The Tetua

Grace hadn't been sleeping well, anyone could see that; she now permanently looked like she was on the brink of exhaustion. She knew she was having nightmares but thankfully they faded as soon as she awoke leaving no memory but the sad feeling that something was missing. Only tonight would be different. She just didn't know it yet.

"So…have you talked to Grace yet?" Jacoby's asked teasingly.
"Not yet, but I will" Jasmine answered defensibly, folding her arms across her chest. Jacoby laughed as he caught sight of Connor, he raised his voice, "Hear that Tempest? Jaz is still planning on having an all girl's talk! Best go warn your sister!"

Connor grinned and shook his head as he quickly strode over to them, "I really don't think that's a good idea, Jasmine. I appreciate your enthusiasm but I really don't think that's what she needs."

She rolled her eyes, "Look I know you know you two don't feel comfortable talking about this kind of thing but it's not like were aliens from another planet or anything…"

Jacoby's eyes widened and his mouth went slack as he feigned shock, "Wait! What? I thought all girls were from Venus?!"
Connor couldn't help but laugh as Jasmine punched his arm, "Idiot!"

Grace gazed into the ocean, willing it to wash away all the bad feeling she had been harbouring recently, If only it weren't so blue…

Sometimes Grace liked to think her parents were watching over her, a trait she shared with Connor, but she dreaded to think what they'd say if they could see her now. Especially Sally. She had been spending way to much time thinking about Lorcan's attitude towards her mother but she'd never really given much thought to how Sally felt about Lorcan. And if she felt the same, where did that leave her father?

Grace gazed into the ocean, and blinked in surprise as a face gazed back at her. The face was pale, to pale to belong to anyone alive, but then it blinked too as if it was slightly surprised to see her. She nearly screamed. But she managed to stop herself; she couldn't stop the trembling though.

The face scared her. It didn't look hostile in any way but there was something wrong about it, something very very wrong. Grace knew she should run, she didn't know how she knew, just that she did know. But then the face vanished.

She hadn't even realised how breathless she was until it was gone. She was panting for air which didn't seem to exist and she hadn't even moved.

"Oi, Grace! Jasmine wants to talk to you!" Jacoby shouted across the deck.

Jasmine punched his arm again, hissing, "I can't talk to her later, moron, when she isn't busy."

"But how would I know you talked to her then? You could just lie and say you did."

"Gracie our you okay?" Connor asked, she had her back to them, but he knew instantly something was wrong, "Grace?"

She couldn't breathe, she wondered if it was possible for the creature in the water to have stolen the very breathe from her lungs. She could here Connor speaking to her, asking her if she was okay. She wasn't. Instantly he was at her side, "Grace look at me!"
Jasmine and Jacoby appeared too.

"Breathe…Just breathe. In and out." Grace obeyed Connor's commands. Until her lungs had returned to normal.

"What happened?"

"I have no idea" Connor answered Jacoby's question as he appeared at his side .

"Are you okay?" Jasmine asked Grace.

"I…yeah. I'm fine"

The three teenagers frowned at her, "You don't look fine,"

"You should sit down"

"Maybe we should find the ship's doctor or at least Cheng Li, so she'll give you the day off"

"No really I'm fine" She insisted.

"Does this have anything to do with what I'm thinking of right now?" Connor asked.

Grace couldn't read Connor's mind, at least not in the conventional sense, but she knew him almost as well as she knew herself. It wasn't hard to guess.

"No…or at least I don't think so…"

Then, Lorcan's warning flooded through her mind, 'You've begun something now that cannot be stopped. And it will have a terrible end for all of us'.

"You know what…I think I need to go lie down" Grace said already heading, below decks. Leaving her very confused and worried shipmates behind.

(((That Night)))

Grace knew she was dreaming because Lorcan was there, and the only way she could see Lorcan now was in dreams. He was standing next to Sally.

"Lorcan?" He didn't even turn to look at her. "Lorcan! Sally!" Grace shouted. They didn't seem to notice.

They were standing on a newly built pier, dressed in old fashioned clothes.

"How's the research coming along?"

Sally pouted her lip, annoyed, "It's coming along, fine, thank you."

Lorcan laughed, "Meaning you haven't found anything yet"

"Well maybe if someone helped me a little more often, instead of running off to the local tavern every night"

"Yeah well, I've been doing my own research, actually"

"You've found something?" Sally looked excited, like she had just gotten the best gift in the world. Grace wondered what they were talking about.

"Well…yes and no. There's a rumour going round about a ship you see"

"A ship" She echoed. Her face fell, the excitement gone, he voice now full of disappointment.

"A ship of Vampires"

She spun round, faster than Grace would have thought possible, to face Lorcan, "You think they can help us?"

"Maybe"

"Your hiding something"

He sighed, "I don't know if they have what were looking for, Sally. But they're offering a refuge, to all vampire's who don't want to be mindless creatures caught up in blood lust. We could have a home again."

The words stung Grace. It looked like they had hurt Sally nearly as much, "I don't want a home, I want to go home"

She buried her head in her hands, leaning against the railing for support. Lorcan laid a hand tenderly on her shoulders, "I know Sally, so do I, but we haven't got a home to go to"

Sally sighed, "Fine then, well go see what this ship of yours is like. Just to see."

"Just to see" he repeated with a smile.

"We're not staying there"

"No, of course not" He said cheerily. She glanced at him, a warning in her eye, "Lorcan…"

"Sally…"

"Shut up"

The dream shifted.

Grace now stood on a narrow outcrop of rock at the base of a cliff. The strip was to small for her to walk more than two paces lengthwise and even less endways. She looked up first; it was the stars which drew her attention, they seemed larger and far brighter than any star Grace had ever seen, save the actual Sun.

However, much of her view upwards was obstructed by the jutting out overhang. It was steep but the tide had eroded much of the base of the cliff, creating a hollow where she now stood. She let her eyes trace the outline of the rock face. She could just about make out dark shadowy shapes hiding in the cracks of the wall. She could tell they were birds, even in the dim light, but they were unnaturally silent and simply watched her, unnerving her. They were also completely black, which was why she probably hadn't noticed them earlier. Grace wasn't exactly a genius when it came to birds but she was pretty sure they were crows or ravens, or at least something very similar. But from what she could remember crows or ravens weren't found by the seaside….

Grace half smiled and shook her as she remembered, once again, that this was only a dream: not everything had to make scene. She laughed, mainly out of relief, accidentally startling the birds. A few flew down, swooping down close to the water before turning back into the cliff. Curious, she followed their flight, they seemed to disappear straight into the rock, but after giving her eyes a chance to adjust she could just make a few dark hollows etched into the wall. She laughed again. Caves. Of course there were caves, this was a dream it needed to be dramatic.

She wondered if there was a way to reach them. She knew she was standing on a miniature island of rock, surrounded by water, but the funny thing was she'd never looked down. She's simply know it.

She looked down now and nearly screamed.

Corpses. Everywhere.

She tried to take a step back but there was no room.
They lay there in the water, hair spread out like tentacles and icy limbs floating limply. Some were injured, covered in blood. But all were clearly dead.
'Please let this be a dream' Grace found herself muttering, 'Please let me wake up…'