Taylor forced himself to go to school the next morning. From what he knew of Nerissa and Morpheus, they liked to brag when they achieved something. He might learn some news.
When he arrived he knew he was late, but school was the last thing on his mind. He hadn't slept at all, too worried and too many violent images of what Viola could be going through when he wasn't there...
"...she's already driving him nuts. She won't shut up. Aubrey's ready to slaughter something."
"Then why the hell doesn't he just slaughter *her* and the whole fucking thing will be over?"
Taylor stopped when he heard the voices. The two girls who had terrified Viola on that first day. Bellona and Camilla. Before to know what he was doing, fuelled by anger and hatred giving him supernatural strength, he lunged at them, knocking Camilla to the ground, grabbing her hair and slamming her head against the floor several times, hard enough to stun even a vampire.
"Hey -"
Taylor pulled out his home-made stake. "You want me to kill her?" he asked, positioning the stake over Camilla's heart.
Bellona stepped back, glaring at him. "What do you want?"
"Don't play word games with me," Taylor snapped. "You know what I want. Where's Viola?"
"What are you *doing*?" Thea came running down the hall, staring at him in shock. "Are you *trying* to get yourself killed?"
"She's - she's in a mansion in Sa - Savannah. You know, where all the snobby people with the stupid names live?" Camilla choked out.
Taylor plunged the stake into her heart. "Thanks."
"Let's go." Thea grabbed his arm and they hurried away.
"I need to know *which* snobby mansion. Just Savannah is a bit vague."
"I think I know where I can get the info," Thea said, getting excited. "You stay here. I'll get a message to you." She hurried off, leaving Taylor alone.
He'd missed half of first period and really didn't feel like explaining why he'd missed it. He wondered if he should have killed Bellona. She was likely to go racing to her mentor telling him that a rescue squad was on its way.
He hid in the library and booked himself on an Internet connected computer and did a search on the name of "Redfern in Savannah". Most of the things that came up were complete crap.
"What are you looking for?" Morpheus asked, hovering over his shoulder.
Taylor turned. "Where is she?" he demanded. The librarian glared at him for raising his voice. "You know, don't you?"
Morpheus sighed. "You didn't hear this from me. I'm only telling you because I think Aubrey Redfern is an asshole."
"Tell me," Taylor demanded.
An hour and a half later he was on a plane on his way to rescue Viola.
* * *
Taylor blinked, trying to remember what had gone wrong. He'd been on a plane to Savannah. He'd landed, gone to hail a cab, something...
How stupid of him. The cab driver had been Nerissa's friend Coral Galena. He remembered now.
"How do you feel?"
Taylor groaned allowed. He felt..."Like shit," he answered sourly. He could barely manage to get his bearings. His throat felt like sand paper. His teeth and gums were tingling strangely.
He managed to focus on the speaker. It was Nerissa. He was in a room somewhere that looked like a prison cell. No windows, just a door was the only way in and out. The only piece of furniture was the mattress he had been dumped on. Why he didn't know. He couldn't quite remember everything.
"You're probably hungry," Nerissa said. And she did something very weird. She knelt down in front of him and offered him her wrist. Before Taylor knew what he was doing, he had grabbed the wrist and bitten into the vein with two new sharpened canines. The blood into his mouth, like nothing he had ever tasted. It was incredible. He felt like he could run a marathon in five minutes.
Then reality hit him hard in the face.
He pushed Nerissa's wrist away scrambling backwards on the mattress until his back was flat against the wall of the cell.
"What did you do to me?" he demanded, his voice fast and frightened.
Nerissa stood up, head tilted to one side, blonde hair spilling over her shoulder. She looked so...innocent. "You've been made a vampire. It should be kind of obvious." She sounded amused.
Taylor's tongue ran over his teeth, feeling the sharpness of his canines, his...*fangs*. "Oh God," he whispered, not sure what else to say.
"Well, I'll be back later." Before he could stop her Nerissa stood up, turned around and left. Taylor heard keys turn in the lock. Just great. *Who* had made him a vampire? *Why*? What good would it do?
Taylor sighed. He was about to sit down and sulk when he realised he wasn't alone. "*Viola*!" She was curled up in the corner of the cell, staring at him in shocked horror.
"They changed you," she whispered standing up.
They stood there staring at each other awkwardly. A minute of silence passed. Their eyes met - and they were in each other's arms, hugging and hissing as if there would be no tomorrow. Which, in their current predicament could be very likely.
"How are we going to get out of here?" Viola asked.
Taylor was about to answer he had no idea when he remembered. "Thea! Thea was there when I discovered where you were - she was going to go look for specific details."
"The Daybreakers are going to come and rescue us?" Viola looked doubtful.
Taylor couldn't blame her, really. The last time she'd tried going to Circle Daybreak for help, she'd wound up getting kidnapped again.
"Thea and Eric can be trusted," he said confidently. "They'll find a way to save us."
Viola eyed him. "Are you sure?"
Taylor nodded. "Yeah." But he wasn't, really. ~Come on Thea~ he thought. ~Prove me wrong~.
* * *
"What do you mean he's not home?" Thea demanded. It had taken some effort, but eventually all the right strings had been pulled and she had the information she needed.
Only, of course, something *else* had gone wrong in the mean time. Taylor was apparently missing.
"He's not here in school, I checked," Eric said, pacing up and down the room. They were back in the same house, trying to figure out what to do.
"He has Night People friends," Thea said carefully, remembering Izar had once mentioned him.
"You don't think..." Eric stopped pacing and his eyes met hers.
Thea wondered for a moment what he was trying to get at. "Oh no." Then she got it.
How could they have missed that? Her eyes rolled. Taylor's soulmate was in danger - if any opportunity presented itself to him - no matter how suspicious it might sound - he was going to jump on the chance to play hero and save her.
"Well, at least we know where he's gone," she said.
"Gone? It's been three *days*!" Eric said.
Thea blinked in surprise. "Three *days*!" Had it really been that long? Sometimes when she was doing research she completely lost track of the time. How could she have been so foolish to let that happen this time?
"Why the hell didn't you notice?" she snapped, annoyed at their lack of efficiency. Normally they were so good at this type of thing.
"I thought he was with *you*!" Eric protested. He waved a hand in a *cut* gesture. "There's no point arguing. We need to get there and save them."
Thea nodded in agreement. "Right. Of course. We can't do this ourselves, I'm calling for some backup." She hurried to the phone.
* * *
When he arrived he knew he was late, but school was the last thing on his mind. He hadn't slept at all, too worried and too many violent images of what Viola could be going through when he wasn't there...
"...she's already driving him nuts. She won't shut up. Aubrey's ready to slaughter something."
"Then why the hell doesn't he just slaughter *her* and the whole fucking thing will be over?"
Taylor stopped when he heard the voices. The two girls who had terrified Viola on that first day. Bellona and Camilla. Before to know what he was doing, fuelled by anger and hatred giving him supernatural strength, he lunged at them, knocking Camilla to the ground, grabbing her hair and slamming her head against the floor several times, hard enough to stun even a vampire.
"Hey -"
Taylor pulled out his home-made stake. "You want me to kill her?" he asked, positioning the stake over Camilla's heart.
Bellona stepped back, glaring at him. "What do you want?"
"Don't play word games with me," Taylor snapped. "You know what I want. Where's Viola?"
"What are you *doing*?" Thea came running down the hall, staring at him in shock. "Are you *trying* to get yourself killed?"
"She's - she's in a mansion in Sa - Savannah. You know, where all the snobby people with the stupid names live?" Camilla choked out.
Taylor plunged the stake into her heart. "Thanks."
"Let's go." Thea grabbed his arm and they hurried away.
"I need to know *which* snobby mansion. Just Savannah is a bit vague."
"I think I know where I can get the info," Thea said, getting excited. "You stay here. I'll get a message to you." She hurried off, leaving Taylor alone.
He'd missed half of first period and really didn't feel like explaining why he'd missed it. He wondered if he should have killed Bellona. She was likely to go racing to her mentor telling him that a rescue squad was on its way.
He hid in the library and booked himself on an Internet connected computer and did a search on the name of "Redfern in Savannah". Most of the things that came up were complete crap.
"What are you looking for?" Morpheus asked, hovering over his shoulder.
Taylor turned. "Where is she?" he demanded. The librarian glared at him for raising his voice. "You know, don't you?"
Morpheus sighed. "You didn't hear this from me. I'm only telling you because I think Aubrey Redfern is an asshole."
"Tell me," Taylor demanded.
An hour and a half later he was on a plane on his way to rescue Viola.
* * *
Taylor blinked, trying to remember what had gone wrong. He'd been on a plane to Savannah. He'd landed, gone to hail a cab, something...
How stupid of him. The cab driver had been Nerissa's friend Coral Galena. He remembered now.
"How do you feel?"
Taylor groaned allowed. He felt..."Like shit," he answered sourly. He could barely manage to get his bearings. His throat felt like sand paper. His teeth and gums were tingling strangely.
He managed to focus on the speaker. It was Nerissa. He was in a room somewhere that looked like a prison cell. No windows, just a door was the only way in and out. The only piece of furniture was the mattress he had been dumped on. Why he didn't know. He couldn't quite remember everything.
"You're probably hungry," Nerissa said. And she did something very weird. She knelt down in front of him and offered him her wrist. Before Taylor knew what he was doing, he had grabbed the wrist and bitten into the vein with two new sharpened canines. The blood into his mouth, like nothing he had ever tasted. It was incredible. He felt like he could run a marathon in five minutes.
Then reality hit him hard in the face.
He pushed Nerissa's wrist away scrambling backwards on the mattress until his back was flat against the wall of the cell.
"What did you do to me?" he demanded, his voice fast and frightened.
Nerissa stood up, head tilted to one side, blonde hair spilling over her shoulder. She looked so...innocent. "You've been made a vampire. It should be kind of obvious." She sounded amused.
Taylor's tongue ran over his teeth, feeling the sharpness of his canines, his...*fangs*. "Oh God," he whispered, not sure what else to say.
"Well, I'll be back later." Before he could stop her Nerissa stood up, turned around and left. Taylor heard keys turn in the lock. Just great. *Who* had made him a vampire? *Why*? What good would it do?
Taylor sighed. He was about to sit down and sulk when he realised he wasn't alone. "*Viola*!" She was curled up in the corner of the cell, staring at him in shocked horror.
"They changed you," she whispered standing up.
They stood there staring at each other awkwardly. A minute of silence passed. Their eyes met - and they were in each other's arms, hugging and hissing as if there would be no tomorrow. Which, in their current predicament could be very likely.
"How are we going to get out of here?" Viola asked.
Taylor was about to answer he had no idea when he remembered. "Thea! Thea was there when I discovered where you were - she was going to go look for specific details."
"The Daybreakers are going to come and rescue us?" Viola looked doubtful.
Taylor couldn't blame her, really. The last time she'd tried going to Circle Daybreak for help, she'd wound up getting kidnapped again.
"Thea and Eric can be trusted," he said confidently. "They'll find a way to save us."
Viola eyed him. "Are you sure?"
Taylor nodded. "Yeah." But he wasn't, really. ~Come on Thea~ he thought. ~Prove me wrong~.
* * *
"What do you mean he's not home?" Thea demanded. It had taken some effort, but eventually all the right strings had been pulled and she had the information she needed.
Only, of course, something *else* had gone wrong in the mean time. Taylor was apparently missing.
"He's not here in school, I checked," Eric said, pacing up and down the room. They were back in the same house, trying to figure out what to do.
"He has Night People friends," Thea said carefully, remembering Izar had once mentioned him.
"You don't think..." Eric stopped pacing and his eyes met hers.
Thea wondered for a moment what he was trying to get at. "Oh no." Then she got it.
How could they have missed that? Her eyes rolled. Taylor's soulmate was in danger - if any opportunity presented itself to him - no matter how suspicious it might sound - he was going to jump on the chance to play hero and save her.
"Well, at least we know where he's gone," she said.
"Gone? It's been three *days*!" Eric said.
Thea blinked in surprise. "Three *days*!" Had it really been that long? Sometimes when she was doing research she completely lost track of the time. How could she have been so foolish to let that happen this time?
"Why the hell didn't you notice?" she snapped, annoyed at their lack of efficiency. Normally they were so good at this type of thing.
"I thought he was with *you*!" Eric protested. He waved a hand in a *cut* gesture. "There's no point arguing. We need to get there and save them."
Thea nodded in agreement. "Right. Of course. We can't do this ourselves, I'm calling for some backup." She hurried to the phone.
* * *
