SUMMARY: Hello, my wonderful readers! This is a chapter for some of the
vampires who will put in appearances throughout the story. It's their time
to shine, so to speak. Includes the park incident from the assassin's
point of view, as well as some other stuff, including something in the way
of plot movement. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the newest chapter. And
remember to yell at me if you hate it!
DISCLAIMER: I own Falen (it's a hard "a", kinda like if you were saying crag), but that's it. The rest of the vampires are the property of people other than myself. Which is why I have to put this stupid thing here in the first place. Which is incredibly obvious. Which means I should stop typing now.
A/N: I know the interval was a bit longer than normal between this and the last chapter, but there was this whole thing with me losing the random scrap of paper I had written part of it on, and going through the roof trying to look for it, and nearly slamming my fist through the keyboard after trying to reproduce it and failing miserably, and having too much other work to do, and FINALLY GETTING A NEW COMPUTER THAT DOESN'T CRASH EVERY HOUR! Ah, the dust trap that is my mind. Somebody mentally slap me if I don't remember where I've put any of the hard copies I write. during class. when I should be paying attention to the teacher. and I think I've said too much.
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Falen was beyond pissed. He was out for blood. Had Aubrey been unfortunate enough to be near him at the moment, Falen would have flayed his skin and nearly drained him dry. Of course, somewhere deep down he knew it would accomplish little, but nevertheless it was still a tempting thought. Instead the vampire vented his anger on his prey, playing with his victims, not numbing the pain as he drained them of their life's blood. And each time he imagined that he was in fact killing the little brat who had made him miss his first kill in centuries.
His bloodlust sated for the time being, Falen looked at his watch. It was 1 am, so Aubrey should be home. And Jessica probably wouldn't be there, which was a boon. She might have been changed only a few years back, but she was strong. And she hated his guts; something about sadistic tendencies. But Aubrey would still go to him if somebody needed to be gotten rid of. Unfortunately, this girl wasn't a job for an assassin with a scant few hundred years on the job. This was the kind of target for Theron, one of the most feared bloodsuckers on the planet. And all for a damned adolescent who probably didn't know the first thing about hand-to- hand combat. Falen swore to himself in a few languages and then willed himself to Aubrey's place in New Mayhem
Aubrey was lounging on a couch in his New Mayhem residence when he heard somebody knocking on the door as though they were trying to break it down. *About time Falen got back. What the hell took him so long?* He lazily got up from his seat, stretching like some deadly wildcat. The pounding was growing more insistent, as though the knocker was currently in possession of a battering ram. "Hold on a sec you impatient wretch, I'm coming." He walked into the entrance hall and opened the door, expecting to see a cocky assassin demanding his fee. Instead he was greeted by a seething vampire who looked positively drunk on human blood. Definitely not a good sign.
"Don't just stand there, come on in." The vampire jerked his head to signal in the affirmative. Aubrey led him through the house to then den which he had recently been occupying. It was a beautiful room, the ebony woodwork and black marble floors giving it a polished yet dark atmosphere. Much like its owner.
"So, Falen. How'd it go?" Aubrey had already guessed what the answer would be, but wanted to make sure he wasn't getting ahead of himself.
" 'How'd it go,' he asks me. How the hell d'ya THINK it went? I've seen witches before, even managed ta kill a few of 'em along the way. But this girl, I swear, if I was still capable of pissin' myself, I'd've done it a few times over. I'm lookin' for her, tryin' to pick up on some sorta aura, and I get this feeling like somebody just rammed a poker in my guts. Now I'm thinkin' nothin' of it, her being with Alexander at the time and all. Sure she might have a bit o' power in 'er, but there ain't no way that's all comin' from her. So I follow it, I know I'm getting' closer, and then I see Alexander with this little slip of a girl, maybe goes up to his shoulder, and I can barely believe what I'm seein'. This little kid is goin' off like a firework. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. So I figure I should get rida her quick, like, and I get pretty close too. Then just as I'm about to lunge at the little bitch, Alexander coughs. I'm thinkin' this is my big chance, I've got a distraction an' everything, and then outa nowhere the kid goes off like a damned A-bomb. I couldn't move, though hell knows I tried. After that little trick I didn't' wanna stay near that witch any more'n I had to. 'Bout half a minute later it starts to wear off, and then he says somethin' and she goes off again. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack and, technically speaking, I'm DEAD. Alexander says somethin' to her, and she turns around, and she's lookin' at me like I'm some kinda crazy, and I must have this idiotic scared kid look on my face, and she looks like she's thinkin' something along the lines of 'How the hell did I DO that,' and once again it starts to wear off. I didn't even think to try for her one more time, I just split. And now I'm here." The vampire shuddered as though clearly wishing to forget the incident. "Not exactly how we planned, is it?"
"I suppose I must have underestimated her abilities, Falen." Aubrey stuck to his usual, bored drawl. He didn't want to give away the slightest hint of the uncertainty he was feeling. Falen snorted. "You really must forgive me, how was I supposed to know she could be so powerful? Karras told me she was strong, but not so strong that she could flatten you with single burst of her power. Unless of course, you weren't up to the task to begin with." The disgruntled vampire growled, itching to get at his employer's throat. Aubrey laughed inwardly, it was so easy to provoke Falen, and amusing as well.
He pondered the case of Teri Mere. There was something familiar about the story, but he couldn't quite place it. If the reports were true, if the girl was really as strong as his scouts had said she was, then the vampiric world would be faced with one of the strongest Triste witches ever to walk the Earth. But only if she lived to hone her abilities. The vampiric community would need to kill the girl fast if they wanted to feel safe in their beds.
"Listen, Aubrey. The only way you'll be able to get at this girl is with somebody like Theron, I'm not nearly strong enough to take this one on."
"I didn't think I'd ever hear those words coming from you, of all people."
"Don't get used to it, it's just that she needs to be gotten rid of, and soon. She's being taught by Alexander, and that'll only serve to focus her power."
"I appreciate the help Falen. You did as well as you could be expected to."
"Then remind me to kill myself the next time I willingly get into that kind of situation."
"With pleasure." Falen threw a punch at Aubrey, but he missed and was thrown off balance. Aubrey laughed.
"Pompous bastard," Falen grumbled. He willed himself away from the mocking vampire.
Aubrey sat back down on the plush couch, thinking about his next move. He was still for a few minutes, then reached out with his mind to contact somebody he could trust to talk with about the situation.
*Jessica, could you come home for a bit? I need to speak with you about something.*
A few seconds later came the reply, *Hold on for a sec. I need to deal with something that just came up.* Aubrey chuckled, but couldn't help feeling a bit worried for her. Despite Jessica's strength, there were still human hunters who she would be hard pressed to defeat, and several of the Vida witches seemed to have something of a vendetta against her.
True to her word, Jessica appeared in the house moments later. He could hear her walking through the door, her purposeful stride.
"Aubrey, where are you?" She yelled from what seemed like the library.
"In the den."
A few minutes later she entered the room to find a very pensive vampire sitting on the couch. She knew too much of Aubrey's history and personality to see it as anything ordinary. In fact, it was downright disturbing to see the normally calm vampire so worried.
"Okay, Aubrey, spit it out. What's wrong?" She flopped down on the plush couch beside him, giving him a quick kiss.
"Always the eloquent one, aren't we?" Jessica crossed her arms and looked at him severely.
"Yes, always. So, why the urgent call? You're never this worried, so I know something big's going on."
Aubrey sighed, she knew him much too well. "Yes, there is something wrong, and it's not just my problem. You know of Alexander, Risika's brother. Well, he appears to have acquired an apprentice of sorts, one Teri Mere. She is a fourteen years old, and is possibly one of the most naturally powerful Tristes in existence. At first I wasn't so sure, but I sent Falen after her today. She paralyzed him with a single blow of her power." Jessica shuddered.
"And I fit into this how? What do you want me to do, fight her?"
"Because of her strength and the knowledge that we are already trying to do away with her, Alexander will most likely have stepped up Teri'' training considerably. If she hasn't been neutralized a month from now, she may become even more powerful than her mentor and have some rudimentary fighting skills to fall back on. I'll be going to New York to observe her, not that I expect to find anything much new. I need you to look into her history, see if you can dig anything up about how she got this powerful." Jessica gave Aubrey a little mock salute, before settling back against him.
"What d'you want to do for the rest of the night? I wasn't exactly welcome at that bash Fala was hosting. Do you think she still holds a grudge?" The deceptively innocent look in her eyes made it impossible for Aubrey to keep from laughing at least a little. "I'm all partied out for the night, could we just stay home? Besides, the muses just started singing." Aubrey groaned as Jessica turned towards him, smiling mischievously. He had never been able to get used to that computer of hers, and probably never would. It was the only surefire way she had of getting to the normally imperturbable vampire.
"Fine, write if you must, I need to feed. I should be back an hour before dawn." He willed himself away from the house, which caused Jessica to fall off the couch from her previous position of leaning on him. She murmured a few curses at the cocky, self assured vampire and walked into the library. The books were fascinating, a collection of most, if not all of the literature which had ever been written on vampires. Jessica pulled her laptop from one of the shelves and turned it on. She started to open an unfinished piece, but instead began a fresh document. *Well Siete, what other stories do you have in that twisted head?* She tentatively tapped out the first few lines, only to delete them all moments later. Starting over, she tried to let the story simply flow through her, and it did.
Jessica worked well into the night, only noticing the passage of time when she heard the door open. Aubrey had come back, so she had to have been working for several hours. Loud footsteps echoed through the hall as he walked toward the library, where he knew Jessica would be. Suddenly, she felt somebody breathing down the back of her neck. She shivered. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"Trying to make sure that you're still responsive," came Aubrey's voice from behind her. She turned around to see a thoroughly refreshed vampire with an odd twinkle in his eye. "Have you been going at it since I left?"
"Yep, and I was just about to get to a point where I could conceivably break off when you showed up."
"I'm sorry to hear that." He clearly wasn't. "What have you been working on, exactly?"
"It's about a Triste, which is kind of interesting, considering the situation at hand. It's set back in the twelfth century in England, and you look like you just saw a ghost pop out of the ceiling and float upside down around the room." Aubrey's mouth was uncharacteristically open, a look of amazement and fear on his face.
"I'm going to see Jager when the sun goes down." The words had no intonation at all.
"Aubrey, what's going on?" Jessica was concerned, she had never seen him look so afraid, so vulnerable. *This can NOT be good. Oh yeah, understatement of the century.*
"What happened in the story?"
"Well, Michael is a serf, and therefore has no power at all. He's ten years old, but he tries to make a break for the nearest town. He's walking through the woods, and comes across a clearing filled with robed people. He then remembers that it is All Hallows Eve, and witches are abroad that night. He turns to run, but one of the robed people sees him. He finds that he cannot move, and is being pulled towards them. Somebody says something about his age, about how he's still too young. He hears them speaking, but not through his ears. He becomes frightened, but still finds himself unable to move.
"One of them grasps his arm and a mark appears on the skin, but it soon fades. He panics and runs then; somehow he managed to break free of the spell binding him to the ground. Either that, or they simply let him go. Neither option was pleasant to think about. When he gets home, his parents are up waiting. His father attempts to beat him, but Michael keeps tells him to stop, and he does. Just stands there like a statue. Like his son was held in place only a short time before by those witches. Only they were older, and. oh shit."
"I suppose you could have found a nicer way to say that but yes, that would be the first part of the story. And now I need to know if she has had ANY contact with a group of Tristes early in her life. Jager will know more about this, he was there when it happened."
"Isn't it funny how history repeats itself?"
"Jessica, you should be praying to whatever gods still listen to the damned that history is not repeating itself."
"I need to go somewhere with an internet connection if I want to look into it further."
"Then go. I'm sure there's a library somewhere with one of those."
"How about New York? I could look for the girl too." Aubrey suddenly looked very grim.
"I will NOT lose you because you felt you could handle something you were unable to do."
"Excuse me? What makes you so sure that I'll go after her?"
"Because like it or not Jessica, I know you. In fact I know much more about you than I have ever cared to find out about any one person. So please, be angry at me if you want. After all, I only fear for your safety every time you go out to feed." He began to pace about the room, his agitation clear in every step. "I can't tell you how many times I've woken up, noticed you were no longer by my side, and become frantic until finding a hastily scratched note on the table. This kind of emotion may seem strange coming from me, damned bloodsucker that I am, but I actually do love you. And I will NOT let you get hurt."
Aubrey stopped and turned to face Jessica, who had been rooted to her seat throughout the brief yet poignant monologue. The pleading look in his eyes was too much for her to bear. She stood up and hurriedly walked over to the vampire, normally so calm, who had bared to her what remained of his soul. She put her arms around him, not knowing what else to do. He returned the embrace, making Jessica feel as though she would melt. She vaguely registered the fact that he was squeezing hard enough to snap her nearly in half, but it didn't matter. She had wanted to hear those words for so long, but hadn't realized how badly she needed to hear them until then.
For a moment they forgot everything else, neither one wanted to let the other go. After a minute which seemed like forever, Jessica spoke up.
"You know, I'm not sure that the two halves of my body will be able to knit together."
Aubrey looked down at the vampiress in his arms. She was so maddeningly, irreversibly infuriating sometimes. Could he help it if he had a weakness for her? No, he most certainly could not, and he didn't intend to anytime in the near future. Or in the far off future, for that matter.
"Must you ruin a perfectly wonderful moment? I finally tell you how I've felt about you all these years, and all you can think about is self preservation?" The old cocky glint was back in his eye. *Nope, definitely not getting any more writing done today.*
"Well, yes. After all, where would you be without me?"
"Please spare me your sarcasm, Jessica. I don't have the time for it."
"I know not this sarcasm of which you speak."
"Must you always try to provoke me?"
"Why do you always think I deliberately provoke you?"
"Because it always works, and I refuse to believe that's an accident." Aubrey met Jessica's eyes with his own, before leaning down to kiss her. It was soft at first, tender as could be. Briefly she speculated that he must have had a lot of practice over the millennia, but banished the thought from her mind as the kiss increased in intensity, and she was completely lost.
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A/N: The plot thickens. hehehe! Sorry about the fluff, but I couldn't resist. Once again, my apologies for this being late and all, but I do have other stuff to do, you know. And thanks so very, VERY much for all the support.
DISCLAIMER: I own Falen (it's a hard "a", kinda like if you were saying crag), but that's it. The rest of the vampires are the property of people other than myself. Which is why I have to put this stupid thing here in the first place. Which is incredibly obvious. Which means I should stop typing now.
A/N: I know the interval was a bit longer than normal between this and the last chapter, but there was this whole thing with me losing the random scrap of paper I had written part of it on, and going through the roof trying to look for it, and nearly slamming my fist through the keyboard after trying to reproduce it and failing miserably, and having too much other work to do, and FINALLY GETTING A NEW COMPUTER THAT DOESN'T CRASH EVERY HOUR! Ah, the dust trap that is my mind. Somebody mentally slap me if I don't remember where I've put any of the hard copies I write. during class. when I should be paying attention to the teacher. and I think I've said too much.
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Falen was beyond pissed. He was out for blood. Had Aubrey been unfortunate enough to be near him at the moment, Falen would have flayed his skin and nearly drained him dry. Of course, somewhere deep down he knew it would accomplish little, but nevertheless it was still a tempting thought. Instead the vampire vented his anger on his prey, playing with his victims, not numbing the pain as he drained them of their life's blood. And each time he imagined that he was in fact killing the little brat who had made him miss his first kill in centuries.
His bloodlust sated for the time being, Falen looked at his watch. It was 1 am, so Aubrey should be home. And Jessica probably wouldn't be there, which was a boon. She might have been changed only a few years back, but she was strong. And she hated his guts; something about sadistic tendencies. But Aubrey would still go to him if somebody needed to be gotten rid of. Unfortunately, this girl wasn't a job for an assassin with a scant few hundred years on the job. This was the kind of target for Theron, one of the most feared bloodsuckers on the planet. And all for a damned adolescent who probably didn't know the first thing about hand-to- hand combat. Falen swore to himself in a few languages and then willed himself to Aubrey's place in New Mayhem
Aubrey was lounging on a couch in his New Mayhem residence when he heard somebody knocking on the door as though they were trying to break it down. *About time Falen got back. What the hell took him so long?* He lazily got up from his seat, stretching like some deadly wildcat. The pounding was growing more insistent, as though the knocker was currently in possession of a battering ram. "Hold on a sec you impatient wretch, I'm coming." He walked into the entrance hall and opened the door, expecting to see a cocky assassin demanding his fee. Instead he was greeted by a seething vampire who looked positively drunk on human blood. Definitely not a good sign.
"Don't just stand there, come on in." The vampire jerked his head to signal in the affirmative. Aubrey led him through the house to then den which he had recently been occupying. It was a beautiful room, the ebony woodwork and black marble floors giving it a polished yet dark atmosphere. Much like its owner.
"So, Falen. How'd it go?" Aubrey had already guessed what the answer would be, but wanted to make sure he wasn't getting ahead of himself.
" 'How'd it go,' he asks me. How the hell d'ya THINK it went? I've seen witches before, even managed ta kill a few of 'em along the way. But this girl, I swear, if I was still capable of pissin' myself, I'd've done it a few times over. I'm lookin' for her, tryin' to pick up on some sorta aura, and I get this feeling like somebody just rammed a poker in my guts. Now I'm thinkin' nothin' of it, her being with Alexander at the time and all. Sure she might have a bit o' power in 'er, but there ain't no way that's all comin' from her. So I follow it, I know I'm getting' closer, and then I see Alexander with this little slip of a girl, maybe goes up to his shoulder, and I can barely believe what I'm seein'. This little kid is goin' off like a firework. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. So I figure I should get rida her quick, like, and I get pretty close too. Then just as I'm about to lunge at the little bitch, Alexander coughs. I'm thinkin' this is my big chance, I've got a distraction an' everything, and then outa nowhere the kid goes off like a damned A-bomb. I couldn't move, though hell knows I tried. After that little trick I didn't' wanna stay near that witch any more'n I had to. 'Bout half a minute later it starts to wear off, and then he says somethin' and she goes off again. I thought I was gonna have a heart attack and, technically speaking, I'm DEAD. Alexander says somethin' to her, and she turns around, and she's lookin' at me like I'm some kinda crazy, and I must have this idiotic scared kid look on my face, and she looks like she's thinkin' something along the lines of 'How the hell did I DO that,' and once again it starts to wear off. I didn't even think to try for her one more time, I just split. And now I'm here." The vampire shuddered as though clearly wishing to forget the incident. "Not exactly how we planned, is it?"
"I suppose I must have underestimated her abilities, Falen." Aubrey stuck to his usual, bored drawl. He didn't want to give away the slightest hint of the uncertainty he was feeling. Falen snorted. "You really must forgive me, how was I supposed to know she could be so powerful? Karras told me she was strong, but not so strong that she could flatten you with single burst of her power. Unless of course, you weren't up to the task to begin with." The disgruntled vampire growled, itching to get at his employer's throat. Aubrey laughed inwardly, it was so easy to provoke Falen, and amusing as well.
He pondered the case of Teri Mere. There was something familiar about the story, but he couldn't quite place it. If the reports were true, if the girl was really as strong as his scouts had said she was, then the vampiric world would be faced with one of the strongest Triste witches ever to walk the Earth. But only if she lived to hone her abilities. The vampiric community would need to kill the girl fast if they wanted to feel safe in their beds.
"Listen, Aubrey. The only way you'll be able to get at this girl is with somebody like Theron, I'm not nearly strong enough to take this one on."
"I didn't think I'd ever hear those words coming from you, of all people."
"Don't get used to it, it's just that she needs to be gotten rid of, and soon. She's being taught by Alexander, and that'll only serve to focus her power."
"I appreciate the help Falen. You did as well as you could be expected to."
"Then remind me to kill myself the next time I willingly get into that kind of situation."
"With pleasure." Falen threw a punch at Aubrey, but he missed and was thrown off balance. Aubrey laughed.
"Pompous bastard," Falen grumbled. He willed himself away from the mocking vampire.
Aubrey sat back down on the plush couch, thinking about his next move. He was still for a few minutes, then reached out with his mind to contact somebody he could trust to talk with about the situation.
*Jessica, could you come home for a bit? I need to speak with you about something.*
A few seconds later came the reply, *Hold on for a sec. I need to deal with something that just came up.* Aubrey chuckled, but couldn't help feeling a bit worried for her. Despite Jessica's strength, there were still human hunters who she would be hard pressed to defeat, and several of the Vida witches seemed to have something of a vendetta against her.
True to her word, Jessica appeared in the house moments later. He could hear her walking through the door, her purposeful stride.
"Aubrey, where are you?" She yelled from what seemed like the library.
"In the den."
A few minutes later she entered the room to find a very pensive vampire sitting on the couch. She knew too much of Aubrey's history and personality to see it as anything ordinary. In fact, it was downright disturbing to see the normally calm vampire so worried.
"Okay, Aubrey, spit it out. What's wrong?" She flopped down on the plush couch beside him, giving him a quick kiss.
"Always the eloquent one, aren't we?" Jessica crossed her arms and looked at him severely.
"Yes, always. So, why the urgent call? You're never this worried, so I know something big's going on."
Aubrey sighed, she knew him much too well. "Yes, there is something wrong, and it's not just my problem. You know of Alexander, Risika's brother. Well, he appears to have acquired an apprentice of sorts, one Teri Mere. She is a fourteen years old, and is possibly one of the most naturally powerful Tristes in existence. At first I wasn't so sure, but I sent Falen after her today. She paralyzed him with a single blow of her power." Jessica shuddered.
"And I fit into this how? What do you want me to do, fight her?"
"Because of her strength and the knowledge that we are already trying to do away with her, Alexander will most likely have stepped up Teri'' training considerably. If she hasn't been neutralized a month from now, she may become even more powerful than her mentor and have some rudimentary fighting skills to fall back on. I'll be going to New York to observe her, not that I expect to find anything much new. I need you to look into her history, see if you can dig anything up about how she got this powerful." Jessica gave Aubrey a little mock salute, before settling back against him.
"What d'you want to do for the rest of the night? I wasn't exactly welcome at that bash Fala was hosting. Do you think she still holds a grudge?" The deceptively innocent look in her eyes made it impossible for Aubrey to keep from laughing at least a little. "I'm all partied out for the night, could we just stay home? Besides, the muses just started singing." Aubrey groaned as Jessica turned towards him, smiling mischievously. He had never been able to get used to that computer of hers, and probably never would. It was the only surefire way she had of getting to the normally imperturbable vampire.
"Fine, write if you must, I need to feed. I should be back an hour before dawn." He willed himself away from the house, which caused Jessica to fall off the couch from her previous position of leaning on him. She murmured a few curses at the cocky, self assured vampire and walked into the library. The books were fascinating, a collection of most, if not all of the literature which had ever been written on vampires. Jessica pulled her laptop from one of the shelves and turned it on. She started to open an unfinished piece, but instead began a fresh document. *Well Siete, what other stories do you have in that twisted head?* She tentatively tapped out the first few lines, only to delete them all moments later. Starting over, she tried to let the story simply flow through her, and it did.
Jessica worked well into the night, only noticing the passage of time when she heard the door open. Aubrey had come back, so she had to have been working for several hours. Loud footsteps echoed through the hall as he walked toward the library, where he knew Jessica would be. Suddenly, she felt somebody breathing down the back of her neck. She shivered. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"Trying to make sure that you're still responsive," came Aubrey's voice from behind her. She turned around to see a thoroughly refreshed vampire with an odd twinkle in his eye. "Have you been going at it since I left?"
"Yep, and I was just about to get to a point where I could conceivably break off when you showed up."
"I'm sorry to hear that." He clearly wasn't. "What have you been working on, exactly?"
"It's about a Triste, which is kind of interesting, considering the situation at hand. It's set back in the twelfth century in England, and you look like you just saw a ghost pop out of the ceiling and float upside down around the room." Aubrey's mouth was uncharacteristically open, a look of amazement and fear on his face.
"I'm going to see Jager when the sun goes down." The words had no intonation at all.
"Aubrey, what's going on?" Jessica was concerned, she had never seen him look so afraid, so vulnerable. *This can NOT be good. Oh yeah, understatement of the century.*
"What happened in the story?"
"Well, Michael is a serf, and therefore has no power at all. He's ten years old, but he tries to make a break for the nearest town. He's walking through the woods, and comes across a clearing filled with robed people. He then remembers that it is All Hallows Eve, and witches are abroad that night. He turns to run, but one of the robed people sees him. He finds that he cannot move, and is being pulled towards them. Somebody says something about his age, about how he's still too young. He hears them speaking, but not through his ears. He becomes frightened, but still finds himself unable to move.
"One of them grasps his arm and a mark appears on the skin, but it soon fades. He panics and runs then; somehow he managed to break free of the spell binding him to the ground. Either that, or they simply let him go. Neither option was pleasant to think about. When he gets home, his parents are up waiting. His father attempts to beat him, but Michael keeps tells him to stop, and he does. Just stands there like a statue. Like his son was held in place only a short time before by those witches. Only they were older, and. oh shit."
"I suppose you could have found a nicer way to say that but yes, that would be the first part of the story. And now I need to know if she has had ANY contact with a group of Tristes early in her life. Jager will know more about this, he was there when it happened."
"Isn't it funny how history repeats itself?"
"Jessica, you should be praying to whatever gods still listen to the damned that history is not repeating itself."
"I need to go somewhere with an internet connection if I want to look into it further."
"Then go. I'm sure there's a library somewhere with one of those."
"How about New York? I could look for the girl too." Aubrey suddenly looked very grim.
"I will NOT lose you because you felt you could handle something you were unable to do."
"Excuse me? What makes you so sure that I'll go after her?"
"Because like it or not Jessica, I know you. In fact I know much more about you than I have ever cared to find out about any one person. So please, be angry at me if you want. After all, I only fear for your safety every time you go out to feed." He began to pace about the room, his agitation clear in every step. "I can't tell you how many times I've woken up, noticed you were no longer by my side, and become frantic until finding a hastily scratched note on the table. This kind of emotion may seem strange coming from me, damned bloodsucker that I am, but I actually do love you. And I will NOT let you get hurt."
Aubrey stopped and turned to face Jessica, who had been rooted to her seat throughout the brief yet poignant monologue. The pleading look in his eyes was too much for her to bear. She stood up and hurriedly walked over to the vampire, normally so calm, who had bared to her what remained of his soul. She put her arms around him, not knowing what else to do. He returned the embrace, making Jessica feel as though she would melt. She vaguely registered the fact that he was squeezing hard enough to snap her nearly in half, but it didn't matter. She had wanted to hear those words for so long, but hadn't realized how badly she needed to hear them until then.
For a moment they forgot everything else, neither one wanted to let the other go. After a minute which seemed like forever, Jessica spoke up.
"You know, I'm not sure that the two halves of my body will be able to knit together."
Aubrey looked down at the vampiress in his arms. She was so maddeningly, irreversibly infuriating sometimes. Could he help it if he had a weakness for her? No, he most certainly could not, and he didn't intend to anytime in the near future. Or in the far off future, for that matter.
"Must you ruin a perfectly wonderful moment? I finally tell you how I've felt about you all these years, and all you can think about is self preservation?" The old cocky glint was back in his eye. *Nope, definitely not getting any more writing done today.*
"Well, yes. After all, where would you be without me?"
"Please spare me your sarcasm, Jessica. I don't have the time for it."
"I know not this sarcasm of which you speak."
"Must you always try to provoke me?"
"Why do you always think I deliberately provoke you?"
"Because it always works, and I refuse to believe that's an accident." Aubrey met Jessica's eyes with his own, before leaning down to kiss her. It was soft at first, tender as could be. Briefly she speculated that he must have had a lot of practice over the millennia, but banished the thought from her mind as the kiss increased in intensity, and she was completely lost.
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A/N: The plot thickens. hehehe! Sorry about the fluff, but I couldn't resist. Once again, my apologies for this being late and all, but I do have other stuff to do, you know. And thanks so very, VERY much for all the support.