Disclaimer: Highlander does not belong to me or any of the series' ideas and characters. I just do this for fun and not to make money, so please don't sue me!
Author's notes: Okay, this time I have good reason for making you all wait. I wanted to finish the story before I update again. Sorry for rearranging the chapters though. I hope you all found your way around to this chapter without any trouble. Anyways, I'm so happy I got to finish Immortal Fate and I hope you all like it. And thanks to:
MorganaPendragon: I'm really glad you enjoy reading my story. Although sometimes I think it lacks a bit of substance. As for Sarah telling Richie anything, well… I'll let you find out for yourself. By the way, I see you've finished Isolophobia. Nicely done! Trecia: I don't know why your review isn't up on the review page when I got an e-mail notification from FF.net saying you reviewed. But thanks for reading my story. And I'm glad you liked it. And I did finish it, thanks for the encouragement. DumbOldDork: You really are too good for my ego, you know that? I can't thank you enough for all your reviews. And yes, I've noticed that the site seemed to have some problems lately, but don't worry, I think you already sent me an e-mailed review anyway.
Well on with the story. Happy reading!
Chapter Twelve
Wakefulness slowly crept into Richie's consciousness and his eyes fluttered open. Events from last night drifted back to his mind as he carefully looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms. Richie noticed that strands of her black hair had fallen across her face. With a smile, he gently brushed them aside. Sarah turned towards his hands, but remained asleep.
Richie watched her sleep peacefully for a minute or so. In fact she was so still that the blond could have sworn that the sleeping woman next to him was not breathing at all. If not for the fact that he just saw her move earlier, Richie would have panicked and think she was dead.
After a while he carefully untangled himself from Sarah and sat up. Her body shifted as if seeking for his warmth. The movement immediately drew Richie's eyes to Sarah's wounds - or rather the area where the skin had sealed off the wound. Questions that assailed him last night again danced across his head.
Why did she have the ability to heal herself?
How did she know the vampire from last night?
What did an Immortal like Nicholas Ferrington want from her?
The young Immortal wanted to wake her up and demand some answers, but willed himself to be patient. He glanced at the watch on his wrist and saw that it was a little pass eight in the morning.
I guess there's plenty of time for Q & A later, Richie thought to himself as he quietly stood up to walk over to the window. He drew one side of the curtain open and let some sunlight flood into the room.
The sound of a startled hiss and frantic movements were suddenly heard from behind. Richie spun around and saw that the bed was empty. His eyes shifted and found Sarah crouched against the far corner of the room.
"… Sarah?"
Sarah swallowed the panic that rose in her throat and risked a glance at Richie from behind raised arms.
"The sun … don't let it in … the curtain, pull it …" She gave another hiss as the Immortal moved away from in front the window, exposing the room to more sunlight. If possible she tried to push herself against the wall even further.
"Sarah what's wrong?" Richie asked with concern as he walked around the bed. He reached out his left arm towards her, the watch glinting as it caught some of the sun's ray.
Sarah snapped her eyes shut and growled at the pained induced by the brightness. Anger suddenly swelled inside her. Why doesn't the idiot see that the sunlight was hurting her. Hunger and panic fueled her anger and Sarah failed to control the beast within her the second Richie touched her on the arm. With a snarl, the vampire took Richie's wrist in a vise grip and quickly stood up to forcefully push the man against the wall. Sarah's mouth was barely inches from his neck when she caught herself. Her head moved away in an instant and with a glance she saw the stunned expression on the Immortal's face. She next noticed the terrified eyes he had trained on her mouth. Sarah belatedly realized what Richie was looking at and with it a different kind of panic set in.
Throwing the blond man away from her, Sarah turned her back on him and touched her forehead against the cool surface of the wall. Sharp fangs slowly retracted back inside her gums, her body forcing itself to calm down.
Richie' mind whirled as he digested what he had just seen. Fangs. Weren't those what was peeking out from the corners of her mouth?
"Wh-what exactly are you?" he asked, scared that he already knew the answer.
Sarah turned anxious eyes towards the Immortal. "Richie …" she began and took a step forward. The young man involuntarily stepped back, making the vampire halt her progress.
"You're one of them aren't you?" he said softly, answering his own question. "It's all starting to make sense now. How I never see you during the day, the way you fought Cyrus, how your body can heal itself, and your reaction to sunlight just now."
Richie paused to let out a hallow laugh. "Not to mention the fangs … a vampire. I can't believe that I …" He closed his eyes and swallowed the rest of his sentence. Maybe if he did not voice it out, he wouldn't have to face the truth. But as he reopened his eyes and stare at Sarah, his previous thought came unbidden to his mind. I can't believe I was falling in love with a vampire.
Sarah meanwhile decided to give it another try. "Richie, let me explain." She nervously licked her lips. "I wanted to tell you … I tried to tell you, but I was scared you'd react like this."
"Well, how did you expect me to react?" Disbelief slowly gave way to anger as another thought struck him. "You can't really expect me to take this calmly, did you? Not when word about a vampire helping out an Immortal kill other Immortals is out on the streets."
Richie gave Sarah a hard stare. "So, which one of you is it? You or that Edmund guy?"
"Edmund has nothing to do with this."
"That leaves you then. You're Nicholas's partner." The blond spat out. "So, was I your first victim?"
"No!" Sarah quickly denied. "It's not like that at all! Would you listen to me. I was never-"
The sudden banging of the front door against the wall startled Sarah into silence. The noise was quickly followed by Joshua's anxious voice.
"Richie?! Richie were are you?" Joshua appeared inside the doorway, relief showing on his face as he spotted both of them. With the help of his crutches, he hobbled inside the room.
"Thank God you're both alright. I was so worried.I couldn't leave the hospital until this morning and -"
Richie had grabbed his friend's arm and backed him away from Sarah. The other man gave him a confused look.
"Richie, what are you …"
"Stay away from her, Josh. Sarah isn't exactly what you think she is."
Richie missed the pained expression on the vampire's face when she heard his words. Joshua looked over at Sarah and suddenly realized something.
"Sarah, are you crazy?! Why are you out during daylight." He gave Richie an urgent shove towards the window and told him to pull the curtains close.
The blond man fixed wide eyes on Joshua. "You know," he said, his voice barely a whisper. He looked from Joshua to Sarah then back again to his friend. "You knew how I felt about her and you didn't tell me?"
"Look, man, I'm sorry. I didn't know how …"
"Richie, please," Sarah pleaded. "Just let me explain everything."
The Immortal started backing away. "No, just stay away. The both of you, stay away. I need to …" He ran a hand through his hair, not sure what to do exactly. He looked back at Sarah and felt so torn. Part of him wanted to be angry at her for what she was, but a part of him longed to take her in his arms and erase the anguish displayed in her eyes. In the end, he did the only thing he could. Without saying a word, the young Immortal ran out of the room.
Sarah ran after him, calling out his name. She stopped in the middle of the living room and helplessly watched as Richie stepped outside. She stood and stared with unseeing eyes at the open door, heedless of the pain that the sun's brightness was causing her eyes.
Joshua limped across the room and softly closed the door. He turned back and regarded his friend with sad eyes. In all the two years he had known Sarah, he had never seen her looking so lost at that moment. He drew nearer to the vampire and laid a hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle shake. The black-haired woman blinked and focused a blank look at the man in front of her.
"I lost him again," she murmured in defeat. "I don't know which hurts more. Him dying in my arms or him running away because I'm … because of what I …"
A strangled sob left her lips and Sarah sank to the floor, letting the tears come. Her friend awkwardly kneeled in front of the vampire and let her cry on his shoulder. He rubbed her back comfortingly and thought of how he was going to fix everything.
******
A few hours later, Joshua stood along his darkened driveway. He hit the ground with one of his crutches out of frustration as Sarah vanished into the night. He had managed to convince the vampire to rest that morning, hoping to talk to her once she wakes up. It did not occur to him that the girl would just leave the minute the sun set.
He had been fixing himself a sandwich when he heard the sound of the front door opening. He immediately left the kitchen and saw Sarah leave the house. The young man hurriedly limped after her outside, but found that the vampire had already disappeared.
After cursing his inability to go about searching for either one of his friends, Joshua reluctantly walked back inside his house. He was only a few steps away from his front door when he suddenly felt a presence behind him. He turned around and almost stumbled as he awkwardly backed away.
Joshua anxiously looked at the imposing figure before him. "Ah … can I help you?"
The man spared him a brief glance before settling his gaze on the house. "She's not here. But her scent lies strong within your house."
It didn't take long for Joshua to assume that he was referring to Sarah. "She just left." He paused and cleared his throat nervously. "Um … you must be Edmund. Hi there. I'm Joshua, Sarah's friend." The man debated whether he should offer his hand in greeting to the vampire, but in the end decided against it just to be safe.
"Sarah's friend?" Edmund repeated, his brow rising mockingly.
"Yeah, she stops by here once in a while. Just to hang out." Joshua let out a nervous chuckle. "That's probably why you said her - scent, was it? - was all over the place."
Cold eyes bore into him. "How do you know my name?"
"Sarah told me. Well, actually she would tell me stories about her life as a … ah … you know, vampire. You matched the image I have of the guy Edmund that she talked about."
Joshua noticed a couple of curious faces looking out from his neighbor's window and hastily asked the vampire to go inside his house. "I think it's better to continue this conversation without any audience."
Edmund hesitated, but gave a slight nod before following the other man inside. The latter was surprised that the vampire actually agreed. He didn't know if the man conceded because he really wanted to finish their talk or because witnesses will not be able to see him take his blood. As if reading his mind, Edmund spoke.
"I'm actually quite curious as to why Sarah would waste her time on mortals such as…" Edmund trailed off just as he stepped inside the doorway. Joshua thought he heard the man say the name 'Stanton' before continuing to precede inside.
"So, it would appear that Stanton also 'hangs out' here as you call it?"
The young man frowned. "Stan- oh you mean Richie. Yeah, he's staying with me for a while, but how did you …"
"Oh we've met," answered Edmund nonchalantly. "So, where's that accursed Immortal?"
"Immortal?" Joshua remembered Sarah describing Nicholas as an Immortal, but what does Richie have anything to do with it.
Edmund saw the man's brows furrow in confusion and smirked at him. "It would seem we have much to talk about."
