Underworld - The Turning
Written by
Wendy Dale Smith
st7ci-at-hotmail.com
To Readers: There is so much information packed into the last half of this story…I could have written a whole separate fic just on the stuff I didn't elaborate on. From chapter 7 onward, almost everything has relevance, has meaning. However, not everything is spelled-out or obvious, which – to my mind – adds to the mystery. You might have to stop and read between the lines to find the less obvious answers (though I hope that's not the case). And it helps tremendously to have watched the movie at least a couple times (or read the book), and paid careful attention to what the characters said throughout – because I try not to reiterate the movie dialogue. I feel I'm being redundant enough as it is. So, for those of you who have only seen the movie once, some of the significant details might go right over your head. Just a warning! [grin]
To Reviewers: Just a reminder, I've moved the review replies to the end of the chapter.
Chapter 8
They rode the lift down three floors to Vivienne's grand hall. It was a formal gathering, requiring the most elegant attire. Employing skills she had not used in countless decades, Selene felt she managed to bedeck herself to an acceptable degree. If the sideways glances from Michael were any indication, she managed very well indeed.
With her hair up, she felt oddly exposed. She looked over at Michael and caught him staring again. He looked quickly away and straightened his posture, or at least made the attempt to. Selene hid her amusement. Michael somehow managed to look incredibly ill-at-ease, and incredibly handsome, all at the same time. The suit fit snuggly to him, like he had been dipped in the fine cloth. Selene tore her eyes away, realizing he wasn't the only one guilty of staring.
As the lift slowed to a stop, Michael moved impatiently for the door. When it began to open, Selene stepped closely to his side and slid her hand smoothly under his arm. Surprised, he instinctively curled his arm around her fingers. It was obvious he was very nervous. "They're not worth your concern, Michael. I promise you," she said softly. Selene squeezed the crook of his arm gently in encouragement, and was rewarded with a grateful smile.
Vivienne grinned as they entered the large room filled with some two dozen vampires. "Ah, so dark and so fair…Like a love poem come to life."
Selene rolled her eyes. "Let's get this over with."
"So you still hate these gatherings." Vivienne shook her head in disappointment and proceeded to walk around Selene, blatantly inspecting the younger vampire. Her gaze turned impish as she faced Selene again. "But there is one thing you like, I see. One thing has changed."
Selene sighed with boredom. "What?"
Vivienne approached closely and took Michael's other arm. "You like looking pretty for your hybrid." Michael managed to shoot Selene a questioning glance before Vivienne pulled him to the center of the room. Selene was left shaking her head at the beautiful blond vampire. Irritating old bat.
As with the lycans the day before, Vivienne methodically introduced Michael and Selene to every vampire in her coven. The manner with which she handled the vampires was very different than the way she treated the lycans. She took much less care with her mannerisms and her speech. The vampires treated her no less formally, but there was a sense of familiarity, a lack of distance between her and her own kind. Michael equated it with the way the hospital executives treated their doctors, and how they treated the nurses and support staff. The players were different, but it was a class system just the same. Except this class system had well defined boundaries. And I'm stuck in no-man's land, he thought with a mental grimace.
For the tenth time, he heard Selene sigh heavily in boredom. He glanced at her in growing amusement. Selene was blatantly, almost rudely indifferent to the strange vampires. It was a complete shift in the way she acted with the lycans. In fear for her safety, she had paid the lycans keen attention. But she dismissed her own kind entirely. He suspected every vampire in the room could have dropped dead and she would not have raised a brow over it.
For their part, the vampires could barely tolerate him. He tried to do as Selene suggested. He tried not to let it bother him, but his hypersensitive nature made it difficult to drown out the multitude of dark thoughts pointed in his direction. He took immense comfort in the hand Selene kept firmly tucked under his arm.
An hour or so after midnight, dinner was served, or the vampire equivalent of it. Michael tasted the blood Vivienne personally handed to everyone, and couldn't quite hide his grimace. He only craved the nasty stuff when he became anemic. The blood she gave him was served ice cold. As usual, it tasted like slightly sweetened iron-flavored water.
"Don't you like it?" a strangely adolescent-looking woman said. With horror he kept well hidden, he realized the vampire had been turned too early. She looked no older than twelve or thirteen years.
"He must prefer meat, the poor thing. Is raw flesh your favorite?"
"Ice cream, actually," Michael said matter-of-factly, looking down into his glass. "Chocolate ice cream." He looked up at their dumbfounded faces. They were patronizing him. He smiled politely. He thought their dependency on blood just as appalling as the lycan need for fresh, raw meat. In that respect, it was apparent to Michael that they could not comprehend their opinions and veiled insults were wasted on him.
Selene had quite a different reaction. She felt her anger rising, and was fighting to keep it under tight control. "Michael doesn't have our weaknesses in that regard. He can eat like any other male human." Some of vampires were clearly appalled, while others were blatantly envious. Suddenly reaching the end of her patience, Selene scowled angrily. "In fact, Michael can control his more vulgar behaviors better than most vampires I've met." The insult was not lost on the small group of immortals.
Vivienne could not hide the smile that peeked briefly from behind her glass.
"I'm sure your batard, your mongrel, is very well trained," a foppish older-looking vampire replied, infuriated. Michael flinched. That was a mistake, he thought, noting Selene's instant fury.
Seeing that Selene was about to throttle the hapless male vampire, Vivienne quickly interjected, laying a cold yet firm hand on the other woman's arm. "Enough, Bertrand. No need to be so predictably boorish," she admonished him lightly.
Michael saw that Bertrand was immediately mollified by the reprimand. The middle-aged looking vampire was evidently besotted with his coven leader. Absently, Michael wondered if he appeared that idiotic when he looked at Selene.
Sighing, Michael let his eye wander around the room, looking at all the vampires he'd met. He already expected their intolerance. Selene had warned him about that much. But after having met others of her kind, he finally felt he understood Selene a bit better. They were all arrogant creatures. It put the way she treated him in a very new light. Relatively speaking, he now knew Selene was gentle with him, treated him with far more respect and consideration than she gave everyone else around her. She was hard as a diamond around the other vampires. She didn't care about what they thought. That she dared to treat him with more compassion than she did her own kind made the evening almost bearable for Michael.
Suddenly, there was a small commotion from the entryway. The three former Death Dealers finally made their appearance, and were now all finely dressed as the rest of Vivienne's vampires. Selene's hand gripped Michael's arm almost painfully as Kraven coolly entered the reception hall immediately after the three warriors. His gaze found them almost instantly, but he inexplicably turned away from the couple without comment or expression. Kraven instead made his way to a far corner where three attractive female vampires where sitting and conversing. Selene turned and caught Vivienne watching Kraven with ominous deliberation. Vivienne glanced at Selene with a brief, vacant look before turning back to their group's conversation.
"Wonder what she said to him," Michael asked quietly, also catching the silent exchange. Selene had no idea, but she suspected it must have been significant to keep Kraven's overbearing mouth shut. She narrowed speculating eyes toward the coven leader. Selene was getting that feeling again, that irritating sense that she was missing some crucial piece of information. She had no time to contemplate it as Jacob decided to enter them into conversation, the previous day's quarrel apparently forgotten.
Just when Selene decided she had spent enough time parading about for their entertainment, there came another disruption from the entrance to the hall. Four males stood nervously just outside in the reception area. All of them were dressed similarly in the same uniforms Jacob's novices wore. By the look of distaste suddenly written on the faces of the vampires around her, Selene guessed the scouts were lycan. So they did use lycans for patrols, she thought, her boredom suddenly forgotten. Both Jacob and Vivienne went to investigate, leaving Selene and Michael standing alone amongst the group of vampires.
"Can you hear them?" Selene asked quietly, noting that both Vivienne and Jacob had serious, almost alarmed looks on their faces. Michael shook his head.
"No, but the lycans are frightened about something," he glanced at Selene with worry. "Very frightened." He could smell it easily.
Selene watched as Vivienne glanced in their direction. Jacob shook his head vehemently, only to bow and move back into the main hall a moment later with a resigned look on his face. With a grimace, he made his way over to Michael and Selene. Jacob passed a sideways glance to the other vampires around them and spoke only loudly enough for Selene and Michael to hear. He looked directly at Michael. "Something's happened. Vivienne wants you to come with us."
Michael looked at Selene in surprise, then back at Jacob. Me, he thought in alarm. What could they possibly want with me? Jacob turned back around toward Vivienne and the lycans, obviously expecting Michael to follow. Now curious, Michael fell in step behind the male vampire. After only a second's hesitation, Selene followed as well. She wasn't about to be left behind with a room full of mind-numbing, egocentric leeches.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Selene, Michael, and Jacob followed Vivienne back down to the first level basement, to the much smaller level used exclusively for vampires. The vampire leader walked rapidly to the silver doors at the far end of the long corridor. No one spoke for the tension in the air. Vivienne pushed open the double-doors to the infirmary. It was a clean and sterile hospital in miniature, with three beds isolated by curtains on one side, and an open lab area on the other.
Standing in the middle of the lab area were the four soldiers. By their faint wolfish odor, Selene could now just make out these individuals as lycans. They weren't part of the group she had met the day before. They had a fine layer of limestone dust covering their black boots. They had been on patrol for quite some time, it appeared. Yet she still could not easily smell them. Selene shook her head, amazed once again at the fastidious cleanliness of this pack. Her eyes narrowed in speculation.
Selene realized they did not smell that different from a human dog owner, and she would not have picked up the difference if she had passed any one of them on the street. In fact, they all camouflaged themselves perfectly in the common scents of humans. It was such a simple tactic. It would have hidden them well from the scores of Death Dealers that had hunted them over the decades. No wonder we never found their den, or their leader, Selene thought as she glanced at Vivienne with grudging respect. Here, in their home ground, defensive tactics were paramount. They did not advertise their families, their children, or where they were hidden. The implications of these thoughts would have infuriated Selene greatly just a few months ago. Now they evoked far different emotions. She swallowed them harshly away. She looked over at Michael, and caught him staring at her with obvious concern. She scowled and he quickly looked away.
One of the lycan soldiers was holding a squirming black body bag in his arms. He had a look of desperation Selene found strangely uncharacteristic of the beasts, though she absently admitted she was starting to expect those kinds of surprises from the lycans under Vivienne's care. Hisses and growls came from the bag. The other three lycans looked away from the group of vampires, bowing their heads in the meekest supplication, as though they had done something terrible. Selene saw them move as far away from Michael as much as possible without being obvious. They were more afraid of him than any vampire, she noted with grim satisfaction. The lycan carrying the twisting and growling bag lowered his burden to the ground with care. He then stood up quickly, bowing his head even more deeply than the other three. Selene glanced over at Jacob. He was furious.
"This is why you interrupted us? Another lycan stray? Why the hell did you bring it here?!" Jacob barked to the lycan subordinate. "Get it down to the lycan infirmary!"
"But, Sir…Wait…I don't…" The lycan was bowing, desperately needing to get the words out but not wanting to offend his superior. The body within the bag suddenly surged upward like a macabre caterpillar, and then slammed itself back on the hard marble floor.
"Open the bag, please, Serge," Vivienne spoke suddenly with concern. "Before it hurts itself."
The lycan leader, Sergio, stood frozen in awe that Vivienne had spoken to him directly. They all bowed low as the bag continued to squirm at their feet.
"Well! Open it!" barked Jacob.
Sergio jumped and then knelt before the bag. Swallowing in fear, he unzipped it quickly and stood away. Immediately, a sharp rancid stench hit the air. The lycans moved backward coughing and choking, overwhelmed by the strong odor. The vampires reacted with severe repugnance as a small filthy body in rags scrambled out of the bag and dove instantly under a far table.
Jacob skewed up his face, bringing his hand up to cover his nose. "Ugh! The dog smells like raw sewage!" he said, his inadvertent slur causing Michael and Selene both to wince.
"It pissed itself in the bag," Sergio said, acutely apologetic. "I'm sorry, Sir! It was the only way I could get it here safely!"
Shaking his head in anger at the lycans, Jacob then became immediately contrite to Vivienne. "I'm sorry, my Lady. I'll get it out of here…"
Vivienne held up her hand, silencing him. Her eyes were focused on the small body desperately trying to disappear under the table. She slowly approached the wretched creature curled up in a ball in dark shadow. Michael was used to this sort of thing occurring in the Budapest emergency room. So many kids were on the street. So many drugs. He slowly approached on Vivienne's right. His face, along with hers, was filled with concern for the pathetic living thing.
Selene watched silently, brows furrowed. The stray lycan was clearly terrified, its bestial instincts in full control. She was disgusted, but not surprised. Absently, she thought Vivienne would have her hands full taming that animal.
Jacob, concerned for his leader's safety, said hesitantly, "Don't you think I should get Eleanor or…"
"No," Vivienne says quietly, but sharply. She looked at Michael. "Stay back, no matter what." He immediately halted his approach, nodding in understanding to Vivienne. The creature was shaking badly, its matted and filth-ridden hair completely obscuring its face. Michael could just make out one glowing eye through the tangled mass. It was terror-filled.
Selene warily kept one eye on the four lycan scouts. They didn't look at anyone in particular, and never looked the vampires in the eye unless addressed directly. But they were incredibly nervous for some reason, like they wanted nothing better than to flee. They held no concern for the lycan under the table whatsoever. Vivienne suddenly spoke to the small crowd behind her.
"You and your team may leave, Sergio. I do not blame you for this. Thank you for promptly informing me," she said quietly to the lycan scouts as she slowly moved closer to the thing huddled on the floor.
With an obvious sense of relief, the lycans in the room rapidly escaped. Selene looked at Jacob, who was as confused as she was. She looked over at Michael. He was crouched on his haunches behind Vivienne, as totally intent on the animal as the female vampire. Selene watched in growing alarm as Vivienne reached a hand out toward the thing. It was pinned next to the wall and a stainless steel refrigerator. It reared back as far as it could, but it was trapped.
"N'ayez pas peur," she said softly as she held her hand out, palm up. "Do not be afraid. You are safe now."
As Selene expected, with a feral growl, the creature attacked Vivienne. In a flash of movement the thing was on the ancient vampire, but Vivienne was faster. Her movements a blur, she let the creature latch on to her outstretched wrist and pulled it to her chest, turning it around to face away from her. She clutched it too her, filth and all, holding it still with astonishing strength. Just as quickly, she threw out her free hand to the two vampires rushing to defend her.
"Arrêtez!" she said, halting them in their tracks. Her eyes had suddenly turned ice blue.
Selene looked down at the creature Vivienne now clutched to her almost protectively, and had the shock of her life. Its youthful face was now clearly revealed. It had clamped sharp fangs down on Vivienne's wrist with rabid ferocity. It was sucking loudly, desperately, as it stared blindly out, eyes as ice blue as Vivienne's. It was a female vampire, and it was clearly starving for blood.
Selene was frozen in shock, as was the other former Death Dealer. They had never, in their considerable ages, seen a vampire succumb to such a state. It was Michael who reacted when the others could not. He went quickly to the refrigerator and pulled out several bags of plasma. By the time he got to Vivienne with the plastic bags of synthetic blood, the ancient vampire was already panting from the strain. She was quietly shushing the girl, trying to calm the utterly terrified vampire.
With Michael's help, they gently and quickly unclamped the girl from her wrist and gave her one of the bags instead. The filthy little waif barely noticed as she eagerly punctured the bag and began to drink, already showing passivity and calm in Vivienne's arms. The urchin was completely mindless with need. Michael hastily wrapped Vivienne's wrist before she lost more blood. He then went over and, with his face averted, quickly zipped the black body bag closed. Everyone sighed in relief as the air cleared almost immediately.
Watching Michael in silence, Selene now realized why the smell from the body bag was so strong, and why Vivienne so quickly knew what the little creature was. Vampires consumed blood. Because of that, the ammonia they excreted was many times stronger than what a human would typically produce. Shaking her head in confusion and awe, Selene was surprised the girl hadn't passed out in the bag from the poison in her own urine. Michael, seeming to read her thoughts as always, said quietly to Vivienne, "She soaked that bag with pure ammonia. No wonder she wanted out so badly."
Vivienne shook her head. "Serge must have found the girl while scouting the catacombs, and lured her with blood. Being lycan, he could not know we digest it so quickly," she said in quiet humor, her eyes already calmed back into their normal deep brown.
Selene took a deep calming breath as she stared at Vivienne. She was still clutching the girl tightly. Vivienne crouched unceremoniously on the hospital room floor in what Selene knew as a several thousand dollar dress. She shook her head and looked at Jacob. He was just as disturbed as she was, but she doubted for the same reasons. She felt completely out of place. Useless. She suddenly itched to be in a uniform, to feel its comforting familiarity.
Selene watched as Vivienne stood up with the girl in her arms. The older vampire showed her great strength in subtle fashion, for the girl was a fully mature adolescent. Vivienne moved to one of the infirmary beds and gently set her down. The girl was already in the deep sleep of exhaustion. Vivienne then went over to Jacob, her voice quiet now, almost a whisper. But Selene could see she was completely furious. "I want you to take your entire team and search the catacombs. Search every square meter if you have to. We cannot risk more of them being down there." She looked back at the young sleeping vampire. "Dead or alive, find them all," she said darkly.
Jacob nodded, and with an ominous glance in Selene's direction, he left. Selene felt enough foreboding as it was without having seen that look. Her eyes darted to Michael, gauging his mood. He was standing at the end of the bed, looking down at the girl. He was very troubled at what he saw, but understandably so. This girl was newly turned, just as he was. He had more empathy for the wretched thing than Selene could ever muster. She slowly walked over to the bed and looked down at the girl. It was going to take a lot of work to get her cleaned up, but Selene had no doubts the coven leader was well up to the task. Vivienne sighed heavily then. "Michael, would you stay here and see to her. Selene and I will be back shortly."
Selene looked up in surprise, but Vivienne was already walking toward the double-doors. She scowled at woman's back and shook her head in bafflement. She waved at Michael to stay put as she moved to catch up to the frustrating woman.
Selene stalked up next her in the hallway and lightly stopped the elder vampire with her hand. "Hold it. What the hell is going on?" Selene detested her ignorance of the situation, or any situation for that matter. She pointed back to the infirmary. "You were hardly surprised in there." Both women were at an eye level. Selene held her ground as she waited for the woman to decide to answer. Then it hit her. "You've seen this before," she nearly whispered.
Vivienne eased the scowl on her face. She looked back at the younger woman in self-derision. "I had hoped…being so close to Viktor, he would not pick up his vile habits," she said enigmatically. Her face filled with remorse. "Please, forgive me, Selene. Being as old as I am, I sometimes forget I can be wrong. Very wrong," she said darkly.
One question kept going through Selene's mind the moment she realized the stray was a vampire. Who could do such a thing? As Selene stared at the woman, at Vivienne's face as it darkened with a deadly fury, the answer became clear. It was obvious. As Vivienne walked with calm deliberation to the elevator, Selene felt an eager anticipation begin to build.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Kraven sat with a young beautiful vampire, smiling with sweet insincerity.
It never failed to amaze Selene how he could dupe so many people, when she could, without effort, see him for the swine he was. He looked up and saw her approaching. At her sweet smile, he sat up straighter and frowned. His eyes looked behind her, no doubt looking for Michael. But her hybrid was the least of his problems.
Just behind Selene, two dozen lycan servants followed her in. Their heads were bowed in tired and confused submission, clearly wondering why they had been woken so early in the dark hours of the morning. They all began lining the outer wall of the large hall, while their vampire superiors stood in the center of the room, just as confused as their lycan servants. Without taking her eyes off Kraven, Selene saw Vivienne enter the hall from a private side entrance and silently approach the unsuspecting vampire.
Selene smiled at Kraven's sudden wary confusion. "You'd be a great vampire, Kraven, were it not for your weaknesses. I almost feel sorry for you." She then let her face give way to fury. "Almost."
Selene watched in delight as long, feminine fingers latched around Kraven's throat from behind and yanked him bodily across the room. She heard a piercing CRACK! as his neck snapped and vertebra crumbled from the force of the throw alone. He hit the stone fireplace, his back breaking once again as the massive granite frame resisted the blow. He hit the floor and did not move. His eyes were wide open, frozen on the ancient woman who stood where he had been sitting, oblivious, just an instant before.
Vivienne blew a lock of hair out of her face as she straightened back into her perfect, regal posture. Her eyes were electric blue in wrath. Two dozen vampires and two dozen lycans stood in shocked silence around the room. They had never seen their leader in a killing rage. But then, they never dared to break her simple rules either. There was a reason she was the ruler of their coven, and they were about to be reminded of it.
Vivienne stood over him. He was still conscious, but only just enough to understand what she was about to tell him. "You will live, Kraven. I will see to that. I owe you that much. But you have broken our pact with this…animal weakness. I will not ask how many innocents you have bled dry while under my roof, just as I did not ask Viktor." She knelt down and grabbed him by the throat, her fingers digging in so hard, they drew blood. She raised him effortlessly to her eye level. Her elongated fangs were clamped together as she growled her words not an inch from his face. "But I can assure you, you will never do this again, for there is no one here to clean up your mess! And I will not let you, or anyone, jeopardize my home, my coven, my family, ever again!"
With that, she gripped his jaw and pulled it open. She reached in, and with thumb and forefinger, viciously ripped out one fang, and then the other. He hung in the air, mouth agape, with two large holes where his vampire fangs had been. His back broken, for the moment all Kraven could do was watch as all the power he had ever hoped to achieve fell to the marble floor with two, faint pings.
Selene had heard of this punishment, but had never witnessed it first-hand. Kraven would never be allowed to grow his fangs as long as he was under Vivienne's roof. They would grow back eventually, and again, they would be yanked from his skull in ceremonial ritual. It was a symbolic stripping of power. He would have no rank. He would be slave to the lowest vampire. And, worst of all, not even the lycans would be subservient to him. If he tried to leave, he would be hunted down and killed. The only freedom granted was death, if he eventually succumbed to that temptation.
Selene watched as Kraven crumpled to the floor, blood oozing from his mouth. She looked around her, at the wide-eyed shock of the vampires she had only just met. Their horror told Selene volumes about their leader. Vivienne did not rule by fear, as Viktor had. Viktor never believed in symbolic gesture. Kill the transgressor and be done with them. There had been no hope with that Elder. But what Vivienne did here had the effect of making her punishment just that much more momentous. These vampires were not hardened to the pain, yet would be constantly reminded of its possibility.
Break her rules, and end up like Kraven.
Selene watched as every vampire bowed to Vivienne, accepting her punishment. They really had no choice. The elder vampire's eyes finally came to rest upon Selene, and the question there was obvious. Is this acceptable to you? Selene looked at Kraven, and thought of the decades and centuries of torment he was about to suffer. Selene then thought of the hundred years of near isolation she'd been force to endure because of his abuses. Unbidden, Selene thought of Michael, of his innocent gentleness and forgiving nature. He probably would not have bowed, would not have approved.
But Selene did.
.
.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
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Imraith-Nimphias – You made imperfect sense, but sense nonetheless. [grin] Thank you for the compliments. Keep reading. It gets better.
Code name: Anrui Yuy – Unbelievable control is one of Michael's unique gifts. When he does lose control, it's swift, decisive, and obvious. Regarding the nosebleed…Yes, Michael was deriding himself. He's ashamed that he's suffering this kind of side-effect from his transformations. He didn't want her to know that he still was going through that. In one of the various outtakes I edited out of the story, Selene explains to Michael that nosebleeds are common to lycan adolescents who are just coming of age and adjusting to their transformation. It's why she knows what he's thinking at that moment…he thinks that she despises the lycan in him, sees that part of him as a monster. That scene in chapter 7 is the first time she confesses that she really doesn't mind the lycan in him. That confession is the real significance to that "love scene".
Fan of too many shows – It's interesting that the nosebleed scene reminded you of the laboratory scene in chapter 2. It wasn't intended…but it is definitely something you do NOT want to forget about again. When Michael thought "Victor was right all along", that was pretty huge.
Nickyjay – Let them kiss? [shrugs innocently] You think I'm controlling things at this point in the story?!? [grin] The characters are the ones dictating when and how they get intimate, not me. Nothing in the story is random or gratuitous really. About halfway through it – once I realized exactly where I had to go - the story just started writing itself. I'm like the spectator recording what I'm watching. I KNOW that sounds ridiculous and creepy, but it's true.
Hana-chan666 – Géniale? Je n'irais pas cela loin, mais merci pour le compliment! And I hope I didn't just say my hovercraft of full of eels.
Jubillie-gurl – Kraven ran to Vivienne's coven to hide from Viktor's vengeful wrath. Kraven was in league with Lucian and Vivienne to bring down Viktor and Amelia. After watching the movie for the tenth time, I realized there was no way Lucian and Kraven could have cooked up this scheme between just the two of them. They needed an arbiter, a go-between that both men could trust – trust enough, in fact, to keep the scheme going for six hundred years (the pact was made 600 years ago). Regarding Selene's farmhouse in the mountains…Vivienne was letting Selene know that she knew about Selene's hideaway, that Selene's house wasn't as hidden as Selene would have liked…Vivienne was letting Selene know that she had nowhere else safe to go.
Lady K2 – At the end of the movie, Michael and Selene are not in love yet, but they have established two very essential foundations of love – physical attraction and trust.
Alia-harkonnen – Hey! Thanks for catching that! Spelling and I just don't get along very well. [grin] There have been some truly hilarious spelling mistakes in the course of writing this story…
Luwana-Fluff-Dragon – Two chapters a week. That's the deal. [grin]
Agentalana – Nope, just a plain old mirror. In the Underworld universe, vampires see their reflection. In Underworld, everything has a scientific explanation. Vampires and werewolves are the result of an ancient "super" virus. Check out the movie. You'll see. [grin]