When Leigh woke up her head was fuzzy. She managed to sit up and look around, but the strange surroundings only served to confuse her further. It was several minutes before her head cleared enough to make sense of her surroundings. When she realized she was sitting on a cot in a small closed room she instantly jumped up to try the door. She was unsurprised to find it locked.
The memory of what had happened right before she blacked out was crowding her mind. She was having difficulties keeping her panic at bay. The only reason she had not broken down yet was because she was still alone in the room.
She forced herself to not focus on her predicament. Instead she tried to focus on how she could get out of it. Another cursory glance around the room showed her that there were no windows, so being able to escape that way was not going to happen. After looking around the room for anything else she might have missed she sat down on the cot to try and figure out her next moves. She finally gave herself a once over to make sure she was still untouched and was pleasantly surprised she had not been disarmed. She knew that her little gun would have very little effect on her captor, but it might serve some purpose. It made her feel a little better anyway.
She had no sense of how long she had been alone in the room. She was still trying to figure out an escape, but the constant effort was starting to give her a headache. She ignored it the best she could.
To try and stave off her panic she got up to search the room one more time. She hoped she would find something she had missed. So far, she had still found nothing she could use. She was concentrating so hard, and her nerves were so tense, that when the door finally creaked opened it caused her to scream.
She recovered quickly but seeing the man that had walked in and closed the door behind himself made her heart rate shoot up even further. She knew he had been the person to take her; she remembered seeing his face clearly before she blacked out, but that didn't make it any easier to have it confirmed.
She was now faced with something out of her nightmares and it took everything she had not to lose her nerve completely and faint dead away from fear. As it was, the best she could accomplish was managing to keep her knees from buckling. She couldn't even push any words passed her lips.
The man only stood and watched her for a short while without saying anything. Finally, Leigh realized that she could clearly read the other person in the room with her and she was floored by what she found. It was nothing like what she had found the last time she had been confronted with him, so it was hard for her to take in. The man in front of her held a sadness deeper than anything she had ever felt before.
While her instincts still screamed to run away, there was a small part of her that could only think about making that feeling go away. She caught herself before that small part of her could act. She was absolutely positive the person in front of her would not appreciate any attempt from her to do so, not to mention she was now suspicious of anything she felt from him. The difference was too drastic.
Focusing on those thoughts allowed her to calm down enough so she could speak finally. She was still terrified, but she knew standing there staring wasn't going to accomplish anything. "What do you want with me?"
Her voice had barely squeaked out, but she knew he heard her. He didn't answer right away, instead he moved to one of the chairs by a small table across the room. She hadn't taken her eyes off him the whole time, so she didn't miss it when he gestured for her to take the other one.
The last thing she wanted was to make him angry, but she was having a challenging time convincing her feet to move her closer. He exuded danger like a regular person breathed. She finally won the fight and moved to sit across from him. She made a point of making sure the table was between them though.
Once she was seated he gave her a polite smile but now that she was able to pay closer attention to him she could tell it never reached his eyes. The contrast in his polite demeanor and the atmosphere around him was confusing to Leigh, not to mention the fact that what she was feeling from him had not changed at all.
"I sent out an invitation for someone to join me and since you are wearing the pendant I sent with it, I assumed you had accepted my invite." His statement confirmed one thing Leigh had thought but it added even more questions.
"This is yours then?" Leigh pulled the pendant out and held it up, so it could be clearly seen.
"That is a stone from my own heart. Can you not feel it resonating?" At his question Leigh finally took her eyes off him long enough to look at the pendant. She was used to it emitting a soft light and the warmth it put off, but now that light was softly pulsing, like a tiny heartbeat. The thought that it was connected that intimately to the man sitting across from her had her dropping it as if it burned her.
Her eyes were instantly back on him. His face had not changed. If her reaction had any effect on him at all she couldn't see or feel it. Even with that being the case she had to fight the urge to jump up and run. Only the knowledge that there was nowhere for her to go kept her in her seat.
She forced herself to focus on her breathing to calm her heart. He watched her while she fought to bring herself back under control. Finally, she was calm enough to talk again. "So, this was an invitation? That doesn't really explain why… why me?"
"There are many things across the universe I can change or control but the most important are still out of even my reach. I do not plan for that to be the end. I will accomplish my goals." There was a quiet ferocity that accompanied his words. His tone was not harsh, but she couldn't help but feel it.
Unfortunately, his answer got her no closer to understanding than she had been earlier. "Is that intended to mean I am somehow supposed to help you meet those goals? What could I possibly do to help someone like you?"
Leigh knew her last question bordered on rude with the tone she used but she couldn't hold it back anymore. It wasn't that she wasn't still scared, but her frustration at the whole situation was outweighing her good sense.
She still felt relieved when he apparently took no offence at her tone. Instead he gave her another small smile, but it seemed as if he wasn't really smiling at all. "There will be plenty of time to go over that. For now, you will need to eat and rest. Someone will be in shortly with your meal. I only wanted to assure you that I have no plans to harm you."
Leigh couldn't believe what she just heard. The man in front of her, who she was sure was probably the most powerful person anywhere at that point in time was assuring her safety. She still had no idea what his plans included but she knew he would not have contrived to have her pulled 10000 years into the future for no reason. She was also sure that she probably would not appreciate his plans, so his reassurance was somewhat hollow.
She had been so thrown by his random statement that he was already on his way out before she could react. It finally struck her that she may not have the opportunity to ask questions again. Something told her their next encounter would be less pleasant, at least for her. As terrified as she was by the thought of confronting him she still managed to jump up and call out to him.
She was surprised when he paused at the door. "Wait! If you don't want to tell me what your plans are, fine, but can you at least tell me how I got here in the first place? What exactly do you think someone like me could do for someone like you?"
His gaze traveled down to the pendant hanging around her neck before he finally answered. "Willpower can be an amazing thing. A strong will can accomplish many things that otherwise would seem impossible."
With that cryptic answer he left, and she heard the lock click when the door closed. She turned and kicked the closest chair in frustration. While she was now fairly certain he knew when she was from and that he had pulled her there on purpose she was still in the dark in regard to just about everything else.
The chair had come to rest against the locked door but was pushed aside when it opened again moments later. The sight of the man that entered the room had her on high alert again. It was easy to see that he was a vampire. The look he leveled at her was cold. She could feel the fact that he wanted nothing more than to break her but was holding back.
He had a tray in his hands that she had not noticed at first. He made his way to the table, taking extra care not to touch her. He had not said a word to her and she didn't push him. His animosity would have been clear even if she hadn't felt it. He turned to leave as silently as he had come in. He only paused at the door to give her a warning. "Eat everything or you will not appreciate the next attempt."
Leigh had to bite her tongue to keep from saying what she really wanted to. The man was obviously not the one in charge, but she didn't want to provoke him. Her stubborn streak had finally surfaced at the wrong moment. He had paused long enough for her to respond and when she didn't he gave her a smirk before closing the door.
Her first instinct was to take the tray and throw it against the door, but she kicked the downed chair again instead. Some instinct told her no matter what the first man had said the second would have no problem with making sure she followed orders in whatever way he deemed appropriate.
Her wariness did not stop the string of curses she hurled at the closed door. It was several minutes before she calmed enough to even look at what she had been brought. When she lifted the lid from the tray she was surprised to see what looked like a full three course meal. The smell was enticing as well.
She cautiously pushed everything around on the plate but couldn't find anything that looked strange. She knew that didn't mean much but she finally gave in and started eating. It was surprisingly good.
Once she started eating it didn't take long for her to finish. She hadn't realized she had been that hungry, but it made her wonder how long she had been out. She knew it had to have been at least a day since she ate last but given the fact she had no idea how long she had been unconscious, it could have been much longer.
Once her hunger was satisfied, she went back to trying to figure out how to get out. Since there were no windows she tried to see if there was a way for her to get the door open. A closer look provided her with no new options.
She briefly wondered if her gun could possibly blast a hole in the door allowing her to get it open, but she quickly discarded the idea. Even if she was able to get it open she was positive the noise would draw someone's attention and she didn't want to get stuck in a hallway with no clue how to get out and being chased by someone that would probably be willing to hurt her to get their way.
As an alternative she thought about blasting the wall opposite the door, but the same issues came with that option as well. Not to mention that she was sure there had to be some form of monitoring in the room. She doubted they would leave her unwatched.
The thought of being monitored had her looking all over the room again to see if she could find anything. When nothing came up she felt worse. She knew that it didn't mean she wasn't monitored, but instead that it was just well-hidden.
By that time, she was getting desperate to find a way out. She didn't want to wait and find out what the plans for her were. She pressed her ear to the door to see if any sound came through. She couldn't hear anything but more importantly she couldn't feel any presences either.
When she realized there was no presence anywhere in her radius she began to wonder if it would be worth it to try to break out. She knew they could catch her easily if she couldn't get out fast enough, but she also realized that she would be able to feel them and run the opposite direction. That observation served to concrete her decision.
Now that she had a plan of action she instantly worked on making it happen. If she was being observed she didn't want to hesitate and let someone figure out what she planned. She paced around the room one more time but as soon as she was opposite the door she pulled her gun and shot at the door all in one motion.
The action in her small room caused a larger noise than she had been anticipating but she didn't let it stop her. The smoke hadn't even cleared before she ran to the door. She was happy to see her little weapon had been able to blast a good-sized hole in the metal door. She was only lucky it hadn't been shielded as well.
She was able to open the door with a good push. Once in the hall way she paused only long enough to get her bearings and see if she felt anyone drawn by the noise. She instantly noticed someone approaching quickly from the left, so she ran down the right side of the corridor.
She didn't pay much attention to the twists and turns she took. The only thing she payed attention to was the feel of the other people around her, taking whatever turn she could find to get away from those presences.
She could feel at least one presence getting closer. She knew they were still not too close but couldn't help looking back anyway. Before she could look back around she ran headlong into something so hard it knocked her back. She was stunned for a moment, especially since she had seen nothing in the corridor before she turned, but that instantly turned to horror as she looked up.
The pair of vermillion eyes looking down at her now were devoid of any of the politeness they had tried to show earlier. She didn't understand how she hadn't noticed his presence before she ran into him but was shocked as she finally realized she was currently feeling nothing from him at all.
She could tell that he was less than pleased. His cold words sent a chill down her spine. "I am disappointed you find my hospitality so objectionable. Unfortunately, the alternative rooms are not nearly as welcoming. I had hoped it would not come to this." His eyes had her trapped; his words echoing through her was the last thing she could grasp before descending into darkness again.
As soon as D had found the direction of Leigh's presence he knew where she had been taken. Currently he was pushing his cyber horse as fast as he could. He hoped the beast could last at those speeds.
He only gritted his teeth harder together when he thought about how long it would take to reach her. The idea of her being hurt or used made his eyes start to turn red before he pulled his aura back. He knew it wouldn't serve for him to go into the situation angry.
He had difficulties keeping his rage down when his companion picked that moment to intercede. "You know it isn't like you to drop everything for someone else. Did someone manage to get under your skin finally?"
D couldn't hold back a low growl. It didn't have any effect on the carbuncle except to make him laugh harder. "Well, honestly I think it's about time you thought about someone else for a change, just don't forget her situation… or your own."
At those words the vampire hunter clenched his left fist hard enough his knuckles cracked at the pressure. He knew his constant companion had a point, but his only focus was making it to the girl's location before the worst could happen.