Zoe looked at the clock. She turned when Brody opened the door and leaned in. He smiled at her but Zoe knew that he was just as worried as she was that they hadn't heard anything back yet. She turned back to look at Shaughn.
"Do you want something to eat, Zoe?" she heard Brody ask.
"No, I'm fine," Zoe answered.
She heard Brody leave the room. Zoe kept her eyes on Shaughn. She turned and looked at Shaughn's heart monitor. She saw the beating start to speed up a little. She took Shaughn's hand and held it tight.
"Come on, Shaughn. Come home."
Shaughn looked up and closed her eyes. She told herself she was imagining things. Her mother Lydia was not standing in front of her at that very moment. She opened her eyes but the version of her mother stayed there in front of her.
"Shaughn, I'm sorry," Lydia said.
"For what exactly? Being a horrible mother to Abby and me or for lying to me that Whistler was my father?"
Lydia sighed, "I'm sorry that you ever had to find out about this. I never wanted you to know."
Shaughn shot to her feet. She glared at her mother. Now she angry beyond words, "Never wanted me to know? I had every right to know that my entire life was a lie! How could you do that to me? Worse how could do that to Abby? How could you make her be the one to tell Whistler?"
"I was out of my mind in pain, Shaughn!"
"That was always your excuse Mom, you were always in pain. That's why you took all those drugs and anything else you could get your hands on. You never cared about Abby and me. Abby worked so hard to keep food on the table for me and you; you didn't even care about that. You never loved us."
Lydia shook her head, "I loved you, Shaughn. I just didn't know how to be a mother to you or Abby. I tried to give you both to Whistler after you were born. I really did. I knew that I wouldn't be able to take looking into your face every day knowing what I had let Ken and Asher do to you."
Shaughn shook her head, "That always was your way, Mother. If you couldn't deal you sent it away. Hell, it's why you sent Whistler packing, right? You couldn't deal with the fact that he wasn't ever going to commit to you. You may have had his child, but he was never going to marry you. Not after what happened to his first family."
"I had his children. You were his, Shaughn. No matter what I told your sister, I felt it in my heart."
Shaughn turned her back on her mother and let her tears fall, "I'm sorry, Lydia, but I stopped believing your lies a long time ago. I don't think I was Whistler's," she answered.
Lydia didn't answer back and Shaughn knew that Lydia had left. She closed her eyes and let more tears fall. She wanted to be with Hannibal. She needed him with her. She knew that he was the only one who could possibly help comfort her. He knew her and would know exactly what she needed to make the pain stop.
Hannibal moaned when Annicka sent him flying into the wall again. He slid down and laid on the floor. He rolled over and winced at the sharp pain he felt in his side. He ran his hand over it and couldn't feel anything but he was pretty sure that he had busted a rib or two. He looked up and saw Annicka leaning over him. She crossed her arms on her chest and smiled at him.
"You know, this is just too easy. Really. When my mother talked about you, I thought you were some big bad man. Turns out you're a little puppy."
"Yep, that's me, a regular cute little puppy," Hannibal answered rolling on his stomach and pushing himself up. He watched as Annicka stepped back and let him get to his feet. He was getting tired of getting the shit kicked out of him. Part of him wondered if maybe Blade hadn't abandoned him here with Danica's evil spawn.
"Cute is a bit of a stretch. I can't see at all what my mother saw in you."
Hannibal shrugged and smiled, "It's my charm."
Annicka sighed, "As much fun as this has been, I need to be going. I have a little date with Shaughn to keep."
Hannibal stiffened, "You are not going to get anywhere near her."
Annicka laughed, "Please. I am a vampire; I can do whatever I want."
Hannibal lunged at Annicka. Annicka had been expecting that response. She grabbed Hannibal and slammed him on the floor hard. She then quickly pulled a short dagger from her pants and stabbed Hannibal in the side. Hannibal wheezed and rolled away from her the dagger still sticking in his side. He couldn't breathe. Every breath he took caused a burning pain in his chest and he knew he wasn't getting enough air. He watched as Annicka's spiked heels walked around him and she stood in front of him.
"Have a nice death, Hannibal. I will tell Shaughn to expect you at the heavenly gates," she said before turning and walking out of the room.
Hannibal began to try and crawl after her, "Angel," he wheezed knowing that Shaughn was helpless and Zoe was with her. He had already lost too much. He was not going to lose his family.
Blade ran down the hallway. He stopped when he saw Annicka walk out of a room. She turned and began to walk towards him. She smiled at him. Blade grabbed his sword and held it out in front of him. He heard Gwen run up behind him as well. He could hear the rest of the team working on killing all the other vampires in the building. He smiled at Annicka.
"Are you ready to die?" he asked.
"No, Blade, I'm not. I have too much to live for," she answered.
She snapped her fingers and suddenly vampires began to appear from out of nowhere. Blade stood back to back with Gwen. He glanced back but saw Annicka walking away from him laughing. He turned back to Gwen. She looked at him and for a moment there was fear in her eyes. Then she nodded. Blade turned away from her and charged at the vampires.
Blade only needed to fight one vampire to know that there was something different about these vampires. They were faster than any other vampire he had faced. They seemed to move in milla seconds instead of just plain seconds. He managed to kill a couple but there were always three more in its place. He glanced at Gwen and saw that she was having the same problem. He cursed and moved as fast as he could through the vampires. He knew that wherever Annicka was headed, it was not good. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach that she was headed to finish things with Shaughn. He needed to hurry up and try to get to the hospital to stop her. Blade did not want to see Zoe become an innocent victim in Annicka's plan of revenge.
Zoe had given up all hope of Shaughn waking up. She sat in the chair beside Shaughn's bed and just stared at the wall. Zoe now thought that Shaughn was gone. It was only Shaughn Whistler's body that now laid in the hospital bed before her. She looked down at the stuffed cat and sighed. She ran her hand over its head and felt the soft fur there.
"I never even got to know your name," she whispered softly.
She turned quickly when the door to the room opened and slammed closed. Brody stood there his gun drawn. He pulled down the blind on the door and locked it. He then turned and closed the blinds on the window. He then turned and looked at Zoe. Zoe could see the fear on his face.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"I don't know. I am sure it's nothing," he tried to lie.
"Don't lie to me."
Brody nodded, "I heard screams downstairs. Get under the bed on the other side, Zoe. And don't move, no matter what happens. I promised Hannibal I would keep you safe."
Zoe nodded. She climbed out of the chair and quickly moved to the other side of the bed. She sat on the floor and hid under the bed. She reached up and grabbed Shaughn's hand. She closed her eyes and told herself not to cry. Hannibal would come and save her and Shaughn. Everything would be all right. She almost believed her lies. Then she heard a scream from down the hall.
Shaughn knew that something was wrong. She looked at her left hand and just stared at it. It felt like someone was holding it but no one was there with her. She looked up and there was just darkness. She closed her eyes and took a slow breath. The feeling didn't go away. She opened her eyes and felt tears instantly form in her eyes. Abby stood in front of her. She could see the blood on Abby's clothes. She shook her head.
"You're dead," she said.
"Yeah, I am. But you're not. Not yet at least," Abby answered.
"What does that mean?"
Abby shook her head, "You really don't remember anything do you. Annicka stabbed you, Shaughn. You didn't scream or yell out for Hannibal until Annicka was gone."
Shaughn closed her eyes and suddenly she felt this pain take over all of her body. She opened her eyes and almost doubled over. Abby grabbed her and helped her stand up straight. "Oh god, it hurts so much."
"I know it does, honey, I know. Unfortunately, you can't lie in that bed anymore. Zoe needs you," Abby stated.
Shaughn whimpered in pain, "I can't do this, Abby. I'm not you. I'm not even a Whistler. I was never meant to do any of this. You know that."
Abby held Shaughn up and focused her little sister to look into her eyes. "Shaughn, you are a Whistler. I don't care what Mom said or how shitty Whistler treated you because of it. You are my sister and that makes you a Whistler. I know you and I know that deep down, you were always meant to do this. I don't care what happened in the past, but right now in this moment, you need to believe that this is your destiny. You need to believe that you can do this."
Shaughn shook her head and let tears fall, "I can't. You were always the strong one, Abby. I wasn't."
Abby pulled Shaughn into a hug, "You're wrong, Shaughn. You were the strong one. You stood up to Whistler about King. I would never have been able to do that. You walked away and created a new life for yourself. I wouldn't have known where to start," Abby pulled away, "You are the strong one here, little sister. All you need to do is believe it. I know that you can do this. You can lead the team, you can build a life with Hannibal, and you can do whatever the hell you want. But first you need to get out of here."
Shaughn looked at Abby. She saw how much her older sister believed in her. She hugged Abby again and held her close. She let tears fall knowing that she didn't have Abby anymore to depend on. She pulled away and tried to give Abby a smile. She let her sister wipe away her tears.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," Shaughn whispered.
"It's all right. You just save Zoe."
Shaughn nodded. She closed her eyes. She thought about the darkness lifting. She opened her eyes and watched as the darkness around her began to lift. She saw the light coming and she started to run towards it. She had a job to do.