Disclaimer: As before, Highlander and any ideas associated with the show do not belong to me. Any character you don't recognize is most likely mine. Enjoy!
Chapter Thirteen
Richie watched the amber liquid slosh against the side of the glass as he swirled his drink absently. He had spent a good deal of the day just walking around aimlessly, trying to figure out how to handle the situation he got himself into. When all he got was a headache, the blond decided to stop by the El Toro and dull the pain with a few drinks. Maybe even forget about this whole dilemma with Sarah.
So here he was staring at his first order of whiskey that he had barely touched and still no where near to fixing his problem. Richie put the glass down and rubbed his face with the palms of his hands.
"Let me guess. Girl problem, right?"
The Immortal drew his hands away and saw that the voice belonged to the British bartender. Must be a new one since he had never before seen anyone else tend the bar aside from Emilio. Richie did not know if he was up to spilling his guts out to a total stranger at the moment and just gave the other man a noncommittal nod at the hopes of being left alone.
"Fell in love with another fellow, did she?"
Richie frowned. Nope, guess he will not be getting his privacy.
"Nah, nothing like that," the blond said with a sigh.
"Must be real complicated then if you'd rather think 'bout it than drink your whiskey."
"You have no idea," Richie mumbled absently.
"Well, answer me this. Does the girl love you?"
At this, the Immortal paused to think. It was true that Sarah had never said anything about her feelings along that line, but he was sure she did not dislike him. She admitted to wanting to spend time with him. Plus she did save his life, twice if he remembered correctly. Then there were her eyes from last night, or rather the emotions behind them. He would never forget the desperation in them. The fear of losing him somehow. Richie realized that they held the same expression this morning before he ran out of the house.
He looked up and saw the bartender waiting expectantly. "I'm not sure, but all her action seem to point that way."
"Guess it'd be too much to ask for details, eh?" the other man asked when the blond did not continue to elaborate. "I guess the only question you need to ask yourself is, do you love her?"
Richie blinked at the question. His mind went back to the thought he had just that morning after discovering Sarah's secret. He was not falling in love with her, he already loved her. Somehow he knew that he had always loved her. How many times had he said that they were meant to be together? The thought of losing Sarah sent waves of pain lacing through his heart. Rubbing his chest unconsciously, the Immortal focused on the man behind the bar. The dumbstruck expression on Richie's face quickly changed to one of calm assurance.
He smile at the other man and said, "Yeah, yeah I do."
"So, what's the problem?"
Sarah's anguished eyes flashed before him and Richie quietly cursed himself. He checked the time on his watch and hastily left the bar. If he hurry, maybe he can fix this mess he created.
I won't leave her again. Richie frowned at the thought. Again? When did he … Damn. Richie wished he had considered taking his bike when he left Joshua's house this morning.
******
Joshua and Edmund eyed each other, contemplating what each had said to the other. The former finally let out a long breath and leaned back into the couch he currently occupied. The vampire's eyes narrowed as he studied the other man's calm demeanor.
"You seem to be taking all this quite well," Edmund said slowly.
"Hey, your kind exist, so why not a bunch of Immortals that go around hacking each other's heads off." Joshua smiled wearily. "Guess that explains a lot. I can't believe Richie never told me any of this. I can be trusted. I mean, look at Sarah. I kept her secret, didn't I?"
"A mortal, a vampire, and an Immortal." Edmund mockingly smiled at Joshua. "Quite a group you have, eh?"
It was Joshua's turn to give the vampire the narrow-eyed look. "What about you? You have no problem accepting that Richie is the reincarnation of Nathan?"
"I've lived long enough to witness the occurrence of such things. I just never expected him to be reincarnated as a damn Immortal."
"I know you never approved of Nathan Stanton. And I got the impression that you're also not very fond of the Immortals. But I swear, if you do anything to Richie-"
"You'll what?" interjected Edmund with a snort. "You'd be dead before you can lay one finger on me."
"Can't you just let them be together? Their love is obviously strong enough that it brought them back to each other again."
Edmund continued to stare coldly at the mortal before him. A moment later, he cocked his head slightly to one side and said, "Hmm, perhaps this would be a good time to put that threat of yours to a test."
Before Joshua can ask about what he meant by that comment, the door burst open and Richie rushed inside. He stopped short just a few feet away from where Edmund stood. Trying to catch him breath, the blond Immortal could only stare at the vampire before him. Anger and jealousy boiled within him as he remembered the man's intent to kill him and his apparent closeness to Sarah.
Joshua had already grabbed his crutches and was moving to stand between the two mean just as Richie said, "What's he doing here? Where's Sarah?"
Even though the Immortal had not taken his eyes off of Edmund, Joshua knew that the terse question was directed at him.
"Take it easy, man. He just came by to check up on Sarah."
Richie fixed his eyes on his friend. "So where is she?"
"Long gone I'm afraid," Edmund answered for Joshua. "You are lucky I was not the one that killed your sorry ass over two hundred years ago. Because from what your friend here told me about your behavior this morning, I would have given you a far more excruciating death for a reaction such as that had Sarah told you the truth then."
"Look, will you cut the crap already!" Richie yelled at the vampire. "How many times do I have to tell you there is no possible way you could have known me two centuries ago."
Edmund turned to address Joshua. "Well, are you going to enlighten your little friend or shall I?"
Richie shifted tense eyes between the two men in front of him. They finally fixed on Joshua when he began to speak.
"Richie, do you remember the conversation we had about the man Sarah loved?"
"Yeah, you said something about him being the only one she's ever loved and how she saw him die. I think you said his name was Nathan Sta-" The Immortal quickly broke off and again found himself looking at Edmund. He had never understood why the vampire kept calling him 'Stanton.' But why would the other man think he was Sarah's dead lover?
"Why … why would you think I'm him?"
"Because you are, you dolt," came the exasperated reply from the vampire. "You are his reincarnation."
The blond man looked at Edmund dubiously. He had not given reincarnation that much thought. Mac and the other Immortals he knows had lived through several lives but that was because of their immortality. But why didn't he become an Immortal then if he had already died two centuries ago? Why die then and be reborn as an Immoral later?
"Listen, Richie, I don't know why you didn't become an Immortal on your first death," Joshua told his friend as he seemingly picked up on Richie's thoughts. "Maybe you weren't meant to be an Immortal, but somehow Fate thought she needed to give you and Sarah another chance. And this time you have all the time in the world to get it right."
Edmund frowned. "Do you really believe all that sentimental crap you spew about?" he scornfully asked the young man.
Joshua gave the vampire an annoyed look before turning back to Richie. "You are Nathan Stanton. I've seen his picture and you're his spitting image. Look, you said it yourself, something about being with her seems familiar and right, remember?"
Richie could not deny what his friend said. There were times when his subconscious would take him to the verge of some faint memories he cannot grasp. Maybe there was some truth in what Joshua said. Being the reincarnated Nathan Stanton would explain a lot of the things that has happened in the last few weeks.
He gave his friend a nod and a suspicious look at Edmund. "What exactly is your connection to Sarah?"
Edmund raised an eyebrow at the jealousy he detected in the Immortal's voice. "I'm the one that sired her."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"He's the one that turned her into a vampire," Joshua explained.
"I am more than that," Edmund was saying. "Her father and I grew up together and had known each other well. On his death bed, he asked me to be Sarah's guardian. He made me promise to keep her safe, not knowing that his best friend had just turned into a vampire.
"I failed to keep that promise when she had a riding accident. Her injuries were extensive. I did not think at that time, all I felt was the guilt. So I did the only thing I knew how at the time. I turned her into a vampire so that her body would heal itself. She hated me after that. But we're all that we have of each other."
Edmund smirked at the blond man. "No need for all this jealously. My relationship with her is strictly that of a guardian towards his ward."
Richie and Edmund stared at each other, trying to see if the other is worthy of trust. Joshua looked from one man to another before clearing his throat.
"Um guys … sorry to break up your little starring contest, but I just remembered something." When he had both men's attention, he then continued nervously. "All this talk of guardianship got me thinking. Is Sarah safe out there by herself. I mean, somebody did try to kill her last night."
Edmund swore and said, "That was why I came looking for her. I wanted to make sure she was alright and get her out of here before Ferrington shows up again."
"You mean that bastard's still alive!" exclaimed Richie.
"Unfortunately. He escaped before I could finish him off."
Richie ran a hand through his hair and warily looked at Edmund. "Okay, I say we call a truce and look for Sarah. I think at this point, working together is best."
The vampire hesitated for a moment, but eventually inclined his head in agreement. Richie nodded in return and headed outside for his motorcycle. He gave a startled pause when he noticed Joshua following him.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Going with you, what else?"
"Josh, you have a badly sprained ankle and I don't think -"
"Can it, Richie. Sarah's also my friend and I want to help. I'll hop to where she is if I have to."
Richie blew out a frustrated breath, but let the other man ride behind him on his bike. They then discussed possible places where she could have gone to.
"Sarah's probably feeling really down right now," Joshua thought out loud. "Knowing her, she'll want to be by herself. So where can she go that's totally isolated?"
"A winery," Edmund said after a few seconds of silence. "Sarah grew up near a winery and she would always go there whenever she gets upset."
"Hey, the San Sebastian winery is only about three miles from here."
"I should have thought of that sooner," the vampire muttered and within seconds vanished into a swirl of mist.
"Whoa … did not see that coming," Richie said in amazement.
Joshua chuckled lightly. "What? Did you expect him to turn into a bat?"
"Actually … yeah."
"Dude, you watch too much T.V."
"Well, they always did connote bats with vampires."
"Whatever, man. Just try not to say anything like that in front of Sarah. It really ticks her off."
At the mention of Sarah's name, the Immortal remembered the task at hand and hurriedly drove off towards the winery.
