Title:Ties With The Living Dead (Parts 12/12)
Author: Sara Dupras
E-Mail: starlit_kit@hotmail.com
Rating: PG
Spoilers: general NW but especially Soulmate
Disclaimers: The Night World series as a whole (with all the concepts and
principles contained w/in them) belong to L.J. Smith. The characters of
Thierry, Hannah, Nilsson, and Lupe belong to her (L.J. Smith) as well. Any
other characters that you don't recognize belong to me.
Summary: A mummy is found and one young woman wonders why she is so drawn to
it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Prologue
District of Columbia
Andrea Mason sat at her desk with the telephone held to her ear. As
the other person on the line continued to talk, she rolled her eyes.
Finally she was able to break into the conversation.
"Look, Terry, I know what I said to her and I still don't give a
damn! She deserved it all. Besides, it's not my fault the witch can't take
a joke."
Andrea brought the receiver away from her ear a little as Terry
started to turn up the volume on her side of the phone. Andrea brushed an
errant strand of brown hair out of her eyes. She didn't understand what the
big deal was. After all, Terry didn't like Alisha anymore than she did.
Sighing, Andrea replied to a question Terry had posed. "Yes, I know
that Roger Silversteen heard about what happened at the conference....and I
know that he's on the Board of Directors for the Journalist Appreciation
Committee, so what?"
Terry then proceeded to explain the so what. Andrea could feel her
hot temper starting to rise. "Dammit, Terry, don't talk to me like that!
I'm not ten years old, for God's sake. I know that there are consequences
for my actions. I'm hanging up now."
Andrea hung up on her boss's high pitched voice. There'd be hell to
pay for that later, but for now she could have cared less. She looked at
her square clock hanging on the wall. 6:30 He was late.
Deciding that she might as well get some work done, she picked up her
pen and reread the article she was working on. Frowning, she made a mark
here and a mark there. Just as she was bending to put down another mark on
the paper her office door flew open.
Andrea was so surprised that her pen made a huge slashing mark across
the entire page. *Damn!* She looked up at the intruder, ready to cause
some serious bodily damage to whoever it turned out to be. *Oh.* She
should have known.
"Carl," she said dryly.
The man in his late twenties, who was wearing a sweater and jeans
bent down and kissed her on the cheek. When he stood again he winked at
her. "Sorry, I'm late."
She nodded but was already looking down at the page in front of her.
"Look what you made me do!"
He glanced at the paper and gave a hearty laugh. "What that? That's
nothing more than a chicken scratch. Besides that's just a rough draft
anyway. How's the story coming along?"
Andrea pushed the paper away from her and leaned her elbows on the
desk. Sighing, she said, "Actually, it's not. I can't seem to get anywhere
with it. I mean, how do you tell people that they're inconsiderate blobs of
flesh who are willing to let people starve on the streets without offending
them?"
Carl leaned back in the one chair that was in the sparse room.
He tilted his head thoughtfully. Then he nodded in agreement. "That is a
pretty hard trick to accomplish. But knowing you, you'll find a way."
"Yeah, well, I just hope to find a way before my deadline."
Carl smiled at her with his green eyes. Running a hand through his
brown hair he said, "Well, I think I might be able to help you in that
department."
Her brown eyes crinkled with interest. "Oh, yeah? You want to share
this wonderful secret with me?"
He grinned. "How about you coming with me to Mexico?"
***
Part 1
Mexico
That's how it came about that Andrea Mason sat in a tent in the
middle of the desert in Mexico. She sat at a wobbly wooden table with her
laptop on top of it. *I should have known better.* That was true enough.
She knew Carl well enough by now to know that this would've happened.
Restlessly, she tapped at her keyboard. It would have helped,
though, if it had been turned on. The truth was the she wasn't in much of a
mood to work. It was hot and dry inside the shelter.
It wasn't much better than being outside.
As she continued to sit there she made up her mind. She was going
back home to D.C. She *had* to finish this article before the deadline and
she certainly wasn't going to be able to do that here. Standing up she went
over to a hat rack and picked a regular old baseball cap.
Having done that she took a small bottle out of her white pant's
pocket. It was a small bottle of sunscreen with the highest SPF she could
find. As soon as she was done smoothing the lotion into her skin she walked
out the tent flap.
Andrea's eyes blinked rapidly as she got used to the blaring
sunlight. *Jesus, it's hot as hell out here.* Uncomfortably aware that she
was starting to sweat she walked along.
She could see all around her the other makeshift tents.
These all belonged to the various other archeologists who were here digging
up the mummies.
She snorted. Mummies. Something for the B-rated horror movies...not
something her current boyfriend should be involved with. It made him hard to
be around sometimes. At times the only thing he could eat, sleep, drink,
and think about was mummies. She couldn't remember how many times she had
had to endure the long and pointless lecturing on the Bog Mummies.
That wasn't what was important in life. No, Andrea, knew damn well
what was important in life. Continuing her ongoing crusade to beat Alisha
Trent at the Journalist Appreciation night awards. And at the same time
making people aware of their fellow brothers and sisters who were in dire
need of help. That was what was important.
She couldn't wait for Carl to get over this curious phase of mummy
hunting. She hoped it would be soon; this whole pursuit of his was getting
a little bit tiresome.
Andrea quickened her pace as she came within sight of the crew's dig
site. It was a large area taped off. There were tarps and tools and
measuring equipment seemingly scattered all over the place.
*Yeah, that's how Carl would run the show.*
She scanned the area and saw Carl surrounded by his fellow diggers.
They appeared to be looking at something. She walked towards the group.
She wondered what was so interesting.
Carl heard her approaching and looked up at her, smiling. He stood
up and grabbed her in a sweaty, dirty bear hug. "Ugh! Carl, let go of me.
You're a mess!"
Disregarding her orders he said, "You wouldn't believe it, Andrea, we
found this mummy almost completely uncovered and just lying here in wait for
us." Letting go of her, he grabbed her wrist and started tugging her
forward.
Andrea pulled back. Carl looked at her, curiously. "What's wrong?"
he asked. "It's not like you haven't seen a mummy before."
"No, Carl, it's not that. I think we should talk."
He groaned light heartedly. "That doesn't sound good."
"Look, when you asked for me to come with you to Mexico, I thought
that it was understood by the both of us that this was to be a vacation."
She gestured at their surroundings. "This is *not* a vacation. This is
work."
"Wrong," he said solemnly, "this is work for me. So, you see, it's
still vacation for you."
She shook her head. "Carl, vacation for me is in a hotel ordering
room service from my air conditioned suite. It is not by any means me
rotting away in a Mexican desert trying to preserve myself so that I can be
the next mummy exhibit at the Smithsonian."
Carl hid a smile. "Andy, don't you think you're over-reacting just a
little bit?"
"No, *Carla*, I don't." She frowned as he burst out laughing.
"You know I hate it when you call me that. Makes me sound like a guy."
He suddenly stopped laughing and looked her up and down. "Oh, I
don't think anyone would ever mistake you for a guy, honey, no matter what I
called you."
Andrea sighed. "Look, Carl, I think I should just call up Terry and
tell her that I'll be back in the office by tomorrow night."
"Well, if you want to Andy," he saw her grimace, "Andrea, then go
ahead. But will you at least come take a look at this mummy? It really is
in great condition."
"And here I was thinking that that was the definition of a mummy,"
she said dryly. Although, she followed him as he walked forwards. The
others cleared the way a bit. She gasped when she saw it.
Carl was right it was well-preserved. The whole body was still
intact. The skin was the dark tint that was typical of mummies. One eye
was still in the socket the other had vanished. The body was that of a
young woman with high cheekbones and a mostly disintegrated skirt. She wore
no shirt. She looked like she was sleeping. It didn't appear that her
death hadn't been unnatural. Andrea didn't see any obvious signs of foul
play.
Sensing that Carl was watching her, she made cooing noises of
appreciation. Then she said, "You're right Carl...she's wonderfully
preserved. Are any of the others like this?"
She saw him shake his head. "No, I swear, Andrea, I think someone
preserved her on purpose."
She looked back down. "I wouldn't be surprised."
***
Part 2
Las Vegas, same day
Hannah Snow sat at a table looking at Thierry Descouedres. Absently
she brushed back a strand of fair hair; her gray eyes showed her concern.
"Thierry," she said reasoning, "you're not going to let him go, are you?"
Thierry sighed. His dark eyes mirrored her concern perfectly. He had
been running his hands through his white-blond hair so much today, that it
gave him a rumpled look. "Hannah, I don't know what you expect me to do."
Her voice had a slight edge to it as she answered, "I expect you to
act like his friend."
He held his hands up in appeal. "Hannah, I am." He saw her eyes
narrow. "No really. Every year this happens to him. He drags himself back
to Mexico to go see *her*. It's only because he misses her...don't you see
that this helps him with his pain?"
She shook her head. "This doesn't help him with his pain, Thierry,
this just lets it fester inside of him."
"Sometimes," Thierry murmured, "it's good to feel the pain. It lets
you know you're still alive." He looked up at her. "Sometimes, Hannah,
that's all I had too."
She held back the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. "You
have me now, Thierry."
"Yes, but he doesn't have his soulmate. This is all he has of her.
You know the story, Hannah, because I'm sure he told you."
She nodded then looked up at the ceiling. "She's never been reborn
again. She just...died and never came back. And he blames himself for her
death." She looked down at her hands twisting together on the tabletop.
"But, it wasn't, Thierry, there was no way he could have known."
"I know that," he replied, "and you know that and intellectually he
knows that as well. However, that won't stop his heartbreak." Thierry got
out of his chair and started to pace. "He's only about 700 years old,
Hannah. He will get over her eventually."
Hannah snorted. Thierry glanced at her askance. She said by way of
explanation, "Only you would consider 700 years a short time."
He grinned at her. "But it's true for a vampire. Francisco, will
just have to do this his own way."
Hannah shrugged, giving in. "Oh, I suppose. It's just that I'm
worried about him....as is everyone else. Nobody likes to see him this sad.
Especially, when he's usually so full of laughter."
Thierry stood in front of the library window watching as a young man
of Indian ancestry made his way down the driveway. He walked with the grace
of a predator. The sun glinted off of his long brown hair.
Suddenly, he turned. He stared expressionlessly at Thierry. Then he
gave a short wave and got into the black limo. Nilsson closed the door and
climbed into the driver's seat.
Thierry said a quick prayer to the Goddess to protect his friend
before he turned back to Hannah.
***
Part 3
Mexico, 2 days later
Andrea sat on a hard wooden chair, her arms resting on a rickety
table. Directly in front of her was Aida. She was laying in a plastic, see
through case. *She's so perfect.*
She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder. "Sorry," Carl
apologized, taking a seat next to her. He gave her an odd look.
"What?" Andrea asked.
He looked away, looked back. Then he smiled, "It's nothing, really.
I just never thought I would see the day when you would sit in a tent(a hot
one mind you)for hours staring with fascination at a mummy."
She looked away at Aida, embarrassed. "She's not just any mummy,"
she murmured.
He laughed. "I have to agree with you on that, my dear. It's not
every day that you get to sit in a tent with a mummy that you named. Where
did you come up with Aida anyway?"
She shrugged still looking at the plastic display case in front of
them. "It was the first thing that came to mind. I can't believe we have
her displayed so quickly."
Carl's expression turned thoughtful. "It's odd isn't it?" he asked
jutting in his chin in Aida's direction. He saw Andrea's confusion. He
added, "I mean how the wind had uncovered her so much.
It was almost like she was waiting for us to discover her. It made our jobs
a hell of a lot quicker and easier, that's for sure."
Andrea shrugged. "It's just one of those things. Have any of the
islands around us been excavated?"
He nodded. "Most of them. After all, that was where the main Aztec
culture lived."
"Then,I guess it's not surprising that you've found all of those
other mummies."
Carl slid down in his chair a little. His voice was lazy as he
answered, "It happens more often than you think, Andrea. After all in a
dry, hot region like this any small community that might have had an
outbreak of disease could've been easily preserved. Especially, if there
was no one left to bury the dead except the sand being blown by the wind.
Or they might have been part of the flourishing trade between Tenochtitlan
and distant communities. Which would mean our dear Aida was a slave who was
carrying the cargo. Or maybe these people fled Tenochtitlan during the time
Cortes started his conquest.
Hell, she might have been a priestess and they might have been slaves
sacrificed to the Gods. Who knows...it's all part of the detective work."
"How long do you think it'll take to uncover the others?"
He shook his head. His voice went from dreamy to sober.
"Awhile....a long while. Especially, since we're considering that we don't
know how many there really are here. I mean, we can see nine others besides
her. But who knows how many others are beneath the sand?"
Andrea looked at Aida. "A priestess, huh?"
Carl chuckled. "Why, Andy, I didn't know you were such a romantic."
"Andrea," she corrected absentmindedly. "How old is she, Carl?"
He sat up straighter in his seat. "You're really interested aren't
you? You're not just feigning interest."
She nodded and said sincerely. "No, I really want to know."
"Well," he said consideringly, "I'd say she's about 700 years old.
The Aztecs came from the north into central Mexico about 1250 A.D. They
made several other moves after they settled in the Valley of Mexico on
islands in Lake Texcoco. In 1325 they began to build a city on one of the
islands: Tenochtitlan. What is now Mexico City."
"You should be a professor, Carl."
He laughed. "I don't think so. Could you imagine me in a stuffy
classroom? I'd rather be out in the hazy sun, getting dust on my clothes."
Andrea took in his dishevelled appearance. "You could say that
again," she replied with faint distaste.
"You're a hard one to impress, Andy."
***
Part 4
Mexico, same day, 1 hour later
He had been walking forever. Not that he minded, of course. He
wasn't tired; after all, he was a vampire. It was simply the landscape
wasn't much to look at. He'd seen it every single year since his life had
first began. It was still home to him, though.
Francisco sighed, heavily. He knew all his friends in Las Vegas were
worried about him; especially Hannah and Thierry. He wished that they
wouldn't worry so much. This was just something he had to do. It was a
little bit of the something that kept him living.
He knew it wasn't just the trip here that worried them all. It was
his melancholy. Usually, he was always in good spirits. Always ready to
crack a joke. But as the time had dragged ever closer to that time of *her*
death. Well, it was hard to stay in a jovial mood.
Thierry was the only person who really understood what he was going
through. Maybe it had even been a little worse for Thierry because he had
to watch Hannah die over and over again because of Maya. And Francisco only
had to lose his soulmate once. Perhaps it wasn't fair for him to compare.
He stopped suddenly. His breath hissed out. *What the hell?* Just
over the horizon he saw something that stopped his heart. It was what he
knew could only be an archeological dig.
***
Part 5
Mexico, archeological site, 20 minutes later
Andrea felt a reluctance to leave Aida. She had to, though, if she
were ever going to finish that article. "I'll see you later," she whispered
softly to the mummy laying down in front of her. Andrea looked around
quickly, making sure no one else had heard her. Of course, there was no one
else around to hear.
She looked back once as she left the tent flap. Then she resolutely
headed over to her tent. She stopped when she heard a commotion to her
right. She looked over to see Eugene arguing heatedly with someone she had
never seen before.
Sighing, she walked over towards the two men. She asked Eugene,
"What's going on over here?"
He ran a hand through his dirty-blond hair. "I don't know, Andrea.
This guy says he needs to speak to the main archeologist on this dig. But
he can't give me any kind of identification that says he can be here.
Besides which, Carl is over at the main digging site which is closed off to
anyone who's not digging."
Andrea looked at the young man in front of her. She almost wanted to
hit Eugene upside the head...this guy didn't need any kind of paperwork to
show his right to be here. It was etched into his face. He was obviously
of Indian ancestry. *Sometimes us Americans can be a little too arrogant
and not very observant.* She turned to Eugene. "It's all right," she said
reassuringly, "I'll take care of this."
Eugene looked at her doubtfully but left. Andrea turned back to the
stranger. His dark brown eyes were looking at her intently. "Now," she
said soothingly, "what can I do for you?"
"That would depend on who you are."
She tilted her head. "I'm Carl's girlfriend. So basically I'm the
second best person around here to talk to if you need something."
She watched as his hair brushed his shoulders as he nodded. "All
right," he said with his smooth voice, "I want you to stop the
digging...right now."
It wasn't a request but a command. Andrea's eyes widened. "Excuse
me? Did I hear that right?"
"You heard me right," he agreed.
Andrea looked at him. He stared right back at her. She could feel
her heart drop into her feet. He wouldn't have said that if he didn't have
some kind of legal claim. Her heart fell even further when she thought that
he might have a claim on Aida too.
"I don't suppose you could tell me who you are?"
"Not that it matters but my name is Francisco."
Andrea knew that she was on shaky ground here so she proceeded
carefully. "Well," she said cautiously, "we can't stop the dig unless you
have some kind of a claim."
He just continued to look at her. Recklessly, she threw out
suggestions. "What is it? Do you have a land claim? A religious claim?
Or a family claim?"
He shrugged. "If it matters...I have a personal claim."
Her jaw dropped. "A personal claim?" She fought back the urge to
laugh. "What kind of personal claim could you possibly have? What is she
one of your many reincarnations?"
The laughter died in her throat. She saw something flicker in his
eyes. He took a step towards her. "Don't laugh at me," he said quietly,
dangerously.
"I'm sorry I--"
"Hey, Andrea, what's going on?!" called Carl.
Almost weak with relief she turned to see Carl walking up to them.
By his side was Eugene. Carl stopped in front of Francisco. "Hello," he
said sticking out his hand, "I'm Carl and I'm the boss around here."
Reluctantly, Francisco took his hand and shook it. "Francisco," he
murmured.
"Carl," Andrea broke in, "he says that he wants the dig to be stopped
and that he has a personal claim."
Carl turned back to the Francisco. "What kind of personal claim?
Family, religion, or land?"
Francisco opened his mouth but Carl interrupted. "Don't say a land
claim because I already checked on that." He thought for a second. "And
the religious claim. So is this a family claim or what?"
Francisco looked impatient. "It's a personal claim," he repeated.
"And now you will stop the digging."
By now Carl had figured out that the man in front of him had nothing
legal to stop the site from continuing. He smiled. "Look, friend, I think
maybe you should leave now. Unless, you have some legal papers on you then
there's no way this site is being closed down."
Francisco sneered at him. Then he looked around at the others. His
eyes stopped on Andrea. Without another word he turned around and walked
away. The little group watched in silence until he couldn't be seen
anymore.
Carl put an arm around Andrea's shoulders. "Well, that's the last
we'll see of him," he said confidently. Andrea wasn't so sure.
***
Part 6
Mexico, one week later
Andrea stared at the letter she was holding with dumb amazement. She simply
could not believe this was happening. She looked up at Carl's face, and she
felt her heart drop into her stomach. The grim look on his face made her
believe that this *was* happening.
"I'm sorry, Andrea, but this seems to be very legite. Whoever the hell this
guy is, he's got connections, and he knows how to use them."
"You can't be serious!" she exclaimed, jumping up from her chair. "Carl,
you can't just hand her over to him just because he threatens you!!!"
He tilted his head watching her warily. "Why does this matter so much to
you?"
Andrea looked away from him as she said, "I had a dream...."
Carl's green eyes crinkled with interest. "Oh yeah? Why so mysterious?"
She shook the brown hair off her face. "I'm not being mysterious. It's
just that I'm not sure I should tell you...you'll laugh at me."
His face turned sober. "Never."
Sighing, she resumed her seat. Carl looked around the sparse tent, shrugged
and sat cross-legged in front of her. "A couple days ago I had the oddest
dream..." she gave an anxious laugh, "actually maybe it would be more
accurate to call it a nightmare. It was strange though....
"I dreamt that I was back in Aida's time-" She saw Carl start and she
quickly added, "No, Carl, I don't believe that I'm her reincarnation.
Just listen to me for a moment and I'll explain." She saw his face relax
and she went on.
"Anyway, I saw Aida and a group of young people were with her. I guess
they're supposed to be the other mummies. They were going on some kind of
picnic--don't laugh at me, Carl!--they were rough housing and carrying food
with them. There was one girl in particular that caught my eye....she
couldn't have been more than a couple of years older than Aida, so I'm
guessing she was in her early twenties.
"She had long red hair with ice-blue eyes. The way she kept looking at
Aida...," Andrea shivered, "God, if looks could kill...well, the group had
been walking for some time when they finally found the spot they wanted. As
they settled down to eat, the red-haired girl volunteered to do the
unpacking.
"Now throughout this entire thing I had been seeing through somebody else's
eyes. I know because Aida kept talking to me and looking at me. But during
this my point of view changed. Suddenly, I wasn't seeing through somebody
else's eyes, I now had a bird's eye view of what happened next.
"I saw the red-haired girl take something out of her skirt. It was a type
of clay bottle, but it was small. I watched with foreboding as she poured
the contents over the food....
"Then just as suddenly my point of view changed again. I was seeing through
the same person that I had used before. I watched as the little group ate
and told stories. I listened with avid interest to the village gossip. But
then I felt horror overwhelm me as a burning started in my stomach. The
muscles in my body started to contract painfully. I saw that the others
were experiencing the same thing.
"I felt my heart break as Aida collapsed onto the ground and she went into
convulsions. I tried to reach for her but someone knocked me to the ground.
It was the red-haired girl. Her face was horribly contorted and no longer
pretty.
"I watched in horror as these fangs started to come out of her mouth.
They were as white as they were sharp...which was *very*. She lunged at my
throat. I tried to throw her off but I couldn't. Not with the pain burning
through me like acid. I fought her as hard as I could as she punctured the
skin and started to drink.
"It hurt. I mean it really *hurt*. It was like she was ripping my soul out
of my body. Then things went dark. The next thing I knew something sweet
and wild was being poured down my throat. I tried not to drink but I
couldn't stop my body's reflexes from swallowing so that I wouldn't drown.
"I woke up. I felt so odd; it was pitch dark out but I could see perfectly.
My friends were scattered on the ground where they had died. Then I
turned my head and saw the red-haired girl. I lunged at her and I....."
Carl cleared his throat with some difficulty. "You what?" he croaked.
Andrea shrugged. "I'm not sure but I think I killed her."
They stared at eachother for a moment. Then Carl started to laugh.
"Jesus!" he whooped, "do you always have dreams like this? Whatever you're
smoking I'd like to have some of it."
She frowned. "I told you, you'd laugh."
He looked at her face, and the urge to laugh left him. He shook his head
slightly. "Andrea, you don't really believe that happened do you? I don't
mean to be rude but it's a little too melo-dramatic."
She bit her lip. "Yeah, I know. I guess I was just trying to tell you how
attached I am to that damn mummy."
He shook his head with bewilderment. "But why? I've never seen you act
like this before. You're supposed to be working on that article of
yours--you know how important it is--but all you do is sit for hours at a
time staring at Aida. What is it?"
"I don't know! She just feels so familiar." Her heart almost stopped. She
couldn't believe that she just said that. She watched with dismay as Carl's
face took on an expression of blankness.
"I think I'd better get back to the excavation. I just wanted you to know
about the letter." With that he walked out of her tent and into the
sweltering heat of the day.
Andrea looked back down at the letter in her hands. Her brown eyes narrowed
into an expression of determination. "I don't know who you think you are,
Francisco, but you're aren't getting away with this."
Having said that she started to pack.
* * *
Part 7
Las Vegas, same day, six hours later
Andrea looked from the address on the letter to the gaudy hotel in front of
her. She hadn't expected someone like Francisco to stay in a place like
this. She shrugged. She wouldn't have expected someone like Francisco to
be staying in a city like Las Vegas either, but apparently this was where he
was. There was something about him that spoke of honor and class. Then
again she had only know him for about five minutes so what the hell did she
know?
Brushing these thoughts aside, Andrea mounted the stairs and swept into the
lobby. She walked up to the desk clerk and asked for Francisco.
"Last name?" asked the middle aged clerk who was obviously bored.
She bit her lip indecisively. Stammering slightly she replied, "Actually, I
don't know if Francisco is his last name or first."
The clerk peered at her nearsightedly. Sighing, he crossed his arms over
his chest. "Look, lady, I don't know what kind of game you're playing
but--"
Her temper got the better of her. "Playing?! I'm not playing anything.
Surely there aren't that many people named Francisco who are staying in this
hotel! So just tell me--"
"I'm not telling you anything unless--"
"Excuse me?" Andrea and the clerk were startled by the interruption and
looked at the young man who had made it. He had reddish-brown hair with
violet colored eyes. Andrea liked him instantly. He seemed friendly and
polite.
"I couldn't help overhearing...are you looking for Francisco?"
Andrea bit down on her lip with exasperation. If he had been listening to
the conversation then surely he must know that! Controlling her tongue with
difficulty she replied, "Yes, I am. Do you know him?"
He gave a vague smile at the desk clerk and took her arm. As he slowly led
her outside the hotel he said, "I'm a friend of his, yes. My name is
Brandon. Francisco is at a friend's house right now."
Andrea felt her spirits drop. Damn! She had wanted to talk to him before
she had lost her nerve. And before all the sharp remarks she had been
thinking of faded from her mind. She stopped walking as Brandon dropped her
arm and shoved his hands into his pockets.
He looked off into the distance for some time. When he looked back he
asked, "I don't suppose you could tell me who you are and why you're looking
for him?"
Andrea looked at him sharply. He wasn't any less polite than he had been
but now he seemed a lot more watchful. She shrugged. She didn't have
anything to hide. "My name is Andrea Mason. I'm here to talk to him about
the archeological site."
His breath whooshed out. "I think you should get back on your plane and
leave."
She stiffened. He hadn't said it cruelly but it still hurt. "No, not until
I talk to him."
His violet eyes captured her brown ones. "Andrea-may I call you Andrea?"
She shrugged and nodded. It was her name after all.
He nodded absently. "Andrea, I don't mean to be rude but I think you'd be
better off going back to Mexico. Francisco isn't going to change his mind
about this. You'd be wasting your time and his. Not to mention making him
remember painful things."
Andrea had been following him until this last point. "Painful things?"
Brandon remained silent. When she knew that he wasn't going to explain this
she said, "Look, Brandon, *I* don't mean to be rude, but I'm not leaving
until I talk to him. Now whether you help me find him now, really doesn't
matter. If that stupid clerk won't help then I'll just wait for Francisco
to show up. He can't stay away forever."
He watched her with an odd look on his face. Unexpectedly, he chuckled.
She watched him curiously. As far as she knew she hadn't said anything
funny. He saw the look on her face and said, "He was right about you."
"Who was right about what?"
Grinning, he answered, "Francisco saying that you were going to be trouble.
He has no idea." Then he started walking away. She stared after him. He
turned back. "Well," he asked, "are you coming?"
* * *
Part 8
Las Vegas, Thierry's residence, 15 minutes later
Francisco sat in the library, brooding. He looked up with a scowl on his
face when Hannah entered the room. "Am I interrupting anything?"
she asked dryly.
He looked down at the table in front of him. Laying there was an open book,
but it was pretty obvious to the both of them that he hadn't been reading
it. Sheepishly he smiled and gestured her to a chair.
"So what are you doing in here?" she asked bluntly.
He shrugged. "What does it look like?"
Her gray eyes narrowed as they swept the room. "Honestly? It looks like
you're sitting in here doing nothing but moping when you could be doing
something a little more worthwhile."
He grinned. "You're always so candid, Lady Hannah."
Her cold, tight smile thawed slightly. "It's good to see that smile of
yours again. Some of us thought you'd permanently banished it."
His smile faded. "I haven't been in a jovial mood lately. I have to admit
this whole matter still worries me."
She reached across the table and took his hand. "Don't. Thierry has taken
care of the matter. You'll only put yourself in a worse mood if you keep
this up."
Francisco had opened his mouth to reply when the doorbell rang.
* * *
Part 9
Las Vegas, Thierry's front door, same moment
Andrea watched with a strange feeling of dread as Brandon's arm dropped from
ringing the doorbell. She shouldn't have come. What had she been thinking
when she had ventured into this city with this half baked idea of hers? But
she knew what she had been thinking about. Aida.
The door opened. A young man with dark hair and sunglasses stood in the
doorway looking at Andrea appraisingly. He turned towards Brandon
Apparently, he was waiting for an explanation.
Brandon said, "Nilsson, this is Andrea Mason. She's hear to talk to
Francisco about the archeological dig."
Andrea watched with a detached amusement as Nilsson regarded her with
newfound interest. So, apparently Brandon wasn't the only one who knew
about this situation. It made her wonder how many other people knew about
this.
Silently, he stepped back. Brandon placed a hand on Andrea's back and
gently pushed her inside. As she stepped over the threshold she looked
around. The only real impression she could grasp was that the place was big
and expensive. She was being lead down a hall. Nilsson was leading and
Brandon was behind her.
Nilsson hesitantly knocked on the door. He opened it and stepped to the
side. Andrea watched with growing unease as Nilsson and Brandon exchanged a
glance. It seemed that Brandon was the one who was going to have to risk
his hide and introduce her.
Brandon preceded her into the room. As soon as she had stepped inside the
door was closed behind her. She started slightly when she saw Francisco
sitting in a chair with a book in front of him. Across from his was a girl
with fair hair and kind eyes.
Unconsciously, Andrea stepped closer to Brandon. She now felt very
vulnerable. She hadn't expected to have an audience when she saw Francisco
again. It certainly put a damper on the epithets she had been going to call
him.
Francisco looked quite shocked to see her again. She couldn't help feeling
a small triumph in that fact. The girl opposite him had recovered her
surprise and stood up. She approached both of the newcomers.
Brandon tilted his head slightly on the side that Andrea was on. "Lady
Hannah, this is Andrea Mason. She has come to talk to Francisco about the
situation in Mexico."
Andrea's eyes widened slightly. Lady Hannah? That was odd....the girl
didn't look foreign to her. Hannah looked at her. "You may call me
Hannah," she said quietly.
Andrea ducked her head as she blushed. One of these days she was going to
have to learn to control her facial expressions. They were always giving
her away and getting her in trouble.
She looked up as Francisco stood up. She swallowed apprehensively. He
didn't look angry but that didn't fool her. Behind his cold mask he was
seething. Minute by minute she was wishing that she'd listened to Brandon's
advice and just left the matter alone. Mentally she shrugged. Too late
now.
Hannah looked from Francisco to Andrea and back again. Finally she turned
to Brandon. "Perhaps we should leave these two alone for awhile so they can
talk," she said softly.
Brandon nodded. He followed Hannah to the door but turned around when
Hannah had walked out the door. To Francisco he said, "I tried to get her
to leave but she was too stubborn." To Andrea he said, "I'll be right
outside if you need me," then he looked back at Francisco, "not that I'm
expecting you will." Then he closed the door behind him.
Andrea looked at Francisco. He stared right back. Finally, he seemed to
shake himself out of his daze. He gestured her to a chair as he sat down in
his original seat. "So what the hell are you doing here?"
The words could have been more polite but the tone was conversational.
She watched him with disbelief then pulled the envelope that held the letter
out of her pocket. Unfolding it she waved it around in the air. "I'm here
because of this. What the hell is this?"
He watched her with disinterest. "I would have thought that the letter was
very clear. You either give me the mummy that you have on display or
otherwise I'll have the entire excavation put to a stop. There is that
better? More coherent and clear?"
Andrea thought about hitting him. She didn't consider it too seriously
though. She thought she knew how to get rid of that damn smug tone of his.
"Mmhm. And how, pray tell, do you know that we've already had a mummy
excavated?"
He gave a predatory smile. "I checked before I left."
She gritted her teeth and counted to ten. She had no wish to incur his
wrath. Finally, feeling calmer she said, "You said you had a personal
claim. Why do you want just this one mummy? Why not all of them?"
He shrugged. "The others were a compromise that I thought Carl," Andrea
winced, he said the name like it was a swear, "would agree with."
She knew quite well that this wasn't getting her anywhere. By now she knew
she could have saved her time and her breath. This had been a waste.
"There's no way I can convince you to leave the mummy with us is there?"
She watched with a sad heart as he shook his head. But she felt something
harden inside of her. She wasn't going to give up without a fight.
She shrugged and stood up. "Fine. I guess I'll be seeing you in court."
She started to walk away when she felt a disturbance in the air around her.
She turned around and was surprised to see Francisco a couple inches behind
her.
Fire seemed to shoot from his eyes. "Why can't you just leave this alone?
Why the hell is this so important to you?"
"Honestly, I don't know why. It just is. You said in your letter that you
would drag in some favors not only from the government of Mexico but also
from other archeologists. Perhaps even the judge who gets this case. Fine,
you go ahead and do that. Just because Carl knows that the names you
mentioned are legite and highly respected people doesn't scare me one bit.
If you want her, then you're going to have to do it the hard way."
She was so angry that her vision was blurred with tears. As she turned away
from him she tripped. Francisco instinctively grabbed her arm to keep her
from falling on her face. He jerked and let go. Andrea continued stumbling
to the door and slammed it behind her.
She hadn't looked back at Francisco when she had exited the room. If she
had she would have seen him passed out on the floor.
* * *
Part 10
District of Columbia, 3 days later
Andrea sat in her office looking down at her finished article gloomily. She
looked up as Terry, her boss, walked into the room. Her short
strawberry-blonde hair bounced jauntily as she sauntered in and her blue
eyes were positively shining.
"Well, well, well," she said happily, "how's my star journalist doing?" She
didn't wait for Andrea to answer. "I just knew that you were going to beat
Alisha at the awards ceremony yesterday night. Although, you cut it pretty
close. You almost didn't make the deadline to have that article published
and therefore have it in consideration for the committee."
Andrea nodded absently as Terry babbled on. "My God, did you see Alisha's
face?! What a riot...she actually thought she was better than you. Can you
believe how conceited some people are?"
Andrea mumbled something inconsequential. Terry didn't seem to notice. "I
still can't believe Roger Silversteen didn't even mention what happened
between you and Alisha at the press conference a couple weeks ago." Terry
finally stopped talking. She watched Andrea for a moment. Testing her out
she said, "Roger is truly a tactful person. Some of the things you called
Alisha would have made my ears bleed."
Terry sighed when Andrea didn't answer. "Okay, Andrea, what's going on?
You haven't heard a word I've said."
Andrea gave an answering sigh. She leaned back in her chair. "I'm just
moping I guess. Carl called me a couple of hours ago to say that Aida had
been picked up by a couple of people Francisco sent. He thought I should
know."
Terry watched her thoughtfully. "So let me guess, you two aren't going out
anymore?"
Andrea shook her head. "After the fight we had when I got back from Las
Vegas...I don't think so. I said he was a coward, among other things, for
letting some guy bully him around like that. Oh well, we're still on
talking terms. Besides, I don't think we were really ever suited to
eachother. After three months and he still called me Andy."
Terry said nothing for a moment. Finally she stood up. "I'm giving you the
day off kiddo. Go home and rest for awhile; you look bushed."
Andrea watched her leave. After gathering her things, she walked home. She
took out her keys and opened her apartment door. She tripped into the room
and closed the door after her. She walked into her room; then flopped onto
the bed.
She jumped up when a shadow fell across the bed. She yelled when she saw a
young woman with long red hair and ice blue eyes. Alisha. "What are you
doing in here?" Andrea demanded.
The blue eyes flashed. "I am so sick and tired of losing to you!" Alisha
said in a strangled voice. "You think you're so much better than me....you
always do whatever you can to embarrass me in front of our peers. Not
anymore, Andrea, I'm taking care of you once and for all." Andrea gasped
when she saw Alisha lift the knife.
"Get away from her, Juanita." Francisco stepped into the room. He looked
slightly sick to Andrea's eyes.
Alisha stepped away from the bed and her eyes widened as she looked at
Francisco. Andrea had the distinct feeling of deja vu. This had happened
before. Well, maybe it hadn't been this exact situation but she felt like
the three of them had been in this position before. One where Alisha was a
murderer and Andrea was the intended victim.
Francisco's eyes swept over Andrea's body. Satisfied that she wasn't hurt
he turned his attention back to Alisha. Andrea saw confusion on his face.
"How," he asked, "is it possible that you're still alive. I killed you.
And everybody knows that vampires can't come back."
Alisha laughed. "Well, it might have helped that I was half witch, half
vampire. Witches know all kinds of spells to help keep themselves immortal.
That's especially true of Maya's direct descendants."
Something struck Andrea and she jumped off the bed and onto the floor
opposite from the side that Alisha was on. "Juanita," she murmured.
"My God!" she exclaimed as goosebumps covered her arms. "It was you!
You were the girl with the long red hair and the blue eyes in my dream. I
should have known...you still look the same. You killed them....all of
them."
Juanita laughed again. Looking from Andrea to Francisco she said, "You mean
I killed the both of you. Don't you remember who you were, *Andrea*? Even
then you thought you were better than me. You even took Francisco away from
me....you knew I wanted him!"
Shock waves ran through Andrea's body. Of course, that would explain her
attraction to Aida's mummy. It used to be her! She shook her head. "I
didn't know, Al-Juanita. I loved him...that's why we were engaged. Not
because I wanted to hurt you."
Juanita shrugged. "It no longer matters....I'm still going to kill you."
"Not with me here," Francisco said coldly. "You deserve to die twice over
for what you did back in the past...but I'll let this go if you leave now."
Juanita laughed again. A sound that was starting to grate on Andrea's
nerves. "Ah, but you always were too sentimental, Francisco, you even
preserved your Aida so that she could always "live" on. What garbage."
Just as soon as she said the last word did she throw herself at Francisco.
Andrea saw that she had a wooden stake in her hands. She now knew what the
meaning of her dream was when she had been bitten by Juanita and had a wild,
sweet drink poured down her throat. She had been seeing through Francisco's
point of view. And that would mean that Francisco was now a vampire. And
that he needed her help.
Desperately, Andrea looked around for a piece of wood. All she saw was her
wooden letter opener. She grabbed it and jumped into the fray. Juanita
somehow had gotten on top of Francisco. He was holding her wrists so that
she couldn't plunge the stake into his heart. Without stopping to think
Andrea plunged the letter opener into Juanita. However, Andrea hadn't been
aiming and it went deep into the other woman's shoulder.
Francisco stood up and took out a cell phone from his pocket. "Let me talk
to Thierry," he said as soon as he was done dialing.
* * *
Epilogue
District of Columbia, Andrea's apartment, later that night
Andrea sighed with contentment as she leaned into Francisco's embrace. "I
can't believe it," she murmured into his shoulder.
He smiled into her hair and brushed her temple with his lips. "Believe it."
She pushed away from him slightly so she could look into his face. "But it
seems so incredible...old souls, witches, vampires, werewolves," she smiled
as she remembered the girl named Lupe, "Circle Daybreak, the Night World
Council...."
"It can be overwhelming," he agreed. He shifted his weight so he could rest
more comfortably on the couch. He tightened his hold on her. "You know,"
he said thoughtfully, "I never thought I would ever see you again."
"Now I can understand why you wanted Aida so badly. What have you done with
her?"
He smiled. "I had her buried."
Andrea looked at him. "After all that trouble?"
"I thought it was time she had a rest....I won't be needing her anymore.
Not with you here."
She chuckled. "Just don't let Carl find out. He'd have a fit. She was so
well preserved..." Her eyes narrowed. "It was you! You were the one who
took care of her body. But you didn't bother with the others."
"It was hard enough getting her body preserved. Besides I've seen all the
others; reincarnated, of course." He let the silence go on for a couple of
minutes. He knew she had it when she started to laugh.
"Brandon....he was the boy with the blonde hair and green eyes."
He nodded. "When he grabbed your arm, he recognized you." He felt her
start. "No, he didn't know who you were. Just that he had known you
before. If he had known, he would have told me right away. But that's why
he brought you to Thierry's house....he felt he could trust you."
Andrea looked at Francisco curiously. "What exactly happened after I left
that day?"
"Remember when you were storming out of the house?" She nodded. "Well,
when I grabbed your arm when you tripped...I felt a connection to you...and
I saw a pink fog...classic symptoms of the soulmate principle. Then I
basically passed out onto the floor. Scared the hell out of Hannah. From
what I hear, Lupe and Nilsson had a hell of a time keeping her from trying
to kill you. She thought it was something you had done....in a way she was
kind of right. Well, anyway for a couple of days I had people gather some
information on you..."
"What for?"
"Well, I needed to know something about you. I didn't think it would be a
great plan to just walk up to you and say, "Hi, I'm your soulmate. Wanna
kiss?"
Andrea laughed and punched him in the shoulder. "No," she admitted, "that
wouldn't have been a very good technique."
"Well, from a couple these people I found out about the rivalry between you
and Juan-Alisha. That jump started me out here. From things I've heard
about and experienced I know that a lot of times the past repeats itself."
They were silent a moment. "What will happen to her?" Andrea asked finally.
She felt Francisco shrug. "There are a couple of Circles within Daybreak
who handle stuff like this. They take in mentally unbalanced people and try
to treat them. She's dangerous, no doubt about that. She was an agent for
the Night World Council back then as she is for them right now. If she gets
better then she might work for us but I doubt it. More than likely Thierry
will use her for leverage if a situation comes up. From what I was told
today she's a very important person."
Andrea shivered. "I'm just glad you got here in time."
He hugged her closer. "Don't worry. My timing is always impeccable."
Andrea couldn't help laughing. "You're a very conceited fellow."
He shifted her in his arms and kissed her. After a breathless moment Andrea
said, "I take it back....you're timing is impeccable."
He laughed. They stayed in eachother's arms till sleep overtook them.
Their dreams were sweet; an omen of their bright future together.
The End.
(c) Sara Dupras (starlit_kit@hotmail.com)
Author: Sara Dupras
E-Mail: starlit_kit@hotmail.com
Rating: PG
Spoilers: general NW but especially Soulmate
Disclaimers: The Night World series as a whole (with all the concepts and
principles contained w/in them) belong to L.J. Smith. The characters of
Thierry, Hannah, Nilsson, and Lupe belong to her (L.J. Smith) as well. Any
other characters that you don't recognize belong to me.
Summary: A mummy is found and one young woman wonders why she is so drawn to
it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Prologue
District of Columbia
Andrea Mason sat at her desk with the telephone held to her ear. As
the other person on the line continued to talk, she rolled her eyes.
Finally she was able to break into the conversation.
"Look, Terry, I know what I said to her and I still don't give a
damn! She deserved it all. Besides, it's not my fault the witch can't take
a joke."
Andrea brought the receiver away from her ear a little as Terry
started to turn up the volume on her side of the phone. Andrea brushed an
errant strand of brown hair out of her eyes. She didn't understand what the
big deal was. After all, Terry didn't like Alisha anymore than she did.
Sighing, Andrea replied to a question Terry had posed. "Yes, I know
that Roger Silversteen heard about what happened at the conference....and I
know that he's on the Board of Directors for the Journalist Appreciation
Committee, so what?"
Terry then proceeded to explain the so what. Andrea could feel her
hot temper starting to rise. "Dammit, Terry, don't talk to me like that!
I'm not ten years old, for God's sake. I know that there are consequences
for my actions. I'm hanging up now."
Andrea hung up on her boss's high pitched voice. There'd be hell to
pay for that later, but for now she could have cared less. She looked at
her square clock hanging on the wall. 6:30 He was late.
Deciding that she might as well get some work done, she picked up her
pen and reread the article she was working on. Frowning, she made a mark
here and a mark there. Just as she was bending to put down another mark on
the paper her office door flew open.
Andrea was so surprised that her pen made a huge slashing mark across
the entire page. *Damn!* She looked up at the intruder, ready to cause
some serious bodily damage to whoever it turned out to be. *Oh.* She
should have known.
"Carl," she said dryly.
The man in his late twenties, who was wearing a sweater and jeans
bent down and kissed her on the cheek. When he stood again he winked at
her. "Sorry, I'm late."
She nodded but was already looking down at the page in front of her.
"Look what you made me do!"
He glanced at the paper and gave a hearty laugh. "What that? That's
nothing more than a chicken scratch. Besides that's just a rough draft
anyway. How's the story coming along?"
Andrea pushed the paper away from her and leaned her elbows on the
desk. Sighing, she said, "Actually, it's not. I can't seem to get anywhere
with it. I mean, how do you tell people that they're inconsiderate blobs of
flesh who are willing to let people starve on the streets without offending
them?"
Carl leaned back in the one chair that was in the sparse room.
He tilted his head thoughtfully. Then he nodded in agreement. "That is a
pretty hard trick to accomplish. But knowing you, you'll find a way."
"Yeah, well, I just hope to find a way before my deadline."
Carl smiled at her with his green eyes. Running a hand through his
brown hair he said, "Well, I think I might be able to help you in that
department."
Her brown eyes crinkled with interest. "Oh, yeah? You want to share
this wonderful secret with me?"
He grinned. "How about you coming with me to Mexico?"
***
Part 1
Mexico
That's how it came about that Andrea Mason sat in a tent in the
middle of the desert in Mexico. She sat at a wobbly wooden table with her
laptop on top of it. *I should have known better.* That was true enough.
She knew Carl well enough by now to know that this would've happened.
Restlessly, she tapped at her keyboard. It would have helped,
though, if it had been turned on. The truth was the she wasn't in much of a
mood to work. It was hot and dry inside the shelter.
It wasn't much better than being outside.
As she continued to sit there she made up her mind. She was going
back home to D.C. She *had* to finish this article before the deadline and
she certainly wasn't going to be able to do that here. Standing up she went
over to a hat rack and picked a regular old baseball cap.
Having done that she took a small bottle out of her white pant's
pocket. It was a small bottle of sunscreen with the highest SPF she could
find. As soon as she was done smoothing the lotion into her skin she walked
out the tent flap.
Andrea's eyes blinked rapidly as she got used to the blaring
sunlight. *Jesus, it's hot as hell out here.* Uncomfortably aware that she
was starting to sweat she walked along.
She could see all around her the other makeshift tents.
These all belonged to the various other archeologists who were here digging
up the mummies.
She snorted. Mummies. Something for the B-rated horror movies...not
something her current boyfriend should be involved with. It made him hard to
be around sometimes. At times the only thing he could eat, sleep, drink,
and think about was mummies. She couldn't remember how many times she had
had to endure the long and pointless lecturing on the Bog Mummies.
That wasn't what was important in life. No, Andrea, knew damn well
what was important in life. Continuing her ongoing crusade to beat Alisha
Trent at the Journalist Appreciation night awards. And at the same time
making people aware of their fellow brothers and sisters who were in dire
need of help. That was what was important.
She couldn't wait for Carl to get over this curious phase of mummy
hunting. She hoped it would be soon; this whole pursuit of his was getting
a little bit tiresome.
Andrea quickened her pace as she came within sight of the crew's dig
site. It was a large area taped off. There were tarps and tools and
measuring equipment seemingly scattered all over the place.
*Yeah, that's how Carl would run the show.*
She scanned the area and saw Carl surrounded by his fellow diggers.
They appeared to be looking at something. She walked towards the group.
She wondered what was so interesting.
Carl heard her approaching and looked up at her, smiling. He stood
up and grabbed her in a sweaty, dirty bear hug. "Ugh! Carl, let go of me.
You're a mess!"
Disregarding her orders he said, "You wouldn't believe it, Andrea, we
found this mummy almost completely uncovered and just lying here in wait for
us." Letting go of her, he grabbed her wrist and started tugging her
forward.
Andrea pulled back. Carl looked at her, curiously. "What's wrong?"
he asked. "It's not like you haven't seen a mummy before."
"No, Carl, it's not that. I think we should talk."
He groaned light heartedly. "That doesn't sound good."
"Look, when you asked for me to come with you to Mexico, I thought
that it was understood by the both of us that this was to be a vacation."
She gestured at their surroundings. "This is *not* a vacation. This is
work."
"Wrong," he said solemnly, "this is work for me. So, you see, it's
still vacation for you."
She shook her head. "Carl, vacation for me is in a hotel ordering
room service from my air conditioned suite. It is not by any means me
rotting away in a Mexican desert trying to preserve myself so that I can be
the next mummy exhibit at the Smithsonian."
Carl hid a smile. "Andy, don't you think you're over-reacting just a
little bit?"
"No, *Carla*, I don't." She frowned as he burst out laughing.
"You know I hate it when you call me that. Makes me sound like a guy."
He suddenly stopped laughing and looked her up and down. "Oh, I
don't think anyone would ever mistake you for a guy, honey, no matter what I
called you."
Andrea sighed. "Look, Carl, I think I should just call up Terry and
tell her that I'll be back in the office by tomorrow night."
"Well, if you want to Andy," he saw her grimace, "Andrea, then go
ahead. But will you at least come take a look at this mummy? It really is
in great condition."
"And here I was thinking that that was the definition of a mummy,"
she said dryly. Although, she followed him as he walked forwards. The
others cleared the way a bit. She gasped when she saw it.
Carl was right it was well-preserved. The whole body was still
intact. The skin was the dark tint that was typical of mummies. One eye
was still in the socket the other had vanished. The body was that of a
young woman with high cheekbones and a mostly disintegrated skirt. She wore
no shirt. She looked like she was sleeping. It didn't appear that her
death hadn't been unnatural. Andrea didn't see any obvious signs of foul
play.
Sensing that Carl was watching her, she made cooing noises of
appreciation. Then she said, "You're right Carl...she's wonderfully
preserved. Are any of the others like this?"
She saw him shake his head. "No, I swear, Andrea, I think someone
preserved her on purpose."
She looked back down. "I wouldn't be surprised."
***
Part 2
Las Vegas, same day
Hannah Snow sat at a table looking at Thierry Descouedres. Absently
she brushed back a strand of fair hair; her gray eyes showed her concern.
"Thierry," she said reasoning, "you're not going to let him go, are you?"
Thierry sighed. His dark eyes mirrored her concern perfectly. He had
been running his hands through his white-blond hair so much today, that it
gave him a rumpled look. "Hannah, I don't know what you expect me to do."
Her voice had a slight edge to it as she answered, "I expect you to
act like his friend."
He held his hands up in appeal. "Hannah, I am." He saw her eyes
narrow. "No really. Every year this happens to him. He drags himself back
to Mexico to go see *her*. It's only because he misses her...don't you see
that this helps him with his pain?"
She shook her head. "This doesn't help him with his pain, Thierry,
this just lets it fester inside of him."
"Sometimes," Thierry murmured, "it's good to feel the pain. It lets
you know you're still alive." He looked up at her. "Sometimes, Hannah,
that's all I had too."
She held back the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. "You
have me now, Thierry."
"Yes, but he doesn't have his soulmate. This is all he has of her.
You know the story, Hannah, because I'm sure he told you."
She nodded then looked up at the ceiling. "She's never been reborn
again. She just...died and never came back. And he blames himself for her
death." She looked down at her hands twisting together on the tabletop.
"But, it wasn't, Thierry, there was no way he could have known."
"I know that," he replied, "and you know that and intellectually he
knows that as well. However, that won't stop his heartbreak." Thierry got
out of his chair and started to pace. "He's only about 700 years old,
Hannah. He will get over her eventually."
Hannah snorted. Thierry glanced at her askance. She said by way of
explanation, "Only you would consider 700 years a short time."
He grinned at her. "But it's true for a vampire. Francisco, will
just have to do this his own way."
Hannah shrugged, giving in. "Oh, I suppose. It's just that I'm
worried about him....as is everyone else. Nobody likes to see him this sad.
Especially, when he's usually so full of laughter."
Thierry stood in front of the library window watching as a young man
of Indian ancestry made his way down the driveway. He walked with the grace
of a predator. The sun glinted off of his long brown hair.
Suddenly, he turned. He stared expressionlessly at Thierry. Then he
gave a short wave and got into the black limo. Nilsson closed the door and
climbed into the driver's seat.
Thierry said a quick prayer to the Goddess to protect his friend
before he turned back to Hannah.
***
Part 3
Mexico, 2 days later
Andrea sat on a hard wooden chair, her arms resting on a rickety
table. Directly in front of her was Aida. She was laying in a plastic, see
through case. *She's so perfect.*
She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder. "Sorry," Carl
apologized, taking a seat next to her. He gave her an odd look.
"What?" Andrea asked.
He looked away, looked back. Then he smiled, "It's nothing, really.
I just never thought I would see the day when you would sit in a tent(a hot
one mind you)for hours staring with fascination at a mummy."
She looked away at Aida, embarrassed. "She's not just any mummy,"
she murmured.
He laughed. "I have to agree with you on that, my dear. It's not
every day that you get to sit in a tent with a mummy that you named. Where
did you come up with Aida anyway?"
She shrugged still looking at the plastic display case in front of
them. "It was the first thing that came to mind. I can't believe we have
her displayed so quickly."
Carl's expression turned thoughtful. "It's odd isn't it?" he asked
jutting in his chin in Aida's direction. He saw Andrea's confusion. He
added, "I mean how the wind had uncovered her so much.
It was almost like she was waiting for us to discover her. It made our jobs
a hell of a lot quicker and easier, that's for sure."
Andrea shrugged. "It's just one of those things. Have any of the
islands around us been excavated?"
He nodded. "Most of them. After all, that was where the main Aztec
culture lived."
"Then,I guess it's not surprising that you've found all of those
other mummies."
Carl slid down in his chair a little. His voice was lazy as he
answered, "It happens more often than you think, Andrea. After all in a
dry, hot region like this any small community that might have had an
outbreak of disease could've been easily preserved. Especially, if there
was no one left to bury the dead except the sand being blown by the wind.
Or they might have been part of the flourishing trade between Tenochtitlan
and distant communities. Which would mean our dear Aida was a slave who was
carrying the cargo. Or maybe these people fled Tenochtitlan during the time
Cortes started his conquest.
Hell, she might have been a priestess and they might have been slaves
sacrificed to the Gods. Who knows...it's all part of the detective work."
"How long do you think it'll take to uncover the others?"
He shook his head. His voice went from dreamy to sober.
"Awhile....a long while. Especially, since we're considering that we don't
know how many there really are here. I mean, we can see nine others besides
her. But who knows how many others are beneath the sand?"
Andrea looked at Aida. "A priestess, huh?"
Carl chuckled. "Why, Andy, I didn't know you were such a romantic."
"Andrea," she corrected absentmindedly. "How old is she, Carl?"
He sat up straighter in his seat. "You're really interested aren't
you? You're not just feigning interest."
She nodded and said sincerely. "No, I really want to know."
"Well," he said consideringly, "I'd say she's about 700 years old.
The Aztecs came from the north into central Mexico about 1250 A.D. They
made several other moves after they settled in the Valley of Mexico on
islands in Lake Texcoco. In 1325 they began to build a city on one of the
islands: Tenochtitlan. What is now Mexico City."
"You should be a professor, Carl."
He laughed. "I don't think so. Could you imagine me in a stuffy
classroom? I'd rather be out in the hazy sun, getting dust on my clothes."
Andrea took in his dishevelled appearance. "You could say that
again," she replied with faint distaste.
"You're a hard one to impress, Andy."
***
Part 4
Mexico, same day, 1 hour later
He had been walking forever. Not that he minded, of course. He
wasn't tired; after all, he was a vampire. It was simply the landscape
wasn't much to look at. He'd seen it every single year since his life had
first began. It was still home to him, though.
Francisco sighed, heavily. He knew all his friends in Las Vegas were
worried about him; especially Hannah and Thierry. He wished that they
wouldn't worry so much. This was just something he had to do. It was a
little bit of the something that kept him living.
He knew it wasn't just the trip here that worried them all. It was
his melancholy. Usually, he was always in good spirits. Always ready to
crack a joke. But as the time had dragged ever closer to that time of *her*
death. Well, it was hard to stay in a jovial mood.
Thierry was the only person who really understood what he was going
through. Maybe it had even been a little worse for Thierry because he had
to watch Hannah die over and over again because of Maya. And Francisco only
had to lose his soulmate once. Perhaps it wasn't fair for him to compare.
He stopped suddenly. His breath hissed out. *What the hell?* Just
over the horizon he saw something that stopped his heart. It was what he
knew could only be an archeological dig.
***
Part 5
Mexico, archeological site, 20 minutes later
Andrea felt a reluctance to leave Aida. She had to, though, if she
were ever going to finish that article. "I'll see you later," she whispered
softly to the mummy laying down in front of her. Andrea looked around
quickly, making sure no one else had heard her. Of course, there was no one
else around to hear.
She looked back once as she left the tent flap. Then she resolutely
headed over to her tent. She stopped when she heard a commotion to her
right. She looked over to see Eugene arguing heatedly with someone she had
never seen before.
Sighing, she walked over towards the two men. She asked Eugene,
"What's going on over here?"
He ran a hand through his dirty-blond hair. "I don't know, Andrea.
This guy says he needs to speak to the main archeologist on this dig. But
he can't give me any kind of identification that says he can be here.
Besides which, Carl is over at the main digging site which is closed off to
anyone who's not digging."
Andrea looked at the young man in front of her. She almost wanted to
hit Eugene upside the head...this guy didn't need any kind of paperwork to
show his right to be here. It was etched into his face. He was obviously
of Indian ancestry. *Sometimes us Americans can be a little too arrogant
and not very observant.* She turned to Eugene. "It's all right," she said
reassuringly, "I'll take care of this."
Eugene looked at her doubtfully but left. Andrea turned back to the
stranger. His dark brown eyes were looking at her intently. "Now," she
said soothingly, "what can I do for you?"
"That would depend on who you are."
She tilted her head. "I'm Carl's girlfriend. So basically I'm the
second best person around here to talk to if you need something."
She watched as his hair brushed his shoulders as he nodded. "All
right," he said with his smooth voice, "I want you to stop the
digging...right now."
It wasn't a request but a command. Andrea's eyes widened. "Excuse
me? Did I hear that right?"
"You heard me right," he agreed.
Andrea looked at him. He stared right back at her. She could feel
her heart drop into her feet. He wouldn't have said that if he didn't have
some kind of legal claim. Her heart fell even further when she thought that
he might have a claim on Aida too.
"I don't suppose you could tell me who you are?"
"Not that it matters but my name is Francisco."
Andrea knew that she was on shaky ground here so she proceeded
carefully. "Well," she said cautiously, "we can't stop the dig unless you
have some kind of a claim."
He just continued to look at her. Recklessly, she threw out
suggestions. "What is it? Do you have a land claim? A religious claim?
Or a family claim?"
He shrugged. "If it matters...I have a personal claim."
Her jaw dropped. "A personal claim?" She fought back the urge to
laugh. "What kind of personal claim could you possibly have? What is she
one of your many reincarnations?"
The laughter died in her throat. She saw something flicker in his
eyes. He took a step towards her. "Don't laugh at me," he said quietly,
dangerously.
"I'm sorry I--"
"Hey, Andrea, what's going on?!" called Carl.
Almost weak with relief she turned to see Carl walking up to them.
By his side was Eugene. Carl stopped in front of Francisco. "Hello," he
said sticking out his hand, "I'm Carl and I'm the boss around here."
Reluctantly, Francisco took his hand and shook it. "Francisco," he
murmured.
"Carl," Andrea broke in, "he says that he wants the dig to be stopped
and that he has a personal claim."
Carl turned back to the Francisco. "What kind of personal claim?
Family, religion, or land?"
Francisco opened his mouth but Carl interrupted. "Don't say a land
claim because I already checked on that." He thought for a second. "And
the religious claim. So is this a family claim or what?"
Francisco looked impatient. "It's a personal claim," he repeated.
"And now you will stop the digging."
By now Carl had figured out that the man in front of him had nothing
legal to stop the site from continuing. He smiled. "Look, friend, I think
maybe you should leave now. Unless, you have some legal papers on you then
there's no way this site is being closed down."
Francisco sneered at him. Then he looked around at the others. His
eyes stopped on Andrea. Without another word he turned around and walked
away. The little group watched in silence until he couldn't be seen
anymore.
Carl put an arm around Andrea's shoulders. "Well, that's the last
we'll see of him," he said confidently. Andrea wasn't so sure.
***
Part 6
Mexico, one week later
Andrea stared at the letter she was holding with dumb amazement. She simply
could not believe this was happening. She looked up at Carl's face, and she
felt her heart drop into her stomach. The grim look on his face made her
believe that this *was* happening.
"I'm sorry, Andrea, but this seems to be very legite. Whoever the hell this
guy is, he's got connections, and he knows how to use them."
"You can't be serious!" she exclaimed, jumping up from her chair. "Carl,
you can't just hand her over to him just because he threatens you!!!"
He tilted his head watching her warily. "Why does this matter so much to
you?"
Andrea looked away from him as she said, "I had a dream...."
Carl's green eyes crinkled with interest. "Oh yeah? Why so mysterious?"
She shook the brown hair off her face. "I'm not being mysterious. It's
just that I'm not sure I should tell you...you'll laugh at me."
His face turned sober. "Never."
Sighing, she resumed her seat. Carl looked around the sparse tent, shrugged
and sat cross-legged in front of her. "A couple days ago I had the oddest
dream..." she gave an anxious laugh, "actually maybe it would be more
accurate to call it a nightmare. It was strange though....
"I dreamt that I was back in Aida's time-" She saw Carl start and she
quickly added, "No, Carl, I don't believe that I'm her reincarnation.
Just listen to me for a moment and I'll explain." She saw his face relax
and she went on.
"Anyway, I saw Aida and a group of young people were with her. I guess
they're supposed to be the other mummies. They were going on some kind of
picnic--don't laugh at me, Carl!--they were rough housing and carrying food
with them. There was one girl in particular that caught my eye....she
couldn't have been more than a couple of years older than Aida, so I'm
guessing she was in her early twenties.
"She had long red hair with ice-blue eyes. The way she kept looking at
Aida...," Andrea shivered, "God, if looks could kill...well, the group had
been walking for some time when they finally found the spot they wanted. As
they settled down to eat, the red-haired girl volunteered to do the
unpacking.
"Now throughout this entire thing I had been seeing through somebody else's
eyes. I know because Aida kept talking to me and looking at me. But during
this my point of view changed. Suddenly, I wasn't seeing through somebody
else's eyes, I now had a bird's eye view of what happened next.
"I saw the red-haired girl take something out of her skirt. It was a type
of clay bottle, but it was small. I watched with foreboding as she poured
the contents over the food....
"Then just as suddenly my point of view changed again. I was seeing through
the same person that I had used before. I watched as the little group ate
and told stories. I listened with avid interest to the village gossip. But
then I felt horror overwhelm me as a burning started in my stomach. The
muscles in my body started to contract painfully. I saw that the others
were experiencing the same thing.
"I felt my heart break as Aida collapsed onto the ground and she went into
convulsions. I tried to reach for her but someone knocked me to the ground.
It was the red-haired girl. Her face was horribly contorted and no longer
pretty.
"I watched in horror as these fangs started to come out of her mouth.
They were as white as they were sharp...which was *very*. She lunged at my
throat. I tried to throw her off but I couldn't. Not with the pain burning
through me like acid. I fought her as hard as I could as she punctured the
skin and started to drink.
"It hurt. I mean it really *hurt*. It was like she was ripping my soul out
of my body. Then things went dark. The next thing I knew something sweet
and wild was being poured down my throat. I tried not to drink but I
couldn't stop my body's reflexes from swallowing so that I wouldn't drown.
"I woke up. I felt so odd; it was pitch dark out but I could see perfectly.
My friends were scattered on the ground where they had died. Then I
turned my head and saw the red-haired girl. I lunged at her and I....."
Carl cleared his throat with some difficulty. "You what?" he croaked.
Andrea shrugged. "I'm not sure but I think I killed her."
They stared at eachother for a moment. Then Carl started to laugh.
"Jesus!" he whooped, "do you always have dreams like this? Whatever you're
smoking I'd like to have some of it."
She frowned. "I told you, you'd laugh."
He looked at her face, and the urge to laugh left him. He shook his head
slightly. "Andrea, you don't really believe that happened do you? I don't
mean to be rude but it's a little too melo-dramatic."
She bit her lip. "Yeah, I know. I guess I was just trying to tell you how
attached I am to that damn mummy."
He shook his head with bewilderment. "But why? I've never seen you act
like this before. You're supposed to be working on that article of
yours--you know how important it is--but all you do is sit for hours at a
time staring at Aida. What is it?"
"I don't know! She just feels so familiar." Her heart almost stopped. She
couldn't believe that she just said that. She watched with dismay as Carl's
face took on an expression of blankness.
"I think I'd better get back to the excavation. I just wanted you to know
about the letter." With that he walked out of her tent and into the
sweltering heat of the day.
Andrea looked back down at the letter in her hands. Her brown eyes narrowed
into an expression of determination. "I don't know who you think you are,
Francisco, but you're aren't getting away with this."
Having said that she started to pack.
* * *
Part 7
Las Vegas, same day, six hours later
Andrea looked from the address on the letter to the gaudy hotel in front of
her. She hadn't expected someone like Francisco to stay in a place like
this. She shrugged. She wouldn't have expected someone like Francisco to
be staying in a city like Las Vegas either, but apparently this was where he
was. There was something about him that spoke of honor and class. Then
again she had only know him for about five minutes so what the hell did she
know?
Brushing these thoughts aside, Andrea mounted the stairs and swept into the
lobby. She walked up to the desk clerk and asked for Francisco.
"Last name?" asked the middle aged clerk who was obviously bored.
She bit her lip indecisively. Stammering slightly she replied, "Actually, I
don't know if Francisco is his last name or first."
The clerk peered at her nearsightedly. Sighing, he crossed his arms over
his chest. "Look, lady, I don't know what kind of game you're playing
but--"
Her temper got the better of her. "Playing?! I'm not playing anything.
Surely there aren't that many people named Francisco who are staying in this
hotel! So just tell me--"
"I'm not telling you anything unless--"
"Excuse me?" Andrea and the clerk were startled by the interruption and
looked at the young man who had made it. He had reddish-brown hair with
violet colored eyes. Andrea liked him instantly. He seemed friendly and
polite.
"I couldn't help overhearing...are you looking for Francisco?"
Andrea bit down on her lip with exasperation. If he had been listening to
the conversation then surely he must know that! Controlling her tongue with
difficulty she replied, "Yes, I am. Do you know him?"
He gave a vague smile at the desk clerk and took her arm. As he slowly led
her outside the hotel he said, "I'm a friend of his, yes. My name is
Brandon. Francisco is at a friend's house right now."
Andrea felt her spirits drop. Damn! She had wanted to talk to him before
she had lost her nerve. And before all the sharp remarks she had been
thinking of faded from her mind. She stopped walking as Brandon dropped her
arm and shoved his hands into his pockets.
He looked off into the distance for some time. When he looked back he
asked, "I don't suppose you could tell me who you are and why you're looking
for him?"
Andrea looked at him sharply. He wasn't any less polite than he had been
but now he seemed a lot more watchful. She shrugged. She didn't have
anything to hide. "My name is Andrea Mason. I'm here to talk to him about
the archeological site."
His breath whooshed out. "I think you should get back on your plane and
leave."
She stiffened. He hadn't said it cruelly but it still hurt. "No, not until
I talk to him."
His violet eyes captured her brown ones. "Andrea-may I call you Andrea?"
She shrugged and nodded. It was her name after all.
He nodded absently. "Andrea, I don't mean to be rude but I think you'd be
better off going back to Mexico. Francisco isn't going to change his mind
about this. You'd be wasting your time and his. Not to mention making him
remember painful things."
Andrea had been following him until this last point. "Painful things?"
Brandon remained silent. When she knew that he wasn't going to explain this
she said, "Look, Brandon, *I* don't mean to be rude, but I'm not leaving
until I talk to him. Now whether you help me find him now, really doesn't
matter. If that stupid clerk won't help then I'll just wait for Francisco
to show up. He can't stay away forever."
He watched her with an odd look on his face. Unexpectedly, he chuckled.
She watched him curiously. As far as she knew she hadn't said anything
funny. He saw the look on her face and said, "He was right about you."
"Who was right about what?"
Grinning, he answered, "Francisco saying that you were going to be trouble.
He has no idea." Then he started walking away. She stared after him. He
turned back. "Well," he asked, "are you coming?"
* * *
Part 8
Las Vegas, Thierry's residence, 15 minutes later
Francisco sat in the library, brooding. He looked up with a scowl on his
face when Hannah entered the room. "Am I interrupting anything?"
she asked dryly.
He looked down at the table in front of him. Laying there was an open book,
but it was pretty obvious to the both of them that he hadn't been reading
it. Sheepishly he smiled and gestured her to a chair.
"So what are you doing in here?" she asked bluntly.
He shrugged. "What does it look like?"
Her gray eyes narrowed as they swept the room. "Honestly? It looks like
you're sitting in here doing nothing but moping when you could be doing
something a little more worthwhile."
He grinned. "You're always so candid, Lady Hannah."
Her cold, tight smile thawed slightly. "It's good to see that smile of
yours again. Some of us thought you'd permanently banished it."
His smile faded. "I haven't been in a jovial mood lately. I have to admit
this whole matter still worries me."
She reached across the table and took his hand. "Don't. Thierry has taken
care of the matter. You'll only put yourself in a worse mood if you keep
this up."
Francisco had opened his mouth to reply when the doorbell rang.
* * *
Part 9
Las Vegas, Thierry's front door, same moment
Andrea watched with a strange feeling of dread as Brandon's arm dropped from
ringing the doorbell. She shouldn't have come. What had she been thinking
when she had ventured into this city with this half baked idea of hers? But
she knew what she had been thinking about. Aida.
The door opened. A young man with dark hair and sunglasses stood in the
doorway looking at Andrea appraisingly. He turned towards Brandon
Apparently, he was waiting for an explanation.
Brandon said, "Nilsson, this is Andrea Mason. She's hear to talk to
Francisco about the archeological dig."
Andrea watched with a detached amusement as Nilsson regarded her with
newfound interest. So, apparently Brandon wasn't the only one who knew
about this situation. It made her wonder how many other people knew about
this.
Silently, he stepped back. Brandon placed a hand on Andrea's back and
gently pushed her inside. As she stepped over the threshold she looked
around. The only real impression she could grasp was that the place was big
and expensive. She was being lead down a hall. Nilsson was leading and
Brandon was behind her.
Nilsson hesitantly knocked on the door. He opened it and stepped to the
side. Andrea watched with growing unease as Nilsson and Brandon exchanged a
glance. It seemed that Brandon was the one who was going to have to risk
his hide and introduce her.
Brandon preceded her into the room. As soon as she had stepped inside the
door was closed behind her. She started slightly when she saw Francisco
sitting in a chair with a book in front of him. Across from his was a girl
with fair hair and kind eyes.
Unconsciously, Andrea stepped closer to Brandon. She now felt very
vulnerable. She hadn't expected to have an audience when she saw Francisco
again. It certainly put a damper on the epithets she had been going to call
him.
Francisco looked quite shocked to see her again. She couldn't help feeling
a small triumph in that fact. The girl opposite him had recovered her
surprise and stood up. She approached both of the newcomers.
Brandon tilted his head slightly on the side that Andrea was on. "Lady
Hannah, this is Andrea Mason. She has come to talk to Francisco about the
situation in Mexico."
Andrea's eyes widened slightly. Lady Hannah? That was odd....the girl
didn't look foreign to her. Hannah looked at her. "You may call me
Hannah," she said quietly.
Andrea ducked her head as she blushed. One of these days she was going to
have to learn to control her facial expressions. They were always giving
her away and getting her in trouble.
She looked up as Francisco stood up. She swallowed apprehensively. He
didn't look angry but that didn't fool her. Behind his cold mask he was
seething. Minute by minute she was wishing that she'd listened to Brandon's
advice and just left the matter alone. Mentally she shrugged. Too late
now.
Hannah looked from Francisco to Andrea and back again. Finally she turned
to Brandon. "Perhaps we should leave these two alone for awhile so they can
talk," she said softly.
Brandon nodded. He followed Hannah to the door but turned around when
Hannah had walked out the door. To Francisco he said, "I tried to get her
to leave but she was too stubborn." To Andrea he said, "I'll be right
outside if you need me," then he looked back at Francisco, "not that I'm
expecting you will." Then he closed the door behind him.
Andrea looked at Francisco. He stared right back. Finally, he seemed to
shake himself out of his daze. He gestured her to a chair as he sat down in
his original seat. "So what the hell are you doing here?"
The words could have been more polite but the tone was conversational.
She watched him with disbelief then pulled the envelope that held the letter
out of her pocket. Unfolding it she waved it around in the air. "I'm here
because of this. What the hell is this?"
He watched her with disinterest. "I would have thought that the letter was
very clear. You either give me the mummy that you have on display or
otherwise I'll have the entire excavation put to a stop. There is that
better? More coherent and clear?"
Andrea thought about hitting him. She didn't consider it too seriously
though. She thought she knew how to get rid of that damn smug tone of his.
"Mmhm. And how, pray tell, do you know that we've already had a mummy
excavated?"
He gave a predatory smile. "I checked before I left."
She gritted her teeth and counted to ten. She had no wish to incur his
wrath. Finally, feeling calmer she said, "You said you had a personal
claim. Why do you want just this one mummy? Why not all of them?"
He shrugged. "The others were a compromise that I thought Carl," Andrea
winced, he said the name like it was a swear, "would agree with."
She knew quite well that this wasn't getting her anywhere. By now she knew
she could have saved her time and her breath. This had been a waste.
"There's no way I can convince you to leave the mummy with us is there?"
She watched with a sad heart as he shook his head. But she felt something
harden inside of her. She wasn't going to give up without a fight.
She shrugged and stood up. "Fine. I guess I'll be seeing you in court."
She started to walk away when she felt a disturbance in the air around her.
She turned around and was surprised to see Francisco a couple inches behind
her.
Fire seemed to shoot from his eyes. "Why can't you just leave this alone?
Why the hell is this so important to you?"
"Honestly, I don't know why. It just is. You said in your letter that you
would drag in some favors not only from the government of Mexico but also
from other archeologists. Perhaps even the judge who gets this case. Fine,
you go ahead and do that. Just because Carl knows that the names you
mentioned are legite and highly respected people doesn't scare me one bit.
If you want her, then you're going to have to do it the hard way."
She was so angry that her vision was blurred with tears. As she turned away
from him she tripped. Francisco instinctively grabbed her arm to keep her
from falling on her face. He jerked and let go. Andrea continued stumbling
to the door and slammed it behind her.
She hadn't looked back at Francisco when she had exited the room. If she
had she would have seen him passed out on the floor.
* * *
Part 10
District of Columbia, 3 days later
Andrea sat in her office looking down at her finished article gloomily. She
looked up as Terry, her boss, walked into the room. Her short
strawberry-blonde hair bounced jauntily as she sauntered in and her blue
eyes were positively shining.
"Well, well, well," she said happily, "how's my star journalist doing?" She
didn't wait for Andrea to answer. "I just knew that you were going to beat
Alisha at the awards ceremony yesterday night. Although, you cut it pretty
close. You almost didn't make the deadline to have that article published
and therefore have it in consideration for the committee."
Andrea nodded absently as Terry babbled on. "My God, did you see Alisha's
face?! What a riot...she actually thought she was better than you. Can you
believe how conceited some people are?"
Andrea mumbled something inconsequential. Terry didn't seem to notice. "I
still can't believe Roger Silversteen didn't even mention what happened
between you and Alisha at the press conference a couple weeks ago." Terry
finally stopped talking. She watched Andrea for a moment. Testing her out
she said, "Roger is truly a tactful person. Some of the things you called
Alisha would have made my ears bleed."
Terry sighed when Andrea didn't answer. "Okay, Andrea, what's going on?
You haven't heard a word I've said."
Andrea gave an answering sigh. She leaned back in her chair. "I'm just
moping I guess. Carl called me a couple of hours ago to say that Aida had
been picked up by a couple of people Francisco sent. He thought I should
know."
Terry watched her thoughtfully. "So let me guess, you two aren't going out
anymore?"
Andrea shook her head. "After the fight we had when I got back from Las
Vegas...I don't think so. I said he was a coward, among other things, for
letting some guy bully him around like that. Oh well, we're still on
talking terms. Besides, I don't think we were really ever suited to
eachother. After three months and he still called me Andy."
Terry said nothing for a moment. Finally she stood up. "I'm giving you the
day off kiddo. Go home and rest for awhile; you look bushed."
Andrea watched her leave. After gathering her things, she walked home. She
took out her keys and opened her apartment door. She tripped into the room
and closed the door after her. She walked into her room; then flopped onto
the bed.
She jumped up when a shadow fell across the bed. She yelled when she saw a
young woman with long red hair and ice blue eyes. Alisha. "What are you
doing in here?" Andrea demanded.
The blue eyes flashed. "I am so sick and tired of losing to you!" Alisha
said in a strangled voice. "You think you're so much better than me....you
always do whatever you can to embarrass me in front of our peers. Not
anymore, Andrea, I'm taking care of you once and for all." Andrea gasped
when she saw Alisha lift the knife.
"Get away from her, Juanita." Francisco stepped into the room. He looked
slightly sick to Andrea's eyes.
Alisha stepped away from the bed and her eyes widened as she looked at
Francisco. Andrea had the distinct feeling of deja vu. This had happened
before. Well, maybe it hadn't been this exact situation but she felt like
the three of them had been in this position before. One where Alisha was a
murderer and Andrea was the intended victim.
Francisco's eyes swept over Andrea's body. Satisfied that she wasn't hurt
he turned his attention back to Alisha. Andrea saw confusion on his face.
"How," he asked, "is it possible that you're still alive. I killed you.
And everybody knows that vampires can't come back."
Alisha laughed. "Well, it might have helped that I was half witch, half
vampire. Witches know all kinds of spells to help keep themselves immortal.
That's especially true of Maya's direct descendants."
Something struck Andrea and she jumped off the bed and onto the floor
opposite from the side that Alisha was on. "Juanita," she murmured.
"My God!" she exclaimed as goosebumps covered her arms. "It was you!
You were the girl with the long red hair and the blue eyes in my dream. I
should have known...you still look the same. You killed them....all of
them."
Juanita laughed again. Looking from Andrea to Francisco she said, "You mean
I killed the both of you. Don't you remember who you were, *Andrea*? Even
then you thought you were better than me. You even took Francisco away from
me....you knew I wanted him!"
Shock waves ran through Andrea's body. Of course, that would explain her
attraction to Aida's mummy. It used to be her! She shook her head. "I
didn't know, Al-Juanita. I loved him...that's why we were engaged. Not
because I wanted to hurt you."
Juanita shrugged. "It no longer matters....I'm still going to kill you."
"Not with me here," Francisco said coldly. "You deserve to die twice over
for what you did back in the past...but I'll let this go if you leave now."
Juanita laughed again. A sound that was starting to grate on Andrea's
nerves. "Ah, but you always were too sentimental, Francisco, you even
preserved your Aida so that she could always "live" on. What garbage."
Just as soon as she said the last word did she throw herself at Francisco.
Andrea saw that she had a wooden stake in her hands. She now knew what the
meaning of her dream was when she had been bitten by Juanita and had a wild,
sweet drink poured down her throat. She had been seeing through Francisco's
point of view. And that would mean that Francisco was now a vampire. And
that he needed her help.
Desperately, Andrea looked around for a piece of wood. All she saw was her
wooden letter opener. She grabbed it and jumped into the fray. Juanita
somehow had gotten on top of Francisco. He was holding her wrists so that
she couldn't plunge the stake into his heart. Without stopping to think
Andrea plunged the letter opener into Juanita. However, Andrea hadn't been
aiming and it went deep into the other woman's shoulder.
Francisco stood up and took out a cell phone from his pocket. "Let me talk
to Thierry," he said as soon as he was done dialing.
* * *
Epilogue
District of Columbia, Andrea's apartment, later that night
Andrea sighed with contentment as she leaned into Francisco's embrace. "I
can't believe it," she murmured into his shoulder.
He smiled into her hair and brushed her temple with his lips. "Believe it."
She pushed away from him slightly so she could look into his face. "But it
seems so incredible...old souls, witches, vampires, werewolves," she smiled
as she remembered the girl named Lupe, "Circle Daybreak, the Night World
Council...."
"It can be overwhelming," he agreed. He shifted his weight so he could rest
more comfortably on the couch. He tightened his hold on her. "You know,"
he said thoughtfully, "I never thought I would ever see you again."
"Now I can understand why you wanted Aida so badly. What have you done with
her?"
He smiled. "I had her buried."
Andrea looked at him. "After all that trouble?"
"I thought it was time she had a rest....I won't be needing her anymore.
Not with you here."
She chuckled. "Just don't let Carl find out. He'd have a fit. She was so
well preserved..." Her eyes narrowed. "It was you! You were the one who
took care of her body. But you didn't bother with the others."
"It was hard enough getting her body preserved. Besides I've seen all the
others; reincarnated, of course." He let the silence go on for a couple of
minutes. He knew she had it when she started to laugh.
"Brandon....he was the boy with the blonde hair and green eyes."
He nodded. "When he grabbed your arm, he recognized you." He felt her
start. "No, he didn't know who you were. Just that he had known you
before. If he had known, he would have told me right away. But that's why
he brought you to Thierry's house....he felt he could trust you."
Andrea looked at Francisco curiously. "What exactly happened after I left
that day?"
"Remember when you were storming out of the house?" She nodded. "Well,
when I grabbed your arm when you tripped...I felt a connection to you...and
I saw a pink fog...classic symptoms of the soulmate principle. Then I
basically passed out onto the floor. Scared the hell out of Hannah. From
what I hear, Lupe and Nilsson had a hell of a time keeping her from trying
to kill you. She thought it was something you had done....in a way she was
kind of right. Well, anyway for a couple of days I had people gather some
information on you..."
"What for?"
"Well, I needed to know something about you. I didn't think it would be a
great plan to just walk up to you and say, "Hi, I'm your soulmate. Wanna
kiss?"
Andrea laughed and punched him in the shoulder. "No," she admitted, "that
wouldn't have been a very good technique."
"Well, from a couple these people I found out about the rivalry between you
and Juan-Alisha. That jump started me out here. From things I've heard
about and experienced I know that a lot of times the past repeats itself."
They were silent a moment. "What will happen to her?" Andrea asked finally.
She felt Francisco shrug. "There are a couple of Circles within Daybreak
who handle stuff like this. They take in mentally unbalanced people and try
to treat them. She's dangerous, no doubt about that. She was an agent for
the Night World Council back then as she is for them right now. If she gets
better then she might work for us but I doubt it. More than likely Thierry
will use her for leverage if a situation comes up. From what I was told
today she's a very important person."
Andrea shivered. "I'm just glad you got here in time."
He hugged her closer. "Don't worry. My timing is always impeccable."
Andrea couldn't help laughing. "You're a very conceited fellow."
He shifted her in his arms and kissed her. After a breathless moment Andrea
said, "I take it back....you're timing is impeccable."
He laughed. They stayed in eachother's arms till sleep overtook them.
Their dreams were sweet; an omen of their bright future together.
The End.
(c) Sara Dupras (starlit_kit@hotmail.com)