Chapter 13: Final Choices

Celeste fell to the ground, blood dripping from her mouth. Her breathing was heavy and her movements slow. She hadn't realized how out of shape she was until she was put in a room with Margo. She slowly picked herself up, gripping the knife in her hand, and turned to face him. He was in bade shape too; Celeste cut him a few times here and there (most of them pretty deep) and his lip was cracked. Margo spit some blood out and looked at the two-way mirror, Celeste followed his gaze. Both of them knew that Malcolm and a few others were watching, seeing as all of them enjoyed watching Margo and Celeste fight. Celeste looked back at Margo and steadied herself -she knew his fighting techniques, he was always the first to charge, and charge he did. He came at her in long strides, almost moving in slow motion to Celeste. He gripped his knife and stretched it out towards her. Celeste quickly moved to her right, moving his arm in the same time, and stepped around him before spinning and making a swift cut down his back. Margo banged against the wall and pounded his fist against it before turning around and charging back at her.

Celeste steadied herself again, anticipating his moves, however, she was unprepared for his next attack. He jumped from one leg to the other before going down to the ground and pulling Celeste's legs from under her with the swipe of his food. Her shoulder hit the ground first, a crack reverberating through out the room, followed by the rest of her body. Margo came to his feet and pulled his leg back before thrusting it into her stomach, repeating the act countless times before she blocked it with her hands and grabbed his foot, taking her knife and driving it into his name. His scream filled her ears as he reached down and grabbed the knife, slowly pulling it out as Celeste found the strength the get to her feet; she grabbed the hair at the nape of his neck and drove it down as she brought her knee up, colliding his bloody face with her dark blue jeans before throwing him to the ground and kicking him in the face one last time. Margo was out cold. Celeste put her hands on her knees, her chest heaving up and down as she struggled to catch her breath. The adrenaline coursing through her slowed and her side was bleeding profusely. She lifted up the side of her shirt, wincing at the slightest movement, and looked at the wound. Margo cut her clean across; about five inches, maybe six. It was the worst he had ever done, and it was deep. Celeste covered it back up and gripped her side.

It was a few minutes before anyone came to get her, she lost a lot of blood and the only thing they would do was stitch her up before throwing her into the fake room, which was actually a vampire holding chamber, it's walls coated with a layer of melted down silver. Eric jumped to his feet from a chair he had been lounging in in the corner of the room at the sight of Celeste. He was at her side instantly and turned her on her back, saying her name.

"Celeste." Her eyes struggled to stay open and flickered open and closed repeatedly. Eric struggled to control himself at the smell of her. Her body was soaked in blood, especially her torso, but he could tell that some of it was not hers. He lightly smacked her face, trying to get her attention. "Celeste come on, stay with me." Eric knew she wasn't going to die, not unless she healed quickly. He could see a pool of blood forming on the side of her and stepped around her, lifting up the side of her shirt to see the poorly stitched gash there. "What the hell did they do to you?" He growled under his breath and carefully carried her over to the bed. He laid her on his lip and bit his wrist, blood quickly pouring from him. "Here, drink." Was all he said before placing his wrist against her mouth. With what strength she had, Celeste pushed his wrist away.

"Don't." It was barely a whisper, but Eric could hear here. He placed his wrist back to her lips, but she pushed it away again. "If you don't you will die." He said sternly, repeating the act for the third time. Celeste rejected him again.

"Maybe it is for the best." Celeste looked at him.

"I'll decide what is for the best." Eric looked back at her.

"You wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for me."

"That's true. But I would rather be here with you, enduring the pain, instead of wondering where you are." Eric grinned.

"You're stupid Eric Northman. And pathetic."

"We made a deal." Eric pulled her closer to him. "You think I'm gonna let you back out just because someone else wants you?" There was silence for a long times and Eric could feel her blood soaking into his clothes. He rested his chin on her head. "Let me help you." For once, Celeste didn't protest. Eric tipped her head back and bit into his already healed wrist. Celeste opened her mouth as much as she could while Eric pressed his wrist against her lips. She could feel his thousand year old blood taking affect almost immediately. Her head stopped hurting and the pain in her side slowly started to fade along with the other injures that had been inflicted upon her. Strength returned to her lips, her hands going to Erics wrist, pressing it closer to her mouth. Once her pain was gone all she could taste was him; his blood scorching down her throat but sweet, smooth, and cold all at the same time. The taste of him was overwhelming as her eyes started to glaze over with a series of emotions, but mostly lust, as she realized how much he desired her. At this sudden connection Eric pulled away, his injury healing slower than usual and laid Celeste down on the bed.

Sleep quickly over took her and Celeste yielded to it. Eric carefully stripped her of her blood soaked clothes and threw them in a corner of the room, leaving her in just her panties and bra. In any other situation he would have been attracted to the sight, but at the moment, all he felt was pity and compassion for the woman. He quickly covered her with the massive blanket and laid down next to her, questions pooling in his head like a swarm of bees. When she woke up he was going to get answers, no matter what.

When Celeste awoke, she found herself bound to a hard, cold surface. A bright light shined like the sun in her face and she struggled to open them, trying to lift her hand to cover her lids but was unable to. She struggled on the surface, writhing back and forth the break the bonds and frantically looking around the room. It was a large operating room, like the ones she saw on T.V. where people could look down through a giant mirror to see what was happening. The room was dome shaped and completely white, except for the two-way mirror that was fifteen feet to her right. She looked at the mirror, only to see her reflection, then it became slightly translucent and she could see people behind the mirror. She struggled to control herself once she realized who it was. The Council consisted of the head-honchos' of the VAIN Organization. They were the ones that gave the orders and were practically never seen except when a great problem arose. Celeste knew she was in trouble now. She took a deep breath and tried to relax on the hard surface, which turned out to be a metal operating table. She would have no choice but to comply with them A voice erupted over an intercom:

"State your name." It was a man.

"Celeste Abigail Monroe." She lightly tugged on the leather bonding at her wrist.

"Ms. Monroe," A different man spoke. "You have been accused of countless offenses against the Vampire Annihilation and Intelligence Notice Organization. The offenses are as follows: not completing a mission, disobeying orders from your commander of the district, attacking a fellow comrade, abrupt disappearance, refusing to carry out orders pertaining to a target, killing a fellow comrade, hiding a target, stealing from the organization, and fraternizing with the enemy. Do you see all of these to be true?"

"Yes Counselor."

"Are you aware of the consequences for your actions?"

"Yes Counselor." There was silence for a few minutes and a different voice came on.

"Ms. Monroe. It has come to our attention you were given a very important mission to take out a vampire sheriff. And seeing as you have had a very successful and accurate kill streak in the past, excluding the ones from the past two years, we are willing to negotiate your services for your freedom. Do you accept?"

Celeste thought for a moment. She knew what would happen if she failed and if she succeeded. They were giving her a choice that they couldn't go back on; their word was definitely more valuable than Malcolm's. But at that moment all Celeste could think about was Eric; she wondered where he was and if they did anything to him.

"Where is Eric?" She asked.

"The vampire is resting, seeing as it is three in the afternoon." A man said. "Do you accept our offer Ms. Monroe?" He pressed again. Now that she knew Eric was fine she felt a tad bit better.

"I accept Counselor."

"Very well. We shall proceed to make sure this is put on record. Celeste Abigail Monroe, you are to conduct the last and most important mission of your career. What will happen if you should fail?"

Celeste took a deep breath. "If I should fail I give the Vampire Annihilation and Intelligence Notice Organization complete responsibility and permission to execute me in front of the rest of the organization, to be made an example and lesson to prevent future failures."

"And if you should succeed?" He asked.

"If I should succeed I request that I be removed as a soldier from the organization and my name be stripped from the archives. Also that the activation chip located in my spinal column be removed and that the vampire, Eric Northman, being detained be released immediately upon my success."

"Ms. Monroe, you are aware that if we remove the chip all of your memories from the past four years will be completely detached and you will have no recollection of anything that has happened in the last four years."

"I am aware counselor." There was momentary silence. Celeste knew that the Council was deliberating whether or not to meet her requests if she did succeed.

"In addition we cannot make any promises pertaining to the vampire sheriff. We shall release him but if he imposes a attack we will have no choice to execute him and any others that may participate. Do you understand?"

"Yes Counselor."

"Very well, since we have no objects we will see that your requests shall be met in the event of your success, until then, you shall be escorted to District 8 within the next twenty-four hours to carry out your mission. I wish you the best luck." The intercom turned off, leaving only static.

"Thank you Counselor."

A/N: Hey everyone. First and foremost I would thank you for the reviews, they are amazing (as always!). But I know some of you are kinda freaking out that this is the FINALE! But don't worry, there will be a sequal coming out very shortly. I felt it was about time to start anew, with a different plot and different story in general. So don't worry too much, I just need to get all my jumbled thoughts together and put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard, whatever you want to call it). Now when I say different, i don't mean drastic different, well maybe a little hehe, but it's still going to be the same Celeste we all know and love and the same lucious Eric (who still wants to get into her pants btw). So in a sense, the "deal" is still on, but how it happens, well we'll all know when it happens! So yup, just be patient with me and we will all see how it plays out in do time. Thanks so much for the support and reviews and continue to do so when the sequal comes out. Thanks! -K.A.M