A/N: Okay, so this was going to be a one part ficlet, but that obviously didn't happen. I wasn't planning on continuing it, but your reviews (and the prodding of my muse) prompted it. Now it's going to hopefully be a three part story. At least, that's what I've got planned right now. Oh yeah! I had to re-post part one of this 'cuz I got a name wrong. It's supposed to be Jarius instead of Rye (it helps to double-check these things in previous chapters). Other than that, nothing got changed.
To all my reviewers: I'm glad y'all like it and thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them. I won't say anything about the dreams, you'll find out soon enough. wink
And now, on to the story....
Several days later, Alexia rose from her seat at the kitchen table. Someone was knocking on the door. When she opened it, the young man looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place him. "Good evening," she greeted him. "May I help you?"
His emerald gaze met hers and she could see a deep pain lurking there. "Kaitlyn?"
He asked in a hoarse voice. She could barely make out a soft accent on the edge of his words.
"Excuse me?" She nearly froze, but managed to gain control of herself. Kaitlyn was a perfectly common name. Why would it affect her like that?
"You're not Kaitlyn." the man said deliriously. "Where's Kaitlyn? Where is my beloved? Where?"
"Who are you?" Alexia asked. She realized where she had seen him before. He looked just like one of the men in her dream. But it couldn't be him, could it?
"My name is Donnovan. I need to find Kaitlyn. Please, its very important!"
Alexia blanched. The world went black.
Chaos. Servants run through the halls, attempting to gain freedom from the uncertain hell around them. Two young mothers race in the opposite direction to find the children. Their husbands catch up to them and order them to get out of the building. Twin sets of bare feet slap against the now warm flagstones. The women gasp for air, but there is only smoke. One stumbles, but the other grabs her arm to drag her sister down the final few stairs. They dash across the courtyard and under the gate to fall onto the cool grass beyond. A sound greater than thunder erupts behind them: the roof has collapsed along with the top floor. A light rain begins to fall, but it is too late. All is lost. In the dark, no sees the tears the streak the ash on twin faces. A wolf howls in the dark, pain resonant in the mournful tones.
Alexia slowly swam back to consciousness. She was laying on the couch and Gabriel was perched on the edge. Kiree was talking to someone in the kitchen, her hushed tones impossible to make out. "Hey, you're alive. We were worried about you. What happened?" Gabriel asked.
"Where is he?"
Gabriel looked at her like she was crazy. "Who?"
"That guy.... He said his name was Donnovan. The man from my dreams," she sat up and started looking around. He was there, he had to be.
"There is no one here. What are you talking about baby?"
"I've been having these dreams lately. I think that they're about Kiree and Kaeli. There are two men in my dreams and one of them showed up here tonight while I was waiting on you to come back from hunting," she explained.
"There was no one here. I came back and you were sprawled on the kitchen floor. I was worried about you."
"What dreams?" Kiree asked from the doorway.
"I wasn't sure about them, so I didn't want to ask you. I thought I was making things up," Alexia admitted.
"Well, ask away," Kiree said.
Jarius came into the room and they sat together in the chair near the couch. Alexia thought they looked cute like that. She took a breath and told Kiree all the dreams that she'd had. Even the last brief one about the fire. When she got to the part about the collapse, Kiree's hand flew to her mouth. "How did you know all that?" She exclaimed.
Alexia shrugged. "I just dreamed them. I don't know. I really didn't think that any of it was true."
"Every word of it is true."
Alexia's eyes widened at the implications of her dreams. Kiree and Kaeli had both had families that died in a terrible fire. "So that man that came here...." She trailed off.
"What man?"
Alexia explained again about the man that had knocked on the door. Kiree sagged against Jarius in the chair. "Donnovan. Alive?" Her voice was small. "But that's impossible. Unless... No! I refuse to believe it!" Kiree disappeared with those last words, leaving the remaining three to look at each other helplessly. Jarius looked completely lost. Alexia was pretty sure that she looked the same way.
Alexia slowly climbed the stairs to her room. It had been a long day. Kiree hadn't returned and probably wouldn't for a while yet. Jarius had left for the night and Gabriel had gone hunting. The house seemed too big, but she didn't want to go anywhere else. "I'm sorry to have scared you earlier."
Alexia jumped at that. Someone was laying across her bed. "Who are you?"
The man rolled onto his back and looked at her upside down. A goofy grin spread across his face. "Donnovan," he answered happily. "And I am at your service, lovely lady."
She had to look again to be sure. All the pain from earlier seemed to have vanished. It was creepy. "Yeah. Um. Can I help you?"
"Yes, yes you can," he said. With a bounce he was right side up and sitting on the edge of the bed facing her with his auburn curls falling in front of his eyes. "I am looking for Kaitlyn. My beloved Kaitlyn. Do you know where she is?" His manner was almost childlike. "We were separated once, and I seem to have lost her."
"If you stick around for a while, I'm sure that she'll be by soon," Alexia told him.
"Who are you talking to up there?" Gabriel called from downstairs. His tread was heavy on the stairs.
Alexia went to the door and smiled. "Hey! Come on up. Donnovan and I were talking about Kaeli." As she said that, she turned to find her bed empty. "Donnovan?" She asked. There was no reply, he was gone.
"Honey, there's nobody here," Gabriel said, entering the room.
"Well, he was..." She trailed off. She wasn't imagining him, was she? "I promise you, he was here. At least, someone was here. I am not going insane!" She almost yelled the last words. There had to be an explanation!
Gabriel went to the bed and motioned for her to sit with him. Alexia was to irritated to sit, so she paced the length of the room. "I don't know what is going on, but I swear that there is some guy who's been showing up apparently only when I am alone. He said that his name is Donnovan and he looks a hell of a lot like the guy from my dreams that Kiree says actually happened. Now, if he is the same Donnovan that Kaeli was married to, then how did he survive that fire?" She stopped pacing long enough to face Gabriel. "Can a shape shifter survive a fire?"
"I don't know. I don't think so," he shrugged. "Besides, no shape shifter can disappear that fast unless he's hiding in the room somewhere. And, if I'm not mistaken, most shape shifters take on large animals. If he wasn't already vampiric when the fire broke out, then he is now."
"Oh-ho! Pretty boy figured it out!" Donnovan exclaimed. He had appeared in a corner and was doing a one-armed handstand. He waggled his fingers at Alexia before walking halfway across the room on his hands and executing a front handspring. He now stood mere inches from Alexia. "Vampire I be. Vampire he be. And soon, vampire you be," he cackled.
Alexia rolled her eyes. She was beginning to think that this guy had a few screws loose. "Crazy, you think? Maybe so," he said. A moment later he was behind Gabriel. "Boo!" Then, he was gone.
"What was that?" Gabriel asked, looking around the room to see if their visitor was truly gone.
"That was Donnovan."
"Well. He seems...."
"Hyperactive?"
"I was going to say insane, but hyperactive works too."
The sisters wander through the remains of their home. Some of the mess has been cleared, but there is still much to do. Karianna makes her way as far up the stairs as she can. The way is blocked, but she manages to find enough space to squeeze through. Even though she knows that there is no hope, she has to check to see if her husband and children may still be alive. She finds an alcove that survived the collapse. It appears empty. Something catches her eye as she turns to leave. At the very edge of the alcove a rag doll lies in a jumble where it was thrown. Karianna instantly recognizes it as her youngest daughter's favorite plaything. She falls the floor with a sob, clutching the doll to her chest. Kaitlin comes up the stairs to find Karianna. She sits beside her sister and outs an arm around her shaking shoulders. There are no words to heal the grief, only tears. It is nearly dark before they emerge from the remains of home. Hand-in-hand, they walk together into the coming darkness and never look back. Neither speaks of it. The go on with new lives, pretending that nothing ever happened.
Years later, a dank alley in an unsleeping quarter of the city. All around, whores ply their wares. The cries of their pimps find their way to the figure in the dark. A patron drags his entertainment into the same alley. A few grunts later, a slap resounds from the stone blocks and wooden supports of the surrounding buildings. "How dare you!" The hooker cries, shoving her skirts back into place and storming back out into the street. The man follows after making himself presentable. Karianna watches the episode without comment. She is afraid of the man who was following her earlier that day. She stands from her hiding place, determined. Even if he is waiting, there are enough people about that he shouldn't bother her. Only a few steps from the alley, a hand grabs her. "Karianna! There you are!" Kaitlyn exclaims. "I've been looking for you all day."
Karianna relaxes and allows her sister to pull her into an inn where they find food. Their money is running out, but they refuse to think about that until forced to. They chat idly while they drink bad ale and eat the stew provided. It isn't the best in the world, but they've eaten worse. While the girls eat, someone comes up behind Karianna. "Come with me and my friends won't harm your lovely sister there," he says into her ear. Kaitlyn looks up to see Karianna pale with fear. "I'll be right back," Karianna tells her sister, although she doesn't believe it. She follows the man upstairs to one of the cheaply rented rooms above the common room. It is the same man from earlier. Karianna knows what he wants. She thinks that perhaps ending it all would be a kindness. The man closes the door to his room and shoves her onto the bed. Before anything else happens, he is thrown into the wall. His head encounters a support beam with a sick thud and he does not rise. Karianna looks to the newcomer. He is tall, dark, and handsome. "People like that don't deserve the life that God has given them," he says to her. His accent marks him as foreign, but she can't place it. "M'lady," he offers his arm to help her up.
"May I have the name of my savior, good sir?" Karianna asks as he escorts her out of the room and they start down the stairs.
He smiles down at her. "My name is Tristin," he replies.
They return to the table where Kaitlyn is waiting patiently. Karianna introduces Tristin, and they spend the rest of the night in pleasant conversation. It is decided that Tristin will accompany them for a while. He is wealthy, and traveling will be easier. Also, he has taken a liking to the girls already and would like to see that they are well taken care of.
"Good morning!"
Alexia started at the loud voice in her ear and nearly fell out of the bed. If it hadn't been for Gabriel's arm, she would have. She opened her eyes to find Donnovan centimeters from her face. She screamed, waking Gabriel.
"Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean to startle you. Only, it is such a beautiful day I thought that it would be a shame to allow you to waste it sleeping. Rise and shine!" Donnovan prattles as he backed up and bumped into her vanity, causing her mascara and eyeliner to roll off the top to stop at the base of her bookcase. He did manage to catch the bottle of perfume that fell from its perch before it shattered on the floor.
Gabriel glared at Donnovan. "You really can't be that dumb," he growled.
Before Donnovan could formulate a cheeky reply, Kiree came into the room. "What is all that racket?" She exclaimed.
Donnovan turned to face her and launched himself at her, wrapping his body around hers in a bear hug. "Karianna! I've missed you so much! Oh! Kari!"
Alexia had to laugh as Kiree disengaged herself and stepped back from her attacker. Kiree looked from his overly-excited face to where Alexia and Gabriel were still lying in the bed. "Alexia, who is that?" She asked.
Alexia could hear the forced calm in her voice. "Donnovan."
"Kari, you don't remember me?" Donnovan whined melodramatically. He spun about and flopped onto the floor. "Oh, that hurts! My heart, it's broken!"
"You have got to be kidding," Kiree said dryly. "The Donnovan I knew had more sense than that."
Alexia disentangled herself from the bed and sat up, watching Donnovan out of the corner of her eye. "That's who he says that he is. He does look remarkably like the man from my dreams."
"Wonderful," Kiree replied.
"Isn't it?" Donnovan bounded back to Kiree's side. Alexia noticed that he obviously missed Kiree's sarcasm. She laughed as Donnovan tried to put his arm around Kiree's shoulders and Kiree sidestepped to avoid it.
"I'll go find Kaeli," Kiree announced and fled.
Alexia continued to laugh. "What's so funny?" Donnovan asked, again oblivious.
End Part II
I hope you like it again. And as always, I'm not too good to beg for reviews. So, please, click on that little blue button in the bottom left corner. I know you see it!
