't suppose to have happened like this. Faith was probably dead, her children soon to follow, her Todd no where to be seen, not even Jennifer who had been almost annoying in her frequent visits.

Through my daze, I registered that the twins were shifting their little bodies, pushing their heads into my arms and body. It seemed only natural, they were hungry, tired, cold, and in pain. They probably thought that I was their mom come to take care of them. I gasp as something suddenly pierces the skin of my arm on the right, quickly followed by a similar feeling on the left. It hurt beyond belief but I all I could do was stare up at the ceiling as my head lulled back. I started to shake and get light headed as pin pricks, like needles under the skin, spread throughout my body. My vision clouded as my heart raced on trying to pump blood to my brain, but it didn't help. Just as the everything vanished around me, I heard a soft sweet little voice that should have belonged to some sort of mystical creature.

" Do not worry... Carol. We will not kill you. You are going to sleep now. Have faith.