Title: Darkness Meets The Light (Parts 6/6)
Author: Sara Dupras
E-Mail: starlit_kit@hotmail.com
Rating: 15
Warnings: mild voilence
Spoilers: NW, soulmate principle
Summary: A young woman meets her soulmate while out on a job.
However, she finds that not all soulmate stories end in success
but sometimes in death.
Disclaimers: The Night World and all it's characters and
principles belong to L.J. Smith. I am merely borrowing the
soulmate principle to create a story for my characters. No
infringement is intended. Nor is any money being made from this
fanfic--sad but true :)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Prologue
A young man with dark brown hair sat on the grassy patch on
a small hilltop. His dark brown eyes pooled with unshed tears of
happiness and sorrow. In his hands was a small picture frame. He
stared at the picture of his beloved motionlessly. He stayed in
that pose for hours. A passerby would have thought him a statue.
When he finally did move, it was to place the picture frame
gently onto the ground. He turned away not being able to bear
looking at her beautiful face anymore. He couldn't stand to look
at the young woman with the long brown hair and the soft blue
eyes any longer. It was a wonder he had been able to do it for
this long.
Instead he stared at the slowly descending sun. He watched
the awe-inspiring sight of blood red mixing with violet blue in
the sky. It hurt to watch this event. It only made him think of
*her*. She loved to watch the sun setting. It had been one of
her favorite pastimes.
His humorless laugh cut through the eerie silence like a
knife through butter. How had it happened? How? But he knew
how...he had heard all of the various soulmate stories. He knew
as well as anyone else(better than anyone else, really)how
meeting your soulmate could change everything. How it could make
you do things you never really wanted to do.
He shook his head viciously. It didn't matter. He watched
as the last rays of light faded away for the very last time.
Soon, he would be with her again. And then everything would be
all right.
***
Part 1
Shadow watched the building with anticipation. It was
ordinary in the respect that it looked like any other building
on this street. Five floors high and red brick. An old and
deserted factory; just like all the rest marching up and down
this street. However, this one was very unique on the inside.
Shadow looked over at Black who was standing a couple of
feet away from her. His body was taut with tension. He was a
snake just waiting to strike. A very handsome snake. His
features were a sculptor's dream; with full lips that were made
to be kissed, and the black hair and eyes that had given him his
name.
He looked up at her and gave her a disapproving frown. She
gave an imperceptible nod. He was right; she was supposed to be
paying attention to the building not her partner. She gave a
little sigh of relief when he looked back at their target.
They both had a job to do. A *very* important job. They
were both part of Circle Daybreak's assassin team. The best of
the best, really. That was partially to be expected, though,
since they were both vampires. But mostly it was due to the
relationship the two had forged.
They both trusted eachother explicitly, especially with
their lives. Hell, in a job like this you had to know that your
partner would back you up if you got into a spot of trouble.
When they had first met six months ago, each had been a
little wary of the other. That was only to be expected, really.
But after their first fray together(where each of them almost
got killed, and would have been killed if the other hadn't been
there)they knew that they were and always would be partners.
Shadow was jerked out of her musings when she saw Black
move. Before she knew what was happening he had rushed past her
and at the building. She swore at herself as she quickly made to
follow him. Before she had even gone two steps, however, she was
grabbed by the upper arm.
She quickly kicked out at her attacker. If she hadn't been
a vampire with the reflexes that came with being that certain
species it never would have worked. But it did work, and she
smiled as she heard the other guy hiss. Now she knew it was a
male who had ahold of her arm...just by the reaction to that
very well-placed kick.
While his concentration still wasn't up to par, she
hurriedly punched in the general direction of his face. It
worked; now even more off balance than before he toppled over.
Shadow probed him with a burst of power. She smirked. He was a
werewolf, of course.
The smirk was wiped off her face when he started to change.
She was so surprised(although, she shouldn't have been; she knew
from experience that no matter how hurt someone was, if they
were determined enough then they'd keep fighting)that she wasted
the one precious second that she could have done something to
stop him.
The werewolf lunged at her. She gasped as she was knocked
to the ground with that loathsome creature on top of her. She
cried out in pain as he tore at her skin with his claws. She
grasped his furry wrists and tugged. The sickening sound of two
shoulders being dislocated could be heard over their scuffling.
Shadow winced as he let out a soul-shattering wail of pain.
Almost gently, she knocked him off of her. She slowly stood up.
She watched for a couple of agonizing moments while the werewolf
twisted on the ground before her. Showing an unusual moment of
sympathy she knocked him out with a burst of power.
With that done she ran after Black.
***
Part 2
Even though she was running faster than any human could
ever hope to accomplish, she was breathing easily and not making
a sound. She felt relief wash over her when she came upon a door
that lead inside the factory. As she crashed through it, she
scanned the area around her.
What she saw made her knees weak. Not even a foot away from
her was Black struggling around on the ground with the vampire
they had come to kill. This was not what bothered her(she had
seen Black in this position many times)what bothered her was the
pool of blood surrounding him on the floor.
She let out a wordless cry of rage and leapt at the
vampire. Just as she made it to him, he shifted and threw her
backwards with a strike of his hand. She moaned softly as a
miscellaneous piece of wood went through her hand, and her head
made contact with the wooden floor.
Her blood chilled when she heard Black scream. That had
never, *never* happened before. Shadow jumped to her feet,
fighting against the dizziness. Tears rolled down her face.
Black was writhing upon the floor in much the same fashion
as the werewolf had. The other vampire was sitting on top of him
wearing a victorious smile. In his hand was a stake...a stake
that was buried in Black's chest.
Shadow watched as Black's body convulsed and then he was
gone. Vaguely, she realized that the vampire had pulled the
stake out and was now facing her. She couldn't seem to take her
eyes away from her dead partner, though. She wasn't totally
surprised, however, when the other vampire flew at her.
She barely felt the jarring impact through her numbed
senses. She fought mechanically with the other vampire. "Roman,"
she thought dazedly. That was his name.
Even though she was fighting like a robot she managed to
throw him off her. She stood up to face him even as he regained
his feet. "You bastard," she said with a voice filled with ice.
He made a deep bow. "At your service." His voice was cold
and arrogant. The perfect combination for evil.
"I came to kill you." She glanced at Black's empty shell.
When she looked back at Roman she continued, "We both did. But
now I'll kill you to avenge his death...and all the others
you've killed."
Roman laughed at her mockingly. The electric lights
overhead gave an odd sheen to his dark brown hair and dark brown
eyes. "Oh, little one," he taunted, "if your little friend over
there couldn't stop me what makes you think you can?"
Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Because," she answered, "now I'm
not just doing my job...now I'm taking my revenge." Then she
sprang.
***
Part 3
They both toppled to the floor as she hit straight into
him. But then something strange and unwelcome happened...the
soulmate principle.
It started as her hands brushed his as they fell. Then they
were quite suddenly enveloped in a pink fog. They both fought
valiantly against it. Alas, they couldn't fight that rare link.
It wasn't long before they were in eachother's minds. And
reading eachother's thoughts.
"This can't be happening...*you* can't be my soulmate!!"
Shadow protested through her thoughts.
"Believe me, sweetie," at this she winced at the sarcasm
dripping venomously from his thought, "you aren't exactly my
idea of the perfect other half of me."
"You're a killer, for Goddess's sake!"
"And you're a damned Daybreaker!" he threw back at her.
Shadow struggled hysterically to break the link. No matter
how hard she tried, though, she couldn't seem to do it. She
could see it. Everything; all the dark and evil things he had
done. All the women and children, and mere humans he had killed.
Just for the fun of it. It didn't matter if he was her soulmate;
he was evil and had to be stopped. Unless...
Roman, too, could see everything in her soul. There was no
doubt that she had her dark spots too(after all she was an
assassin) but she also had light in her soul as well. He could
see her love for life. He could see all her memories of
beautiful sunsets. He could feel this experience changing
him...it could barely be felt but it was there...
"That's right," Shadow thought giddily, "you don't have to
be what you were. That monster that hides in the shadows--"
"I happen to like being that monster that hides in the
shadows!" Shadow could feel the panic behind the thought. His
hysteria was growing...
"No, wait, Roman..we could be together if you would just
change..."
"I don't want to change, Shadow, I *like* being this way!"
She felt her heart break. She could feel the truthfulness
backing this thought. She knew that they could never be...there
was only one thing left to do.
***
Part 4
She severed the connection. It was easier this time because
the link between them had been weakened by Roman's panic and her
conviction. She knew what had to be done. When they both finally
came out of it they found that they were kneeling on the floor,
supporting eachother.
Shadow quickly stepped out of his embrace. Roman backed
away from her as he stood in one smooth motion. They both
watched eachother warily. Then she quickly scanned the floor.
The stake was halfway between the both of them. When she looked
up she saw that he, too, had seen the weapon.
Before he had a chance to decide what to do she grabbed for
it. As soon as her fingers touched the wooden stake, she was
knocked over from behind. She struggled fruitlessly to grab the
stake and throw him off at the same time.
She was at a strict disadvantage: his weight was pinioning
her hips to the floor. Besides that the stake had rolled a foot
away from her when Roman had pushed her to the floor. The only
good thing was that the stake was also a foot away from him, as
well.
Shadow soon gave up her struggling. As soon as she did,
Roman stopped too. They both lay there motionlessly. She was
surprised to hear him speak. "You could quit Circle Daybreak and
join the Nightworld Council."
"You could quit the Nightworld Council and join Circle
Daybreak," she tossed right back at him.
As soon as the words had left her mouth he moved. He lunged
off of her and right at the stake. However, she had felt his
shifting before he had actually made his move, and she knocked
him aside. She cried out triumphantly as she held up the stake
above her head.
Shadow crawled over to where Roman was laying on the floor,
stunned. "It's not too late," she whispered, "to change your
mind." She watched with regret when he shook his head. She held
up the stake.
Then she brought it down to strike.
***
Epilogue
The young man shook silently as the tears finally
materialized and ran down his face. His poor, poor Shadow. At
first he hadn't cared that he had killed her. After all, she had
meant to kill him.
But then a few mere days afterwards he had felt the most
incredible pain he had ever felt in his entire life. He knew now
that it was the pain of his soul breaking. How could he have
ever believed that he could live without his other half?
Now that painful memory haunted his dreams. He could still
see it all so clearly....
She had brought the stake down to strike. She was so
concentrated on this one action that she hadn't felt the tensing
of his muscles that would have told her what he was about to do.
He had seen the surprise on her face when he had grabbed
her wrists. In the space of one heartbeat he had her pinned
underneath him. Without a second thought he had plunged the
stake into her heart.
Shaking his head, Roman reached over past the picture frame
(the one he had stolen from her bedroom yesterday)and curled his
fingers around the very same stake he had used to kill her
friend and partner Black. And the one he had used to kill her.
He would be with her soon, and then he would no longer feel
this horrible heart break.
The End.
(c) Sara Dupras (starlit_kit@hotmail.com)
Author: Sara Dupras
E-Mail: starlit_kit@hotmail.com
Rating: 15
Warnings: mild voilence
Spoilers: NW, soulmate principle
Summary: A young woman meets her soulmate while out on a job.
However, she finds that not all soulmate stories end in success
but sometimes in death.
Disclaimers: The Night World and all it's characters and
principles belong to L.J. Smith. I am merely borrowing the
soulmate principle to create a story for my characters. No
infringement is intended. Nor is any money being made from this
fanfic--sad but true :)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Prologue
A young man with dark brown hair sat on the grassy patch on
a small hilltop. His dark brown eyes pooled with unshed tears of
happiness and sorrow. In his hands was a small picture frame. He
stared at the picture of his beloved motionlessly. He stayed in
that pose for hours. A passerby would have thought him a statue.
When he finally did move, it was to place the picture frame
gently onto the ground. He turned away not being able to bear
looking at her beautiful face anymore. He couldn't stand to look
at the young woman with the long brown hair and the soft blue
eyes any longer. It was a wonder he had been able to do it for
this long.
Instead he stared at the slowly descending sun. He watched
the awe-inspiring sight of blood red mixing with violet blue in
the sky. It hurt to watch this event. It only made him think of
*her*. She loved to watch the sun setting. It had been one of
her favorite pastimes.
His humorless laugh cut through the eerie silence like a
knife through butter. How had it happened? How? But he knew
how...he had heard all of the various soulmate stories. He knew
as well as anyone else(better than anyone else, really)how
meeting your soulmate could change everything. How it could make
you do things you never really wanted to do.
He shook his head viciously. It didn't matter. He watched
as the last rays of light faded away for the very last time.
Soon, he would be with her again. And then everything would be
all right.
***
Part 1
Shadow watched the building with anticipation. It was
ordinary in the respect that it looked like any other building
on this street. Five floors high and red brick. An old and
deserted factory; just like all the rest marching up and down
this street. However, this one was very unique on the inside.
Shadow looked over at Black who was standing a couple of
feet away from her. His body was taut with tension. He was a
snake just waiting to strike. A very handsome snake. His
features were a sculptor's dream; with full lips that were made
to be kissed, and the black hair and eyes that had given him his
name.
He looked up at her and gave her a disapproving frown. She
gave an imperceptible nod. He was right; she was supposed to be
paying attention to the building not her partner. She gave a
little sigh of relief when he looked back at their target.
They both had a job to do. A *very* important job. They
were both part of Circle Daybreak's assassin team. The best of
the best, really. That was partially to be expected, though,
since they were both vampires. But mostly it was due to the
relationship the two had forged.
They both trusted eachother explicitly, especially with
their lives. Hell, in a job like this you had to know that your
partner would back you up if you got into a spot of trouble.
When they had first met six months ago, each had been a
little wary of the other. That was only to be expected, really.
But after their first fray together(where each of them almost
got killed, and would have been killed if the other hadn't been
there)they knew that they were and always would be partners.
Shadow was jerked out of her musings when she saw Black
move. Before she knew what was happening he had rushed past her
and at the building. She swore at herself as she quickly made to
follow him. Before she had even gone two steps, however, she was
grabbed by the upper arm.
She quickly kicked out at her attacker. If she hadn't been
a vampire with the reflexes that came with being that certain
species it never would have worked. But it did work, and she
smiled as she heard the other guy hiss. Now she knew it was a
male who had ahold of her arm...just by the reaction to that
very well-placed kick.
While his concentration still wasn't up to par, she
hurriedly punched in the general direction of his face. It
worked; now even more off balance than before he toppled over.
Shadow probed him with a burst of power. She smirked. He was a
werewolf, of course.
The smirk was wiped off her face when he started to change.
She was so surprised(although, she shouldn't have been; she knew
from experience that no matter how hurt someone was, if they
were determined enough then they'd keep fighting)that she wasted
the one precious second that she could have done something to
stop him.
The werewolf lunged at her. She gasped as she was knocked
to the ground with that loathsome creature on top of her. She
cried out in pain as he tore at her skin with his claws. She
grasped his furry wrists and tugged. The sickening sound of two
shoulders being dislocated could be heard over their scuffling.
Shadow winced as he let out a soul-shattering wail of pain.
Almost gently, she knocked him off of her. She slowly stood up.
She watched for a couple of agonizing moments while the werewolf
twisted on the ground before her. Showing an unusual moment of
sympathy she knocked him out with a burst of power.
With that done she ran after Black.
***
Part 2
Even though she was running faster than any human could
ever hope to accomplish, she was breathing easily and not making
a sound. She felt relief wash over her when she came upon a door
that lead inside the factory. As she crashed through it, she
scanned the area around her.
What she saw made her knees weak. Not even a foot away from
her was Black struggling around on the ground with the vampire
they had come to kill. This was not what bothered her(she had
seen Black in this position many times)what bothered her was the
pool of blood surrounding him on the floor.
She let out a wordless cry of rage and leapt at the
vampire. Just as she made it to him, he shifted and threw her
backwards with a strike of his hand. She moaned softly as a
miscellaneous piece of wood went through her hand, and her head
made contact with the wooden floor.
Her blood chilled when she heard Black scream. That had
never, *never* happened before. Shadow jumped to her feet,
fighting against the dizziness. Tears rolled down her face.
Black was writhing upon the floor in much the same fashion
as the werewolf had. The other vampire was sitting on top of him
wearing a victorious smile. In his hand was a stake...a stake
that was buried in Black's chest.
Shadow watched as Black's body convulsed and then he was
gone. Vaguely, she realized that the vampire had pulled the
stake out and was now facing her. She couldn't seem to take her
eyes away from her dead partner, though. She wasn't totally
surprised, however, when the other vampire flew at her.
She barely felt the jarring impact through her numbed
senses. She fought mechanically with the other vampire. "Roman,"
she thought dazedly. That was his name.
Even though she was fighting like a robot she managed to
throw him off her. She stood up to face him even as he regained
his feet. "You bastard," she said with a voice filled with ice.
He made a deep bow. "At your service." His voice was cold
and arrogant. The perfect combination for evil.
"I came to kill you." She glanced at Black's empty shell.
When she looked back at Roman she continued, "We both did. But
now I'll kill you to avenge his death...and all the others
you've killed."
Roman laughed at her mockingly. The electric lights
overhead gave an odd sheen to his dark brown hair and dark brown
eyes. "Oh, little one," he taunted, "if your little friend over
there couldn't stop me what makes you think you can?"
Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Because," she answered, "now I'm
not just doing my job...now I'm taking my revenge." Then she
sprang.
***
Part 3
They both toppled to the floor as she hit straight into
him. But then something strange and unwelcome happened...the
soulmate principle.
It started as her hands brushed his as they fell. Then they
were quite suddenly enveloped in a pink fog. They both fought
valiantly against it. Alas, they couldn't fight that rare link.
It wasn't long before they were in eachother's minds. And
reading eachother's thoughts.
"This can't be happening...*you* can't be my soulmate!!"
Shadow protested through her thoughts.
"Believe me, sweetie," at this she winced at the sarcasm
dripping venomously from his thought, "you aren't exactly my
idea of the perfect other half of me."
"You're a killer, for Goddess's sake!"
"And you're a damned Daybreaker!" he threw back at her.
Shadow struggled hysterically to break the link. No matter
how hard she tried, though, she couldn't seem to do it. She
could see it. Everything; all the dark and evil things he had
done. All the women and children, and mere humans he had killed.
Just for the fun of it. It didn't matter if he was her soulmate;
he was evil and had to be stopped. Unless...
Roman, too, could see everything in her soul. There was no
doubt that she had her dark spots too(after all she was an
assassin) but she also had light in her soul as well. He could
see her love for life. He could see all her memories of
beautiful sunsets. He could feel this experience changing
him...it could barely be felt but it was there...
"That's right," Shadow thought giddily, "you don't have to
be what you were. That monster that hides in the shadows--"
"I happen to like being that monster that hides in the
shadows!" Shadow could feel the panic behind the thought. His
hysteria was growing...
"No, wait, Roman..we could be together if you would just
change..."
"I don't want to change, Shadow, I *like* being this way!"
She felt her heart break. She could feel the truthfulness
backing this thought. She knew that they could never be...there
was only one thing left to do.
***
Part 4
She severed the connection. It was easier this time because
the link between them had been weakened by Roman's panic and her
conviction. She knew what had to be done. When they both finally
came out of it they found that they were kneeling on the floor,
supporting eachother.
Shadow quickly stepped out of his embrace. Roman backed
away from her as he stood in one smooth motion. They both
watched eachother warily. Then she quickly scanned the floor.
The stake was halfway between the both of them. When she looked
up she saw that he, too, had seen the weapon.
Before he had a chance to decide what to do she grabbed for
it. As soon as her fingers touched the wooden stake, she was
knocked over from behind. She struggled fruitlessly to grab the
stake and throw him off at the same time.
She was at a strict disadvantage: his weight was pinioning
her hips to the floor. Besides that the stake had rolled a foot
away from her when Roman had pushed her to the floor. The only
good thing was that the stake was also a foot away from him, as
well.
Shadow soon gave up her struggling. As soon as she did,
Roman stopped too. They both lay there motionlessly. She was
surprised to hear him speak. "You could quit Circle Daybreak and
join the Nightworld Council."
"You could quit the Nightworld Council and join Circle
Daybreak," she tossed right back at him.
As soon as the words had left her mouth he moved. He lunged
off of her and right at the stake. However, she had felt his
shifting before he had actually made his move, and she knocked
him aside. She cried out triumphantly as she held up the stake
above her head.
Shadow crawled over to where Roman was laying on the floor,
stunned. "It's not too late," she whispered, "to change your
mind." She watched with regret when he shook his head. She held
up the stake.
Then she brought it down to strike.
***
Epilogue
The young man shook silently as the tears finally
materialized and ran down his face. His poor, poor Shadow. At
first he hadn't cared that he had killed her. After all, she had
meant to kill him.
But then a few mere days afterwards he had felt the most
incredible pain he had ever felt in his entire life. He knew now
that it was the pain of his soul breaking. How could he have
ever believed that he could live without his other half?
Now that painful memory haunted his dreams. He could still
see it all so clearly....
She had brought the stake down to strike. She was so
concentrated on this one action that she hadn't felt the tensing
of his muscles that would have told her what he was about to do.
He had seen the surprise on her face when he had grabbed
her wrists. In the space of one heartbeat he had her pinned
underneath him. Without a second thought he had plunged the
stake into her heart.
Shaking his head, Roman reached over past the picture frame
(the one he had stolen from her bedroom yesterday)and curled his
fingers around the very same stake he had used to kill her
friend and partner Black. And the one he had used to kill her.
He would be with her soon, and then he would no longer feel
this horrible heart break.
The End.
(c) Sara Dupras (starlit_kit@hotmail.com)