AN/Huge thanks practikalmagik- I hope you like this chapter as much as you liked the first. Everything should begin to be explained in this chapter Oh and italics is telepathic speech.

Chapter 2

Lexi glanced at her watch; it was five past midnight, so she and her sisters needed to get home pronto or they would all be majorly grounded. The only problem was she had seen neither hide nor hair of either of them since they had arrived at The Crypt. "Oh, what fun." She murmured, "I get to herd sheep." She finished sarcastically, walking through the crowds. She glanced to her right and noticed a guy she recognised as one of Kryssy's friends- what was his name? She wondered. As she drew closer to the blonde haired guy realisation dawned- it was Joey, Kryssy's ex.

"Joey?" she began hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he said turning round, appearing not to recognise her.

"I'm Lexi," she began, "Kryssy's sister." He nodded, showing her that he remembered her.

"Have you seen her?" she questioned. He looked at her startled.

"Kryssy was here?" he questioned, looking worried.

"Uh-huh, she came with me and Zoë." Lexi confirmed. /Why was does he sound worried/

So he had been right then when he thought he had seen her when he had been feeding off Lane, who would do anything to sleep with a guy. She had been the one who had broadcast her feelings about Lane.

"Speaking of Zoë," Lexi interrupted, "I don't suppose you've seen her either? I know she was with Zack." Lexi murmured, spotting Zoë making her way towards her with Zack in tow.

"Hi Lexi, Joey." Zoë greeted them cheerfully. Zack didn't say anything; but he seemed to be very interested in what Joey was doing. Lexi couldn't see anything remarkable- Joey was just standing thinking.

"Are you sure she didn't get a lift home?" Joey demanded Lexi shook her head.

"She'd have told someone. Come on Joey this is Kryssy we're talking about." Joey glanced at Zack.

"Let's look around, see if any of us can find her." Joey began, "We'll meet outside the entrance in 20 mins?" he commanded, hoping that that was enough time to find out what was going on. Lexi and Zoë nodded in agreement, heading off together in search for their sister.

Joey glanced at Zack, "You knew she was coming?" he said, it sounded more like a statement than a question, but a question it was.

"No," Zack though a minute, "The first thing I knew was when Zoë arrived and said someone was coming tonight who I would like to see." Joey nodded, realising that Zack had probed Zoë's mind for the answer.

"So why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

"I didn't know if you were here." Zack reminded him. Joey pulled a face, he'd forgotten about that.

"Let's see if we can find Amanda, Sophie and Lizzie. They'll be able to help us find her." Zack looked at Joey inquisitively.

"You mean you don't know?" he asked amazed, Joey looked at him impatiently.

"Know what?" he demanded, almost growling with frustration forgetting where they were. All he wanted to do was find Kryssy and find her now!

Zack looked at Joey, his eyes glittering coldly. "To protect you, they want to kill her." He said bluntly. Joey's eyes narrowed, almost to slits.

"Are you sure?" he demanded his voice harsh because of his fury. Zack nodded.

"I'm absolutely positive." Joey looked at him, trying to decide if it was Zack winding him up or not.

"Why should I believe you?" he demanded, eyes flashing showing the full force of his fury. Zack thought for a moment, there was no obvious reason for Joey to trust him, in fact there were more reasons to doubt him than trust him as far as Joey was concerned. But what Joey didn't know was that each and everytime they had set Zack up, and now it was his turn- only he was telling the truth and he was going to make sure that they were damned.

Ryan stood in the shadows watching Zack and Joey argue. So Kryssy had disappeared, hmm… that was odd. From what he remembered of her in the past and from what he'd heard about her it seemed unlikely that she had gone, on her own or with a stranger. That just wasn't her style. Sighing Ryan walked over to Joey and Zack; it didn't matter now if they knew who or what he was he had to make sure that they found Kryssy. All that mattered was that Kryssy was safe. "Excuse me?" he began, as soon as he finished the first word they both shut up and turned and faced him.

"We can help you, how?" Joey demanded. Ryan smiled slyly.

"I believe you've lost someone and I'm here to offer my services seeing as you to don't seem to be able to look by yourselves." Joey tried to hit Ryan but Zack was quicker and grabbed Joey's arm preventing him from carrying it out.

"He can help us." He said reasonably. Joey glowered at him.

"He's not one of us." He snapped. Ryan sighed; he should have known that it would come to this.

"What makes you think I'm not?" he asked, Joey looked at him scornfully.

"Because you're…" Zack glared at Joey.

"…Not." He interrupted.

'If he's vermin, do not enlighten him to the fact vampires exist!' Zack snapped telepathically.

"Aren't I?" Ryan questioned trying to provoke Joey; he'd wanted a reason to seriously beat up the jock for a long time, ever since he had realised that Kryssy had loved him.

Zack purposely stepped in-between the warring parties. 'Enough!' He commanded telepathically. Joey and Ryan stopped, but they stood scowling at each other. 'You need to go home.' Zack said, trying to compel Ryan into going away. Ryan laughed scornfully.

"Not bloody likely." He snarled, flashing them a ring that neither had noticed on his right hand before. On closer inspection they realised that it was a black rose, making him a made vampire. 'Not everyone is as obvious about it as you two are.' "I'm here to help you find Kryssy, we've already lost precious minutes, whoever's got her is probably a long way from the club by now." He pointed out practically, almost snarling. He paced the floor. "We have to find her." He said. Joey and Zack exchanged glances.

"Why?" Joey demanded. Ryan ignored the bait that was in the simple word.

"Because… because she's important. More important than anyone alive." Joey and Zack looked at him blankly. "I'll elaborate better when we've found her." Ryan finished patiently. A little too patiently for either Joey or Zack's liking.

Twenty minutes later they stood outside the main door of The Crypt, no one had seen sight or sound of her since she had left to get some air. No one was sure if she'd come back, or not. They had reached stalemate in their search.

"Okay," Ryan began. "I was obviously the last person, out of us, who saw her." He sighed. "The last I saw of her was when she told me that she'd see me later, she then disappeared into the crowd." Lexi looked at him, frowning for a second. / I wonder.../

"Was it you who rescued her in the woods?" she questioned; Ryan nodded confirming that it was him.

'Why didn't you mention that she'd got lost in the woods?'

Ryan sighed.

'Because I didn't think it would be important. I made sure she was safely at The Crypt; I don't see the importance of her getting lost in the woods.' Joey sighed with frustration; even though Ryan was older than he was he definitely wasn't wiser.

'Moron! Whoever has her now was trying to get her then.' Suddenly everything clicked in Ryan's mind.

/ Josiff/

He looked at Joey and Zack, his eyes flashing with fury. 'Have either of you seen Josiff?' He questioned. Both of them shook their heads.

'Why?' Zack inquired. Ryan smiled coldly.

'Because I thought I could sense him earlier.' Ryan replied, forgetting that Joey and Zack didn't know that his brother was a vampire. "He wouldn't!" he yelped, his face showing that he thought that he would.

"Who wouldn't what?" Zoë demanded bored.

"But why would he?" Zack questioned ignoring Zoë's outburst.

"Because he loves her and he wants to get one up on me." Joey and Zack exchanged troubled glances.

"We'd better hurry." Joey said, even though he felt that it was too late to do anything in his heart. Ryan pulled a face.

"I don't know where he would have taken her." He admitted, shamefaced. "I was meant to find her for him because…" he broke off realising that Zoë and Lexi were listening to what he was saying. /Oops! My bad / He turned and fixed his eyes on them, Lexi found she couldn't look away from his gaze. 'You will remember nothing.' Ryan commanded. 'You think Kryssy has got a ride home with a friend.'

Lexi and Zoë looked round, they were outside The Crypt but neither could remember walking out of it. Lexi glanced at her watch and swore they were two hours late for curfew. "Is Krys inside?" Zoë asked, Lexi shook her head.

"No." she replied, "She got a lift home with a friend." Zoë nodded.

"We'd better go." She remarked walking in the direction of the car. Lexi hung back a second, something didn't feel right. A forgotten memory started to appear, but stopped suddenly. Shaking her head, convincing herself she was being silly Lexi followed Zoë.

The trio of vampires had moved deeper into the woods, aware that they might arouse suspicions if they were seen together since it was well known that Joey and Zack did not like or talk to Ryan. "You were saying?" Zack prompted. Ryan looked at them blankly for a moment, his mind busy on other things.

Inside his head Ryan was fighting against a force that wanted to use him to talk to the boys. Fighting for all he was worth Ryan thought that he had beaten back the force, instead it took him by surprise and knocked him unconscious. The force blinked gatherings its bearings. "Jo, Zack." The force said in a girlish voice. Joey and Zack looked at Ryan startled. "Ryan isn't here anymore." The voice continued. "Whilst I am in the spirit realm I will relate my story to you, for both brothers will warp the truth and make you believe lies." Joey and Zack exchanged a glance.

"Who are you?" Joey demanded.

"I have been many people." The voice replied cryptically. "But you will know me best as Kryssy Adams." Joey felt his jaw drop. "Now will you listen?" The voice… Kryssy asked.

Zack nodded, "We'll listen."

Around a millennia ago, when vampires weren't legends, written about in books that are labelled as fantasy, and dragons still roamed the land, there were two brothers, who were princes- Adish and Donar. They were both vain and conceited, each trying to outdo the other. Neither was happy unless he had something the other wanted, no matter how trivial. For all their arrogance the people of the village loved them. The men wanted them to marry one of their daughters and the daughters were in love with both of them.

All was well until two priestesses arrived at the village.

The priestesses were both opposite in appearance as well as personality. The villagers compared them to the day and the night, and in this synopsis they weren't far wrong. For one was human and the other a vampire queen, but of both of them the human was the fairest. Unusually the vampire wasn't jealous of this and travelled with the human to protect her.

The human's name was Saorise, meaning freedom. She had long golden blonde hair, that reached to the back of her knees in long waves. Her indigo eyes framed with dark lashes sparkled with laughter. Saorise had an almost unnaturally pale complexion, with the occasional freckle on her cheeks. She always looked like she was laughing at a private joke.

The Vampire was called Morganna after the sister of Arthur; she was the total opposite of Saorise. She also had long hair, although hers was a couple of inches shorter. Instead of being a golden blonde that shimmered in the sunlight Morganna's hair was as black as a raven's wing. Her sombre green eyes seemed wise beyond their years and she was rarely seen to laugh except in the company of Saorise. They seemed an odd pair to the village, but they welcomed them none-the-less, although many of the villagers had doubts about Morganna they didn't want to leave Saorise out in the cold.

Two days later Adish and Donar were leaving the village early in the morning to go hunting, when they first came across Saorise. At first they thought that she was a water sprite welcoming the day in, but when they saw Morganna approach and talk to her they realised that she must be one of the new priestesses in the village.

Unbeknownst to the two princes Saorise had seen them. They decided to hunt quickly so that they could see her again, the princes left in different directions hoping to beat the other back to the village. When they arrived at the village at dusk they learned that the priestesses had gone down to the seashore to meditate and that they weren't expected back for three days. Annoyed that they hadn't spoken to her when they had the chance the boys returned to their hut.

Neither Adish or Donar felt like joining the celebrations that were being held in their honour- they had both passed the final test and were now full members of the inner circle; that only adult males could enter. If anything the thought of celebrating repulsed them, though neither of them knew this at the time Morganna was influencing them. She knew that by their actions the course of history would change forever, because she had heard Saorise call out in one of her prophetic dreams.

Unwittingly Adish and Donar walked out to the cliffs, neither knew that the other had left the village until they both arrived at the same spot- Adish from the east and Donar from the west.

They stood and argued.

Both had a hatred of each other that burned deep in their hearts. Morganna met them there; she had left Saorise in a deep trance in a cave hidden from view. Morganna was bewitching at any time of the day, especially at night though- night was her element just as day was Saorise's; opposite forces but equal in power.

She offered them a choice. A dangerous choice. They had to make the choice without any doubts because there was no turning back. Morganna offered them immortality on the condition that they left the village and Saorise behind.

The proud princes believed that it would be easy to leave the village behind and that secretly they would give the other the slip and return for Saorise then disappear with her forever. So they willingly agreed to be immortal, to live forever, unaware that immortality comes at a heavy cost.

They woke up two mornings later, everything seemed more vivid. More real to them. The could smell things that they hadn't before and they could hear much better. In one day Morganna taught them and planted the knowledge of being a vampire in their brains. The knowledge of how to hunt, that they were stronger and faster than men and that they would die if someone put a stake through their heart. She didn't teach them about the Night World, it didn't exist then.

They left the village; Morganna watched them leave. Adish travelled to the east and Donar travelled to the west. Life in the village was chaos for months; the two princes couldn't have just vanish. After a while life carried on. Babies were born, people got married and people died. Four months after they had gone Saorise fell in love with one of the men of the village. He was older than she, around a moon older, and a good hunter. He had spent many months watching her, but she had ignored his advances.

After he returned from a hunt, where they had killed a deer, he asked her again and this time she said yes. She gave up being a priestess and settled down with the man that she loved. It wasn't long till she was with child; Morganna told her then that she would leave the village the day before the child was born. Saorise understood; she knew her friend didn't understand commitment.

It was then that Saorise had the dream, in which she knew that the princes would return and in their wrath try to kill her beloved, her other half.

For days after she was sad, realising that she would have to give her life to protect the child and her soulmate. She refused to tell her soulmate what was wrong. To Morganna also she was silent.

It was almost a moon after giving birth to her daughter, Layna, that the princes returned. If she hadn't had her dream she doubted that she would have recognised them.

Appearance wise they had changed greatly. They moved with more grace, rather like a wolf stalking prey, and their eye colour had changed. She also noticed with some distaste that although they had physically changed they were still the same egotistical people inside.

She walked up to them, wondering if they would recognise her. "Welcome strangers." She said, pretending she didn't know them. "Is there any way I can help you?" she inquired. Adish looked at her, and smiled charmingly.

"We're looking for the priestess Saorise." He said. Saorise almost smiled, they were so predictable.

"I'm afraid there is no priestess Saorise here." She said, the prince's exchanged disappointed glances. "But there is an ex- priestess named Saorise here." She added before they could walk away. The turned back as a lady ran towards her.

"Saorise!" she called, Saorise groaned inwardly. She turned to face the woman.

"Yes?" she said. "There's been an accident…" the women trailed off. Saorise glanced back at the two princes.

"The layout hasn't changed since you were last here." She said, knowing that there was no point in pretending that she didn't know who they were.

"I will come and find you later." She called, running in the direction that the women had come from already knowing that a house had collapsed on someone.

"Look after Layna for me, please?" she asked the women who nodded.

She found them later in the woods; they had more colour in their faces than they had earlier. "Why are you back?" she questioned, "You promised Morganna you wouldn't return if she changed you." They looked at her startled. "Didn't think I'd know? Well I did. I do. Now answer the question your highness's." They glanced at each other for a minute; neither of them had considered the possibility she knew what they were. At last Adish replied.

"We came back for you. You have to choose between us." Saorise rolled her eyes.

"Did it occur to you that maybe I wasn't, that I'm not interested even now?" She replied her voice even, wishing that she could lie but knowing that if she did it'd only make things worse. Adish smiled at her scornfully,

"What competition for us is there around here?" he demanded.

"Everyone is weak compared to us." Donar added.

Looking at them Saorise laughed scornfully. "

You are nothing compared to them. Even if I hadn't met my soulmate you would still be nothing." Adish opened his mouth to interrupt but Saorise continued ignoring him, "You are nothing because you are both conceited bigots! Nothing has changed. So what if you're faster? If you're stronger? It doesn't matter to me, because neither of you knows how to love. Sooner or later you'd get bored of me and then where would I be? Dead in a ditch in a town where no one, not a soul, knows me!" Saorise began to walk away, abruptly she stopped and turned back, "I don't want to walk forever in the shadows, to never truly fit in. You have nothing I want, there is nothing you could do to make me walk in the shadows with you!" Saorise turned round and continued walking away. She didn't look back, so she didn't see the looks that passed between the two brothers.

Two days later Saorise returned from the healers tent to find the two princes talking to her soulmate. They seemed to be getting on well, seeing her come up they bid him farewell. "Who was that?" she asked, playing dumb.

"Just some people from a local village. They're coming back at dusk to eat with us, you don't mind?" he replied. Saorise shook her head,

"That's fine with me. I'll cook something nice."

The arrived just before dusk, a time when hardly anyone in the village was about. With them they bought a bottle of something for the men to drink. Looking at it Saorise realised that that was how they were going to kill her soulmate. They were going to poison him right in front of her. /Boy are you guys bold/ she thought tiredly, pretending to be busy tidying. Her soulmate brought them over towards her to introduce them.

"This is Adam and Samuel." He said introducing them in turn. Saorise smiled and nodded in greeting.

"I'll go and fetch some cups." She returned minutes later carrying four cups and watched Adam pour the drink into the four cups whilst Samuel was talking to her and her soulmate, attempting to distract them. Adam handed them out a cup each, making sure that Saorise's soulmate got the one with the poison in. Saorise stood for a second thinking quickly about how she could swap the glasses around without anyone except her being any the wiser. Luckily for her, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, her soulmate handed her his cup so that he could go and get some cakes that she had left in the kitchen. The perfect opportunity to stop them. Carefully she switched the drinks round, and handed her soulmate hers when he re-entered the room.

Lifting his glass in a mocking salute to the two princes she downed the whole glass in one go. As soon as she had swallowed the last drop of the liquid her body was racked with agony. She smiled at her soulmate as her knees gave way and sank to the floor, he touched her arm and sparks flew at the connection. He was trying to heal her but she pushed him away gently. "You knew?" he demanded. She nodded.

"I foresaw that they, the princes would return." He glanced at the two men, who were looking at her startled.

"They are vampires," she continued. "And they wanted me to join them. But I had found you and I am complete." She gasped in pain, her vision going blurry. "There is no one who can save me now. Not even if I was immortal. I am too close to the barrier." She reached out and cupped his face. "Do not mourn my passing. I will find you again." Lowering her hand she looked at the princes. "Learn to love before I see you again." She instructed, letting go of reality. Saorise closed her eyes and relaxed the gentle relaxation of death. Her face bore no trace of the pain she had endured to talk to the three guys.

"That is our story." The voice ended.

"Who was the soulmate, what was his name?" Joey asked, feeling that he needed to know the answer.

"She will tell you that, when she sees you again. For she doesn't remember, yet. But she will as soon as she awakens." The voice replied leaving Ryan's body.

Ryan stretched, feeling like he had fallen asleep for a very long time. He covered a large yawn with his hand. "As I was saying," he began.

"We know." Joey replied, looking at him directly. "You were going to tell us the story of two princes." Ryan looked at him aghast/How did they know/