Name: Sara Dupras
Title: Love Wins Over All
E-Mail: starlit_kit@hotmail.com
Rating: 15
Warnings: homosexuality, swearing, violence
Inspiration: Red's request for more fanfic centering around homosexual heroes that teens could look up to.
Summary: Lauren has had a bad experience in her past that makes her wary of gay people. Will she be able to conquer her fears and accept her soulmate and help save Circle Daybreak???
Disclaimers: The characters of Nilsson, Thierry, Hannah, Quinn, Rashel, and Lupe all belong to L.J. Smith as does the soulmate principle and the whole idea of Circle Daybreak. All other characters belong to me.
Spoilers: NW but especially SM and the Chosen
Submission:
Lauren sat at her desk with her pen poised over the paper. Ten minutes went by with her continuing to sit in the same pose. As the minutes ticked by, her frustration increased. Finally, she sent the pen flying across the room.
She sat back in her chair and sighed. This writer's block of hers was terrible. It had stayed with her for months; needless to say she wasn't getting anything done on her novel.
Lauren decided that she wasn't getting anything done this way either. She left her sparse office and strolled into the next room. She looked around with satisfaction at the mauve colored walls and blue furniture that matched her country style bedspread and curtains.
There was a knock at her door and she went over to answer it. Lauren smiled when she saw her best friend standing there. "Come on in," Lauren said to the blond haired, blue eyed woman.
Sharmin smiled and stepped over the threshold. She gave a low whistle of appreciation as she looked around the room. "Wow, working for Thierry sure has its perks."
Lauren laughed and nodded. "I have an office and bathroom too."
Sharmin walked into the next room. "Hmm, maybe you should ask Thierry to put some more furniture in here. It's practically empty."
"He wanted to but I told him no. I don't like the place where I write to be too cluttered. I find it distracting."
Sharmin shrugged. "You ready to go?"
Lauren groaned. "Do I have to?"
"Yes, you have to," Sharmin said with a frown. "If you don't then they'll think you don't like them."
Lauren didn't say that that was partially right. She merely got her coat instead.
Nilsson let them out the front door saying, "Remember, Lauren, Thierry wants to have a meeting tonight."
Lauren promised to be on time. The two young women made their way towards Sharmin's red jaguar.
Lauren remarked dryly, "Working for Thierry certainly has its perks."
Sharmin grinned at her sheepishly before getting into the driver's seat. She looked over at Lauren who had just snapped on her seat belt. "That's not necessary."
Lauren looked out the window and said blandly, "With you driving it is."
Sharmin reached out and tugged on one of her friend's red-gold curls.
"Watch it, Strawberry Shortcake, this is *my* car."
Lauren continued to look out the window as she replied, "Watch it, Goldy Locks, I'm the one with the perfectly manicured nails."
Sharmin stared at her best friend for a moment. Then she laughed. She started the car and pulled away from the curb. As they drove along Sharmin glanced at Lauren from time to time.
"What?" Lauren finally snapped.
The other woman shrugged. "Just thinking...."
"About what?" Sharmin didn't answer and Lauren let it drop. She hated confrontations and avoided them when she could.
She snapped back to attention when Sharmin stopped the car in the club's parking lot. Reluctantly, she stepped out of the car and walked with Sharmin to the club entrance.
A tall, broad shouldered man, named Bruce, recognized Sharmin immediately and let them in. Unconciously, Lauren braced herself. They entered the big, smoke filled room with the throbbing music.
Sharmin squinted through the smoky haze and spotted who she'd been looking for. She grabbed Lauren's arm and lead her through the dancing bodies to a table set back in a corner.
Alex stood up out of his chair and helped Sharmin into one. Xyler helped Lauren into hers.
Alex gave Xyler an amused glance when he saw Lauren clutching an empty glass on the table. Xyler returned the look and leaned towards her. "Lauren," he drawled, "would you like us to get you something to drink? Or maybe you'd like to see if you could get the last couple of drops out of that first?" He gestured at the empty glass.
Lauren blushed and quickly let go of the glass. She stared down at her short, velvet skirt. "Sorry," she murmured.
Sharmin sighed and glared at the two men. Alex looked away from her gaze but Xyler just grinned at her. She looked over at Lauren and saw her still staring at her skirt. "Maybe you'd like to get us something to drink."
Lauren nodded gratefully and all but ran to the bar.
Xyler watched her go. "When are you going to tell her?" he asked flatly.
"Not now," was Sharmin's brief reply.
"She has a right to know," Alex said hesitantly.
Sharmin sighed. "I know, I know. It was hard enough to tell her about this." She gestured around the room. Her eyes lighted upon a black haired girl kissing a brown haired girl. For a moment the image was replaced by an old daydream of hers. She shook her head, clearing it away. She looked back at Xyler and saw a pin of a rainbow wrapped around a black flower; it was pinned onto his collar. It was the same pin everyone in the place was wearing. Except for Lauren.
Lauren came back a couple of minutes later carrying two glasses. Unfortunately, she had left her chair out and she ended up tripping on one of the chair's legs. Sharmin's vampire speed had her out of her chair in a second. She grabbed Lauren's bare arm and saw the dreaded pink fog. Dreaded because Sharmin knew that Lauren had seen it too.
Lauren jerked out of Sharmin's grip. Sharmin watched Lauren's face warily. She realized dimly that Xyler and Alex had abandoned their seats. They too were anticipating Lauren's response to this unwelcome surprise.
Lauren shook her head as if expressing her failure to comprehend the situation. "Did you know?" she asked Sharmin finally. Sharmin nodded and saw Lauren's face flush with barely leashed anger.
"How could you?" she nearly screamed. Sharmin flinched and took a step forward. Lauren quickly took a step backwards. "Stay away from me, Sharmin. Just give me your keys."
Sharmin opened her mouth to explain but Lauren shook her head at her. "No, I don't care. I don't want to talk to you; just give me your keys."
Feeling defeated Sharmin passed Lauren the keys to the car. Lauren turned on her heel and stalked out of the club.
Sharmin felt tears stinging her eyes. Xyler and Alex glanced at eachother. Xyler went over to Sharmin and held her as she shook with sobs. Alex went after Lauren.
It was a good thing that Lauren was so angry she was crying and shaking. It made her unable to get the keys into the ignition. She looked up when she heard someone tapping on her window. It was Alex.
He opened her door and gently grasped her arm. "You're in no condition to drive. Come on and I'll take you home."
Lauren considered her options and decided to go with him. She had an idea that anything short of physical violence wouldn't make him go away. He escorted her to Xyler's blue Escort. Alex opened the door and let Lauren slide into her seat.
When he got in on his side, he noticed that she had calmed quite a bit. That was a good sign.
He gulped when she looked at him with an expression bordering on hate.
"Did you know too? You and Xyler? Was I just a big joke to all of you?"
"There's nothing even vaguely humorous about this situation," he said a little coldly. "Sharmin wanted to tell you but she knew how you felt about homosexuality. We told her that someday you'd find out and feel betrayed but she was too scared to tell."
Lauren felt a little bit of her anger leak away. "Couldn't you have warned me?"
He shook his head regretfully. "I wanted to, Lauren, but Xyler said it was none of our business. Besides what would you have done to Sharmin?"
Lauren shrugged. "Does it matter, now? If she knew then she should have gone away...just left me alone. Now I've lost my best friend."
In a rare fit of temper, Alex slammed his fist on the dashboard. "Damn it, Lauren! Why does it have to end like that? Why? She's not asking to fuck you; she's asking for your love. And you're forgetting something...she's losing her best friend too."
Lauren looked out the window, refusing to meet his gaze. "I want to go home."
"No, not until I tell you something first. Just because someone has hurt you in the past does not mean that you can take it out on someone from the present. It's not right, Lauren, and it's definitely not fair."
Lauren turned on him with the full force of her anger. "Fuck you, Alex! What the hell do you know about my past?! All people like you and Xyler should be burned at the stake!!!" As soon as that last had left her mouth she wished she could take it back. She hadn't meant it; she just wanted someone else to hurt.
She saw the shocked look on Alex's face slowly being replaced by hurt and anger. For a moment she thought he was going to hit her. And she really wouldn't have blamed him if he had. For a werewolf he had quite a bit of self control because all he did was say, "I know what Tamstra did to you, Lauren. So doesn't Sharmin...that's why she really didn't want to tell you. She was afraid that you would think that she was just like Tamstra."
Lauren's face lost its color. "How did you find out about that?"
He looked down at the seat. "Xyler has his connections."
Lauren caught her breath. She felt like the walls of the car were closing in on her. She ran out of the car and was relieved when Alex didn't follow.
Lauren swore out loud. She should have just let Alex drive her back.
Now she had blisters on her feet. She metally shrugged the pain off.
She looked around at her surroundings but for some reason she couldn't really focus on anything. That left her to deal with her temtious thoughts.
Tamstra. A twenty-five year old by now but only twenty-one when Lauren had met her. A woman with long, curly blue-black hair. The widest pair of green eyes Lauren had ever seen on anybody. She might have been attractive but Lauren hadn't ever really been sure. Even back then her homophobia had been stifling....but not as bad as it had gotten to be.
Ah, Tamstra. She'd been an anchor for Lauren who had only been eighteen at the time and having trouble adjusting to college life. Tamstra had had a whole circle of friends who in turn became friends with Lauren. Later on, they had told Lauren about the Night World, that she Lauren was a lost witch herself and that the whole group of them were a practicing circle.
Lauren had been more than willing to join in the circle's spell castings and such. She'd been desperate to bind these people to her so that she need never worry again but making friends. They'd only grown closer as the circle's activities had progressed.
But then Lauren started to notice things. The oddly heated looks that Tamstra had been throwing her. The way Tamstra would seem to corner her by herself into an empty room. Then one day, Tamstra had kissed her. And the worst thing(for Lauren anyway)was that Lauren kissed Tamstra back and liked it.
Lauren winced at the memory but did nothing to stop it from playing out. Lauren had ended up spending the night at Tamstra's. When she finally did leave in the morning she got into her burning hot shower trying to wash the dirty feeling off her skin.
She'd been taught since childhood that such occurences were evil and should never be permitted to happen. Lauren had been thoroughly ashamed of herself and she never went back to the circle meetings. A week late Tamstra finally confronted her.
That had been ugly. Lauren said anything and everything she could to anger Tamstra, in the hopes that Tamstra would just leave. But Tamstra gave her back everything she'd given. She called Lauren all the things Lauren's parents had told Lauren to say to anyone who was what her parent's had called the 'worst kind of sinner'. Lauren shivered inspite of the warm sun.
Then before Tamstra had left she had raped Lauren. She had said that she was merely making a point. Lauren shook her head and resolutely stopped her thoughts. There was no use going back in time with the present so messed up.
She sighed with relief when she finally reached Thierry's mansion. Even before she had walked inside the door she knew something was wrong. It was a burning sense of emptiness where someone's presence should have been. She knew who was missing before she had even made it to the parlor.
Quinn was kneeling next to Rashel who was bleeding from a cut on her temple. Hannah was sobbing hysterically despite Nilsson's best efforts to get her to stop. Lupe was looking out a window with a vague expression on her face. "Where's Thierry?!" Lauren yelled.
"He's not here," Sharmin said from a shadowed corner. Lauren turned around to face her and bit on her lip to keep from gasping. She looked like total and complete hell. Her eyes were red and the skin beneath her eyes was puffy. Plus her whole stance shouted of defeat.
She wasn't even standing up straight; she was slouched.
Standing next to Sharmin was Alex and Xyler. Alex wouldn't even meet her eyes and Xyler just glared at her. "Wha...what are you doing here?" Lauren asked.
Sharmin shrugged. Then she pointed to a coat on the couch. "You left that in my car."
Lauren stared at her for a moment. She knew that Sharmin's real reason for being there had been to talk to her, but now was not the time for those kinds of sentiments. Awkwardly, she said, "Thanks."
Then she turned back towards the others. "What happened?"
Lupe shrugged indifferently. "They came in here without the alarms going off and without any of the guards seeing them. They were in and out in two minutes. They took Thierry with them."
Quinn helped Rashel off the floor. "They weren't vampires, I know that at least," she said quietly.
Quinn nodded and gave Lauren a note. "They left this. I think it was for you."
L,
If you want Thierry the Great Lord of Circle Daybreak back then you'd better get your sorry ass over here now. You know where we are. Bring Sharmin with you. We have to discuss something. No tricks and no games otherwise Thierry gets a stake in the heart and Circle Daybreak gets thrown into complete chaos.
Your lover,
T :p
Lauren sighed. She should have known. Only Circle Darkness would have been able to pull of this stunt. She looked up and saw Sharmin giving her an unreadable look. "I suppose you've read this?"
Sharmin nodded. "Well, then let's go." Before Lauren left she turned towards Lady Hannah who was still crying. She briefly placed her hand on Hannah's shoulder. "Don't worry Lady Hannah, we won't come back without him." Then she left the room with Sharmin following close behind.
They got into Sharmin's car. Sharmin started the engine and looked at Lauren. "Where are we going."
"To Club Chaos I'm afraid."
Sharmin gave her a look. "Where the hell is that?"
Lauren laughed as she realized her mistake. "You know that old abandoned house two blocks down? The one with the runes spray painted on it? That's the place."
Sharmin nodded and quickly drove to the building. Her foot never left the gass peddle. When the car came to a screeching halt, both women jumped out of the car and went inside the open door. It closed behind them.
As the lights overhead slowly popped on, several figures stepped out into the light. It was Circle Darkness and Thierry. Lauren ignored the others but looked at Tamstra. Still as beautiful as ever and still as evil.
"Hello, Lauren," she said softly. "I see you followed our directions and brought your new bitch with you. Well, isn't she a pretty little thing."
Lauren felt Sharmin twitch beside her. Lauren hoped that Sharmin would be able to control her temper. She took a step forward and replied, "I'm here, Tamstra, what do you want? It most certainly isn't Thierry...not unless you guys have changed your goals dramatically."
Tamstra laughed. "Oh, Thierry was only a means to an end. If he wants he's free to go. I just wanted to make sure that you showed up with her." She pointed at Sharmin.
Lauren looked at Thierry and saw he was rubbing his wrists from where they had used wooden handcuffs on them. However, he was no longer bound and the others had stepped away from him. It appeared that Tamstra was telling the truth. No one seemed to care when he walked over towards Lauren and Sharmin's side of the warehouse.
"Go," Lauren hissed at him. She caught the faint movement of Thierry shaking his head no and she sighed. She should have known that it wouldn't have been that easy.
"All right," Lauren said reluctantly. "What do you want?"
Tamstra smiled nastily. "Her," she said pointing at Sharmin, "I want her. You can leave...both of you, but Sharmin stays."
Lauren gaped. "I don't understand..."
Tamstra looked at her as if she were a stupid five year old. "Don't you remember, Lauren, I told you that if you ever took up with anyone else then their life was over. Well, she wants you and you want her. So I'm stopping this before it goes any further."
Lauren shook her head. "I still don't get it...why after all this time?"
"You didn't meet anyone that threatened her position before. Not until you met me a couple of months ago." Sharmin said.
Lauren looked at her. "No, I...I don't feel that way about anyone anymore....but especially not you."
Thierry watched on in confusion. "What the hell are you guys talking about?"
"Oh, didn't you know, Lord Thierry? Lauren and I are lovers. And Sharmin is the girlfriend stealing soulmate," Tamstra said with a laugh.
"You and I were never lovers." Lauren said with a hint of steel in her voice. "You and I fucked eachother once...a bad mistake in taste on my part. And then you raped me...which I should have killed you for instead of running away from."
Tamstra laughed a little hysterically. "Next thing you're going to be telling me is that you aren't a lesbian. Let's be honest here, Lauren, you liked what I did to you that night. You just couldn't deal with it because of your priggish parents."
Sharmin stepped in front of Lauren protectively. "Next thing *you're* going to be saying is that she liked how you raped her." She shook her head. "Lauren never loved you, Tamstra, she needed to know what it was like. At the time she liked how you controlled every little detail in her life. Then she finally realized what you were doing that night you two slept with eachother. Even then you didn't love her...it was just another form of control you had over her. She did realize this and that's why she left."
Tamstra looked agitated. "What the fuck do you know! Just shut the hell up!"
Lauren looked around at the rest of the members of the circle. There were five of them, not including Tamstra. So that meant, one witch and two vampires against six witches. She nodded. Actually, their odds could have been worse.
Sharmin was pushing all the right buttons. "I wonder what you must have thought when I came on the scene. Did you feel threatened right away or did it take you awhile to realize that what you could never have gotten from Lauren was slowly but surely being given to me?"
Tamstra shook her head. "No, she never loved you. She can't get past what she is."
Sharmin shook her head sympathetically. "I'm sure you'd like to believe that...I'm sure she would to, but it's just not true. If things hadn't gone so badly as they did today, in another month Lauren would have realized her feelings for me." She turned towards Lauren.
"You do know that, don't you Lauren. You saw how you're feelings were starting to change..."
Lauren felt a something pulling at her. It was the soulmate silver chord. Even though the two women weren't touching she could feel their minds starting to merge. And she saw. She saw herself through Sharmin's eyes. And she also knew that everything Sharmin had said today was true. If she hadn't felt so much betrayal Lauren would have been out celebrating with Sharmin after she had found out they were soulmates.
Lauren was brought out of the realization as Tamstra let out an inhuman shriek. Then all hell broke loose. All the members of the circle closed in on Sharmin, Lauren, and Thierry.
Sharmin kicked her foot into someone's face and felt the force of it snap their head back. Then she quickly punched someone who was behind her with her elbow.
Thierry threw one of the members into a wall. Then he clocked two other members' heads together. He heard a nauseating crack as the two skulls met.
Lauren was on the floor desperately trying to throw Tamstra off of her. "Get the hell off me!"
"No!" Tamstra screamed. "You're still mine."
Tamstra grabbed Lauren's hair and slammed her head onto the floor. Then Lauren blacked out. When she came to again she found that she was cradled in Sharmin's arms. She looked up dizzily. "What happened?" Sharmin shook her head and pressed her lips together.
Lauren looked to the side of her and saw Tamstra bleeding from the neck and lying still. She looked back up at Sharmin and saw the blood on her lips. Sharmin smiled painfully. "I lost my temper."
Lauren snorted. "As usual you are the Queen of Understatements."
They grinned at eachother. "Where's Thierry?" Lauren asked after a moment.
"He's calling for some help. This mess has to be cleaned up," she gestured around the body strewn floor.
Lauren swallowed. "They aren't all dead, are they?"
"No, only Tamstra."
Lauren nodded. They stayed quiet. Then Lauren sat up. Sharmin didn't try to stop her. They stared at eachother for awhile. Then Lauren said quietly, "I'm sorry that I overreacted earlier today."
Sharmin nodded. "I should have been more upfront." She smiled faintly and started to get up. Lauren's hand on her arm stilled her.
Sharmin looked at her warily.
Lauren didn't say anything. She just leaned forward and pressed her lips gently against Sharmin's. Then she pulled away.
Sharmin smiled goofily. It was a promising beginning, she reflected as she stood up. Then she reached down and pulled Lauren up beside her. They smiled at eachother. Definitely a promising beginning.
The End.
Title: Love Wins Over All
E-Mail: starlit_kit@hotmail.com
Rating: 15
Warnings: homosexuality, swearing, violence
Inspiration: Red's request for more fanfic centering around homosexual heroes that teens could look up to.
Summary: Lauren has had a bad experience in her past that makes her wary of gay people. Will she be able to conquer her fears and accept her soulmate and help save Circle Daybreak???
Disclaimers: The characters of Nilsson, Thierry, Hannah, Quinn, Rashel, and Lupe all belong to L.J. Smith as does the soulmate principle and the whole idea of Circle Daybreak. All other characters belong to me.
Spoilers: NW but especially SM and the Chosen
Submission:
Lauren sat at her desk with her pen poised over the paper. Ten minutes went by with her continuing to sit in the same pose. As the minutes ticked by, her frustration increased. Finally, she sent the pen flying across the room.
She sat back in her chair and sighed. This writer's block of hers was terrible. It had stayed with her for months; needless to say she wasn't getting anything done on her novel.
Lauren decided that she wasn't getting anything done this way either. She left her sparse office and strolled into the next room. She looked around with satisfaction at the mauve colored walls and blue furniture that matched her country style bedspread and curtains.
There was a knock at her door and she went over to answer it. Lauren smiled when she saw her best friend standing there. "Come on in," Lauren said to the blond haired, blue eyed woman.
Sharmin smiled and stepped over the threshold. She gave a low whistle of appreciation as she looked around the room. "Wow, working for Thierry sure has its perks."
Lauren laughed and nodded. "I have an office and bathroom too."
Sharmin walked into the next room. "Hmm, maybe you should ask Thierry to put some more furniture in here. It's practically empty."
"He wanted to but I told him no. I don't like the place where I write to be too cluttered. I find it distracting."
Sharmin shrugged. "You ready to go?"
Lauren groaned. "Do I have to?"
"Yes, you have to," Sharmin said with a frown. "If you don't then they'll think you don't like them."
Lauren didn't say that that was partially right. She merely got her coat instead.
Nilsson let them out the front door saying, "Remember, Lauren, Thierry wants to have a meeting tonight."
Lauren promised to be on time. The two young women made their way towards Sharmin's red jaguar.
Lauren remarked dryly, "Working for Thierry certainly has its perks."
Sharmin grinned at her sheepishly before getting into the driver's seat. She looked over at Lauren who had just snapped on her seat belt. "That's not necessary."
Lauren looked out the window and said blandly, "With you driving it is."
Sharmin reached out and tugged on one of her friend's red-gold curls.
"Watch it, Strawberry Shortcake, this is *my* car."
Lauren continued to look out the window as she replied, "Watch it, Goldy Locks, I'm the one with the perfectly manicured nails."
Sharmin stared at her best friend for a moment. Then she laughed. She started the car and pulled away from the curb. As they drove along Sharmin glanced at Lauren from time to time.
"What?" Lauren finally snapped.
The other woman shrugged. "Just thinking...."
"About what?" Sharmin didn't answer and Lauren let it drop. She hated confrontations and avoided them when she could.
She snapped back to attention when Sharmin stopped the car in the club's parking lot. Reluctantly, she stepped out of the car and walked with Sharmin to the club entrance.
A tall, broad shouldered man, named Bruce, recognized Sharmin immediately and let them in. Unconciously, Lauren braced herself. They entered the big, smoke filled room with the throbbing music.
Sharmin squinted through the smoky haze and spotted who she'd been looking for. She grabbed Lauren's arm and lead her through the dancing bodies to a table set back in a corner.
Alex stood up out of his chair and helped Sharmin into one. Xyler helped Lauren into hers.
Alex gave Xyler an amused glance when he saw Lauren clutching an empty glass on the table. Xyler returned the look and leaned towards her. "Lauren," he drawled, "would you like us to get you something to drink? Or maybe you'd like to see if you could get the last couple of drops out of that first?" He gestured at the empty glass.
Lauren blushed and quickly let go of the glass. She stared down at her short, velvet skirt. "Sorry," she murmured.
Sharmin sighed and glared at the two men. Alex looked away from her gaze but Xyler just grinned at her. She looked over at Lauren and saw her still staring at her skirt. "Maybe you'd like to get us something to drink."
Lauren nodded gratefully and all but ran to the bar.
Xyler watched her go. "When are you going to tell her?" he asked flatly.
"Not now," was Sharmin's brief reply.
"She has a right to know," Alex said hesitantly.
Sharmin sighed. "I know, I know. It was hard enough to tell her about this." She gestured around the room. Her eyes lighted upon a black haired girl kissing a brown haired girl. For a moment the image was replaced by an old daydream of hers. She shook her head, clearing it away. She looked back at Xyler and saw a pin of a rainbow wrapped around a black flower; it was pinned onto his collar. It was the same pin everyone in the place was wearing. Except for Lauren.
Lauren came back a couple of minutes later carrying two glasses. Unfortunately, she had left her chair out and she ended up tripping on one of the chair's legs. Sharmin's vampire speed had her out of her chair in a second. She grabbed Lauren's bare arm and saw the dreaded pink fog. Dreaded because Sharmin knew that Lauren had seen it too.
Lauren jerked out of Sharmin's grip. Sharmin watched Lauren's face warily. She realized dimly that Xyler and Alex had abandoned their seats. They too were anticipating Lauren's response to this unwelcome surprise.
Lauren shook her head as if expressing her failure to comprehend the situation. "Did you know?" she asked Sharmin finally. Sharmin nodded and saw Lauren's face flush with barely leashed anger.
"How could you?" she nearly screamed. Sharmin flinched and took a step forward. Lauren quickly took a step backwards. "Stay away from me, Sharmin. Just give me your keys."
Sharmin opened her mouth to explain but Lauren shook her head at her. "No, I don't care. I don't want to talk to you; just give me your keys."
Feeling defeated Sharmin passed Lauren the keys to the car. Lauren turned on her heel and stalked out of the club.
Sharmin felt tears stinging her eyes. Xyler and Alex glanced at eachother. Xyler went over to Sharmin and held her as she shook with sobs. Alex went after Lauren.
It was a good thing that Lauren was so angry she was crying and shaking. It made her unable to get the keys into the ignition. She looked up when she heard someone tapping on her window. It was Alex.
He opened her door and gently grasped her arm. "You're in no condition to drive. Come on and I'll take you home."
Lauren considered her options and decided to go with him. She had an idea that anything short of physical violence wouldn't make him go away. He escorted her to Xyler's blue Escort. Alex opened the door and let Lauren slide into her seat.
When he got in on his side, he noticed that she had calmed quite a bit. That was a good sign.
He gulped when she looked at him with an expression bordering on hate.
"Did you know too? You and Xyler? Was I just a big joke to all of you?"
"There's nothing even vaguely humorous about this situation," he said a little coldly. "Sharmin wanted to tell you but she knew how you felt about homosexuality. We told her that someday you'd find out and feel betrayed but she was too scared to tell."
Lauren felt a little bit of her anger leak away. "Couldn't you have warned me?"
He shook his head regretfully. "I wanted to, Lauren, but Xyler said it was none of our business. Besides what would you have done to Sharmin?"
Lauren shrugged. "Does it matter, now? If she knew then she should have gone away...just left me alone. Now I've lost my best friend."
In a rare fit of temper, Alex slammed his fist on the dashboard. "Damn it, Lauren! Why does it have to end like that? Why? She's not asking to fuck you; she's asking for your love. And you're forgetting something...she's losing her best friend too."
Lauren looked out the window, refusing to meet his gaze. "I want to go home."
"No, not until I tell you something first. Just because someone has hurt you in the past does not mean that you can take it out on someone from the present. It's not right, Lauren, and it's definitely not fair."
Lauren turned on him with the full force of her anger. "Fuck you, Alex! What the hell do you know about my past?! All people like you and Xyler should be burned at the stake!!!" As soon as that last had left her mouth she wished she could take it back. She hadn't meant it; she just wanted someone else to hurt.
She saw the shocked look on Alex's face slowly being replaced by hurt and anger. For a moment she thought he was going to hit her. And she really wouldn't have blamed him if he had. For a werewolf he had quite a bit of self control because all he did was say, "I know what Tamstra did to you, Lauren. So doesn't Sharmin...that's why she really didn't want to tell you. She was afraid that you would think that she was just like Tamstra."
Lauren's face lost its color. "How did you find out about that?"
He looked down at the seat. "Xyler has his connections."
Lauren caught her breath. She felt like the walls of the car were closing in on her. She ran out of the car and was relieved when Alex didn't follow.
Lauren swore out loud. She should have just let Alex drive her back.
Now she had blisters on her feet. She metally shrugged the pain off.
She looked around at her surroundings but for some reason she couldn't really focus on anything. That left her to deal with her temtious thoughts.
Tamstra. A twenty-five year old by now but only twenty-one when Lauren had met her. A woman with long, curly blue-black hair. The widest pair of green eyes Lauren had ever seen on anybody. She might have been attractive but Lauren hadn't ever really been sure. Even back then her homophobia had been stifling....but not as bad as it had gotten to be.
Ah, Tamstra. She'd been an anchor for Lauren who had only been eighteen at the time and having trouble adjusting to college life. Tamstra had had a whole circle of friends who in turn became friends with Lauren. Later on, they had told Lauren about the Night World, that she Lauren was a lost witch herself and that the whole group of them were a practicing circle.
Lauren had been more than willing to join in the circle's spell castings and such. She'd been desperate to bind these people to her so that she need never worry again but making friends. They'd only grown closer as the circle's activities had progressed.
But then Lauren started to notice things. The oddly heated looks that Tamstra had been throwing her. The way Tamstra would seem to corner her by herself into an empty room. Then one day, Tamstra had kissed her. And the worst thing(for Lauren anyway)was that Lauren kissed Tamstra back and liked it.
Lauren winced at the memory but did nothing to stop it from playing out. Lauren had ended up spending the night at Tamstra's. When she finally did leave in the morning she got into her burning hot shower trying to wash the dirty feeling off her skin.
She'd been taught since childhood that such occurences were evil and should never be permitted to happen. Lauren had been thoroughly ashamed of herself and she never went back to the circle meetings. A week late Tamstra finally confronted her.
That had been ugly. Lauren said anything and everything she could to anger Tamstra, in the hopes that Tamstra would just leave. But Tamstra gave her back everything she'd given. She called Lauren all the things Lauren's parents had told Lauren to say to anyone who was what her parent's had called the 'worst kind of sinner'. Lauren shivered inspite of the warm sun.
Then before Tamstra had left she had raped Lauren. She had said that she was merely making a point. Lauren shook her head and resolutely stopped her thoughts. There was no use going back in time with the present so messed up.
She sighed with relief when she finally reached Thierry's mansion. Even before she had walked inside the door she knew something was wrong. It was a burning sense of emptiness where someone's presence should have been. She knew who was missing before she had even made it to the parlor.
Quinn was kneeling next to Rashel who was bleeding from a cut on her temple. Hannah was sobbing hysterically despite Nilsson's best efforts to get her to stop. Lupe was looking out a window with a vague expression on her face. "Where's Thierry?!" Lauren yelled.
"He's not here," Sharmin said from a shadowed corner. Lauren turned around to face her and bit on her lip to keep from gasping. She looked like total and complete hell. Her eyes were red and the skin beneath her eyes was puffy. Plus her whole stance shouted of defeat.
She wasn't even standing up straight; she was slouched.
Standing next to Sharmin was Alex and Xyler. Alex wouldn't even meet her eyes and Xyler just glared at her. "Wha...what are you doing here?" Lauren asked.
Sharmin shrugged. Then she pointed to a coat on the couch. "You left that in my car."
Lauren stared at her for a moment. She knew that Sharmin's real reason for being there had been to talk to her, but now was not the time for those kinds of sentiments. Awkwardly, she said, "Thanks."
Then she turned back towards the others. "What happened?"
Lupe shrugged indifferently. "They came in here without the alarms going off and without any of the guards seeing them. They were in and out in two minutes. They took Thierry with them."
Quinn helped Rashel off the floor. "They weren't vampires, I know that at least," she said quietly.
Quinn nodded and gave Lauren a note. "They left this. I think it was for you."
L,
If you want Thierry the Great Lord of Circle Daybreak back then you'd better get your sorry ass over here now. You know where we are. Bring Sharmin with you. We have to discuss something. No tricks and no games otherwise Thierry gets a stake in the heart and Circle Daybreak gets thrown into complete chaos.
Your lover,
T :p
Lauren sighed. She should have known. Only Circle Darkness would have been able to pull of this stunt. She looked up and saw Sharmin giving her an unreadable look. "I suppose you've read this?"
Sharmin nodded. "Well, then let's go." Before Lauren left she turned towards Lady Hannah who was still crying. She briefly placed her hand on Hannah's shoulder. "Don't worry Lady Hannah, we won't come back without him." Then she left the room with Sharmin following close behind.
They got into Sharmin's car. Sharmin started the engine and looked at Lauren. "Where are we going."
"To Club Chaos I'm afraid."
Sharmin gave her a look. "Where the hell is that?"
Lauren laughed as she realized her mistake. "You know that old abandoned house two blocks down? The one with the runes spray painted on it? That's the place."
Sharmin nodded and quickly drove to the building. Her foot never left the gass peddle. When the car came to a screeching halt, both women jumped out of the car and went inside the open door. It closed behind them.
As the lights overhead slowly popped on, several figures stepped out into the light. It was Circle Darkness and Thierry. Lauren ignored the others but looked at Tamstra. Still as beautiful as ever and still as evil.
"Hello, Lauren," she said softly. "I see you followed our directions and brought your new bitch with you. Well, isn't she a pretty little thing."
Lauren felt Sharmin twitch beside her. Lauren hoped that Sharmin would be able to control her temper. She took a step forward and replied, "I'm here, Tamstra, what do you want? It most certainly isn't Thierry...not unless you guys have changed your goals dramatically."
Tamstra laughed. "Oh, Thierry was only a means to an end. If he wants he's free to go. I just wanted to make sure that you showed up with her." She pointed at Sharmin.
Lauren looked at Thierry and saw he was rubbing his wrists from where they had used wooden handcuffs on them. However, he was no longer bound and the others had stepped away from him. It appeared that Tamstra was telling the truth. No one seemed to care when he walked over towards Lauren and Sharmin's side of the warehouse.
"Go," Lauren hissed at him. She caught the faint movement of Thierry shaking his head no and she sighed. She should have known that it wouldn't have been that easy.
"All right," Lauren said reluctantly. "What do you want?"
Tamstra smiled nastily. "Her," she said pointing at Sharmin, "I want her. You can leave...both of you, but Sharmin stays."
Lauren gaped. "I don't understand..."
Tamstra looked at her as if she were a stupid five year old. "Don't you remember, Lauren, I told you that if you ever took up with anyone else then their life was over. Well, she wants you and you want her. So I'm stopping this before it goes any further."
Lauren shook her head. "I still don't get it...why after all this time?"
"You didn't meet anyone that threatened her position before. Not until you met me a couple of months ago." Sharmin said.
Lauren looked at her. "No, I...I don't feel that way about anyone anymore....but especially not you."
Thierry watched on in confusion. "What the hell are you guys talking about?"
"Oh, didn't you know, Lord Thierry? Lauren and I are lovers. And Sharmin is the girlfriend stealing soulmate," Tamstra said with a laugh.
"You and I were never lovers." Lauren said with a hint of steel in her voice. "You and I fucked eachother once...a bad mistake in taste on my part. And then you raped me...which I should have killed you for instead of running away from."
Tamstra laughed a little hysterically. "Next thing you're going to be telling me is that you aren't a lesbian. Let's be honest here, Lauren, you liked what I did to you that night. You just couldn't deal with it because of your priggish parents."
Sharmin stepped in front of Lauren protectively. "Next thing *you're* going to be saying is that she liked how you raped her." She shook her head. "Lauren never loved you, Tamstra, she needed to know what it was like. At the time she liked how you controlled every little detail in her life. Then she finally realized what you were doing that night you two slept with eachother. Even then you didn't love her...it was just another form of control you had over her. She did realize this and that's why she left."
Tamstra looked agitated. "What the fuck do you know! Just shut the hell up!"
Lauren looked around at the rest of the members of the circle. There were five of them, not including Tamstra. So that meant, one witch and two vampires against six witches. She nodded. Actually, their odds could have been worse.
Sharmin was pushing all the right buttons. "I wonder what you must have thought when I came on the scene. Did you feel threatened right away or did it take you awhile to realize that what you could never have gotten from Lauren was slowly but surely being given to me?"
Tamstra shook her head. "No, she never loved you. She can't get past what she is."
Sharmin shook her head sympathetically. "I'm sure you'd like to believe that...I'm sure she would to, but it's just not true. If things hadn't gone so badly as they did today, in another month Lauren would have realized her feelings for me." She turned towards Lauren.
"You do know that, don't you Lauren. You saw how you're feelings were starting to change..."
Lauren felt a something pulling at her. It was the soulmate silver chord. Even though the two women weren't touching she could feel their minds starting to merge. And she saw. She saw herself through Sharmin's eyes. And she also knew that everything Sharmin had said today was true. If she hadn't felt so much betrayal Lauren would have been out celebrating with Sharmin after she had found out they were soulmates.
Lauren was brought out of the realization as Tamstra let out an inhuman shriek. Then all hell broke loose. All the members of the circle closed in on Sharmin, Lauren, and Thierry.
Sharmin kicked her foot into someone's face and felt the force of it snap their head back. Then she quickly punched someone who was behind her with her elbow.
Thierry threw one of the members into a wall. Then he clocked two other members' heads together. He heard a nauseating crack as the two skulls met.
Lauren was on the floor desperately trying to throw Tamstra off of her. "Get the hell off me!"
"No!" Tamstra screamed. "You're still mine."
Tamstra grabbed Lauren's hair and slammed her head onto the floor. Then Lauren blacked out. When she came to again she found that she was cradled in Sharmin's arms. She looked up dizzily. "What happened?" Sharmin shook her head and pressed her lips together.
Lauren looked to the side of her and saw Tamstra bleeding from the neck and lying still. She looked back up at Sharmin and saw the blood on her lips. Sharmin smiled painfully. "I lost my temper."
Lauren snorted. "As usual you are the Queen of Understatements."
They grinned at eachother. "Where's Thierry?" Lauren asked after a moment.
"He's calling for some help. This mess has to be cleaned up," she gestured around the body strewn floor.
Lauren swallowed. "They aren't all dead, are they?"
"No, only Tamstra."
Lauren nodded. They stayed quiet. Then Lauren sat up. Sharmin didn't try to stop her. They stared at eachother for awhile. Then Lauren said quietly, "I'm sorry that I overreacted earlier today."
Sharmin nodded. "I should have been more upfront." She smiled faintly and started to get up. Lauren's hand on her arm stilled her.
Sharmin looked at her warily.
Lauren didn't say anything. She just leaned forward and pressed her lips gently against Sharmin's. Then she pulled away.
Sharmin smiled goofily. It was a promising beginning, she reflected as she stood up. Then she reached down and pulled Lauren up beside her. They smiled at eachother. Definitely a promising beginning.
The End.