A/N: I'm only having an author's note at the beginning because adalon says so… and because when I say 24 hours earlier… I mean 24 hours earlier than chapter 19… ok have fun Bye… oh and I never thought of A New Friend… well I did, but my muse said I needed more funnies in this chappie.
Chapter 20: A New Friend
24 Hours Earlier
Elyse, Corrine, and JJ were transported to a deserted location. Elyse believed they were still in Budapest, but somewhere far from the city. They were somewhere far from Michael's apartment, from the CIA, and from Bryant. Unfortunately, from the little landscape that she saw, they could just as well be in Germany. The car they drove in had no windows, that making it impossible to decipher the way.
They were taken to a small town house. Elyse sincerely hoped that the guy named Adam went to search for Michael. If Michael was in fact a werewolf, or vampyre, surly he would find a way to get them out of here.
The three girls were chained against the wall of a very desolate looking room. The only furnishing in the room was two small cabinets and the silver shackles latched onto the wall. The door, however, was made of solid silver. Why the hell would you make a door out of silver? Elyse wondered. The chains gave just enough length so they could barely stand.
As Alexander locked Corrine's chains, she shot at him, "What gives with the old shackles?"
Alexander looked up deep into her eyes and smiled, flashing brilliant white teeth. "We've been doing this since we were born. I'm sorry I have to put you in these. They're very uncomfortable." At least he seemed sincere.
"You bet your ass they're uncomfortable." Corrine grumbled and tried moving her wrists, but failed miserably. "You would think since we complied without a fight, that they would make these things loose. It's not like we could get out anyways."
"Sorry," Alexander apologized again.
At that moment, the other mysterious man from Michael's apartment walked in. He was accompanied by two burley-built men dressed in the same fine silk as he was. Corrine felt Alexander stiffen involuntarily as he got up to meet the new arrival. "Alright Jonathan. I did what you asked. Now where is my sister?"
The man, presumably named Jonathan, inched closer to Alexander. "Are you sure you want her? You could be a formidable asset to this alliance."
"This isn't an alliance." Alexander growled angrily. "You have my sister. I came and helped you so I could get her back. It was blackmail, and, at best, a business exchange. My services for my sister."
"Right you are. So then you'll know very well how some business, how should I put this," Jonathan paused, "Can go very, very wrong."
Alexander moved in a flash. His hand gripped Jonathan's collar threateningly, and lifted the man up several inches in the air. Comically, it reminded Elyse of Darth Vader. "Where is she?" Alexander said through clenched teeth.
"Right here." Jonathan said with a smirk and signaled to, what Corrine thought of as, one of the heavies. The hefty man moved to the side of the room and flicked a switch similar to a normal light switch. The middle of an empty, unpainted wall slid upwards that made Corrine think of a very bizarre garage door. Inside the opening were black iron gates that opened up as well. Alexander let go of his prey. From Corrine's half-standing point, she couldn't see what was there, but she could guess.
A young girl of about twelve lay on the floor. Corrine knew that she was dead. Alexander ran to her.
Anger surged through him. How could someone do such a thing? A vampyre could, he thought. She was only thirteen. She had had a whole life to live. At least she didn't have a mate. That would have been bad news for everyone. His hands shook as he placed her limp head in his lap. He stroked her forehead as he had done so many times before. He couldn't bear another death and not do anything. He couldn't do it again, not without some sort of revenge.
Alexander whipped around and stared straight into Jonathan's eyes. His cold dark eyes. Jonathan gave a small smile. "Terribly sorry chap." He used his normal, thick British accent. Then he turned around and left. Alexander made his way to the door, but was too late for the steel slammed into his face. He growled loudly, and banged on the door. He knew it was useless, but he couldn't control himself.
He turned to see the three prisoners. They had been dragged into the war because of his stupidity. Sorrow swelled inside him. He walked over to the prisoners. Unfortunately, Jonathan had taken the keys.
"I'm sorry," Alexander choked out.
"Sorry for what?" The blonde one answered bluntly.
"I was so stupid to believe he would have given her back alive." Alexander slammed his curled fist against the wall in anger.
"You tried to save your sister. No one can hold that against you."
"What's your name, young one?" Lycan? Alexander said softly. She reminded him a bit of his own sister.
"Corrine. This is my sister Elyse and a friend, JJ. And I'm not that young."
At this Alexander chuckled. "To me you are."
"What you can only be thirty at the most." Corrine said hotly.
"Try three hundred and sixty seven last week."
Corrine swallowed in shock, "Happy belated birthday." She whispered.
"So you're an immortal?" Elyse said, unlike the others, shock did not cover her face.
"Yes. I'm a lycan." Alexander said politely.
"I see. Mr. Smith will absolutely love this." Elyse said sourly.
"Mr. Smith?" Alexander asked, puzzled.
"I work with a special undercover team for the CIA, Central Intelligence Agency back in the US. About ten years back they recruited me for this classified project. Somehow it involved studying the paranormal. In this case, vampyres and lycans."
"Hmp." Alexander seemed a bit impressed. "And you've learned a lot in those ten years?"
"I guess, but since Viktor's death everyone's working their asses off to see what caused it."
"Selene."
"Who?" Corrine asked.
"Selene, a death dealer killed Viktor. Or I should be saying ex-death dealer."
"His own kin?" Elyse said surprised.
"I shouldn't start there. This whole war started about a thousand years ago, when the lycans were servants of the vampyres. We were called Daylight Guardians, or at least that was what Lucian called us. For almost four hundred years, we tried to fight back, but let's just say we had our own quarrels to deal with on top of it all. Lucian, a lycan servant at the time, fell in love with his master's daughter, Sonja. They both were in love. Viktor, her father, found out and forbid her to see him. She didn't listen, and one day she got pregnant," he made it sound so casual, but it was just past, nothing new. "Viktor, by this time, was thoroughly pissed and ordered her to be executed by sunlight, the worst and most disgraceful punishment a vampire can suffer. Worst of all, he made Lucian watch her burn to ashes, and made the rest of the lycan brethren watch their brother in pain."
"That's disgusting."
"Yeah, so I've heard. Well, by then, all the lycans were united for one cause. You see, Sonja had carried the child of a lycan. Therefore, it would have been the first hybrid. Hundreds of years living like immortals, and there was still more to it than vampyres and lycans. Well one night Viktor came to Lucian and told him of the child he already knew about. That was Viktor's way to torture him. Not only physically, but emotionally. Lucian saw the full moon and transformed, to be blunt about it."
"So ever since then, you've been at war."
Alexander nodded sadly, "You know, the funny part is that there are less than a handful of vampyres who know the reason of the war. Death Dealers just fight in it. They are without a cause, killing us at random, for no reason. Then Selene, ah, one of the most feared Death Dealers to us lycans, found out what really happened to her family. She had a reason to fight in the war. Revenge for her family's death. You see we didn't kill her family. We don't gorge ourselves in humans… most of the time, but Viktor told her otherwise. She found out that it really was him, and she killed him for it."
The three girls looked at him a bit stunned.
"Well that and Michael, but she won't admit that."
"Michael?" Elyse said waking from her trance, "Michael Corvin?"
Alexander wasn't able to answer that question for the silver door was opening. Two of the vampyres walked in formally, and Corrine saw Alexander's muscles tense, preparing to fight. Unfortunately before he could stand one of the men shot Alexander. Corrine screamed for him. Jonathan walked through, smiling at Alexander as he passed by him. He unlocked Elyse chains and lifted her up. "Corvin huh?" He said with a huge grin. "We'll see how much Michael likes having a vampyre for a sister."
Corrine screamed for her sister, but Elyse couldn't hear because of Jonathan hitting her against the head, making her go unconscious. "Take those bullets out, why don't you, that girl is pissing me off."
Corrine shut her mouth obediently as she watched Jonathan take her sister away. Her gaze left her sister and watched at one of the men took out some equipment and dug out the bullets in Alexander's chest. Corrine couldn't help, but whimper silently.
"Shut up, you damned mortal, he'll be good as new." The vampyre growled out. "I can't say the same for your sister though." They left it at that, leaving the bloody bullets scattered on the floor.
Present
Michael put Selene on the metal bed. When he had returned to the lycan den, Selene had kicked and moaned for him to release her, but the doctor in him wouldn't give in. The lab was definitely an upgrade from Singe's slab of slime. The white paint on the walls were a bit chipped at the edges, as was the rest of the rooms in the new den.
Selene sat up as soon as she was put down on the examination table. Michael caught her mid-way of this action and placed a hand on her chest. She glared coldly at him. Her icy stare had no effect, surprisingly. The ends of Michael's mouth curved upward. The fact that she was so defenseless and unarmed made Michael want to take her right here, right now. He hadn't seen her this alive in so many nights and it was starting to drive him mad. He reminded himself of a little boy, for once he got candy, he would always want more. He wanted to hear her moan underneath him. He wanted to feel her fingers grip for life under him him. He wanted-
"Apologies." Timothy had interrupted his thoughts, "Keith had just come in to rouse me." Timothy still had black boxer shorts and a tight black undershirt on. He looked nothing like his Austrian father, barring the steel gray eyes, but everything else seemed a bit alien. Timothy had wild red hair and his muscles were thick and toned. He looked more like a rabid hunter than a doctor. In fact, he reminded Michael of the lycans' later ancestors from pictures in the books that were on the bookshelf in Michael's room. "Apparently Keith saw you come in and he came for me." He looked a bit irritated, but it was all gone in moments.
Timothy reached for thin rectangular glasses and walked towards Selene. He touched her wrist, and by reflex she pulled it back and stiffened her body to prepare to defend herself.
"I'm not here to hurt you, Selene," Timothy tried. "I became a doctor so I could help people. It just so happens, I am also your enemy. Kind of like Michael," Timothy said ironically and glanced at his leader.
"Michael's not my enemy," Selene blurted out before she could stop the words rushing out of her.
"Isn't he?" Timothy asked with a bemused tone. "So it seems." He spoke more so to himself than to the company. Timothy grinned. "But you learned to trust him. You learned to love him no matter what he is. I hope you can do the same with me." He turned away. Then thought of something, "Minus the whole love thing." His ears turned a slight pink.
Selene listened to him. She didn't have to trust him, but she could at least put her arms down.
"Thank you," Timothy took this as a sign to continue his procedure. He placed warm hands on her cold right wrist. He made the annoying 'hm's' and 'ah's' for a few seconds. Selene felt Michael become impatient next to her. Always in a rush, she thought, and the tips of her mouth curled. His hands played around with her skin stretching and pinching it. She felt like she was getting some bizarre massage instead of a check up. She looked up at Timothy as he went through some kind of routine. She watched as his eyes went wide. His eyes tried to go back to normal without notice, but Selene caught him. He turned away to one of the cabinets, and pulled something out. He tossed it to Selene, who caught it in mid-air. Blood.
Selene was speechless. She knew this wouldn't be the cloned blood she was used to. No, this would be real blood. Probably from a vampyre on top of that! How disgusting! Revolted, she put the blood back on a small work table next to the white-sheeted bed.
Timothy looked up from his book he was drowning himself in and made an amused face, "Drink Selene. You've lost a lot of blood."
"I don't particularly like drinking from someone I may have known," She said sarcastically, but her face seemed to go a bit whiter, if possible.
This comment made Timothy grin again. "You may look at us like we're some kind of animal," Timothy walked over to her from the desk, "But we're not. I assure you."
"Really?" Selene said dryly.
Timothy ignored the ruse remark and looked at Michael. "Ever wondered where donated blood goes?"
Michael frowned, but he seemed to have a distant, delighted face. "Yeah, the nurses were extremely superstitious. They thought vampyres took the blood."
"Not so far from the truth." Timothy shared a smile. "No, we're not rich enough to make our own blood." Selene thought he was trying to mock her kin, but he showed no signs of such emotion. "So in other words, it is human blood, but you're good."
Selene looked at the blood bag again. Her hand reached for it cautiously as if it were a snake and was unsure if it was dead or not. She slowly bit into the bag and drank. The blood tasted metallic and- "Cold!" Selene swallowed a mouthful and grimaced.
"Sorry princess, but that's all we can manage if it isn't alive." Timothy went back to the heavy green book on his desk.
At the word 'princess' Selene's face changed from disgust to anger. It suddenly dawned on her that this is how the lycans lived. They weren't mindless, blood hungry hunters. They didn't live off of humans like as the vampyres were led to believe. As she had been she led to believe. Damn Viktor! She cursed at him silently. She finished the blood bag and knew Timothy was right. For centuries, she had been Viktor's princess. She had been his puppet, Used in an effort to destroy the guilt he felt over killing his daughter. Sonja. She was burned, the highest punishment given to a vampyre, for love. She loved a lycan. He killed his own daughter because of a lycan. Because of Lucian. Because of Charli.
Selene's thoughts were broken when a sharp pain pierced her skin. She let out a sharp gasp as Timothy drew blood just above the crook in her right arm. She looked at Michael. His eyes didn't seem to move from her, which made her somewhat uncomfortable.
"Well." Timothy once again interrupted her thoughts. It was becoming an exasperating habit. "I'll check your blood, and research it."
"Immortals don't get sick, Timothy." The name felt alien on her tongue.
"I know, Selene." Timothy rolled his eyes. "But whatever was in that bullet made you sick, and we can't have that. Especially if it can be contagious. We can't have the whole pack sick, now, can we?" Timothy smiled. Somehow. Timothy made her feel comfortable in this situation of being the only vampyre in a lycan den. It was almost the same calm feeling she had with Michael.
Timothy gave her leave so he could do some research. Michael almost reached for Selene's hand, but thought better of it. Instead, he beckoned her to follow him through the concrete tunnels.
Now that Selene was out of the lab, her thoughts went to something else. Michael probably had a few questions as to why she left the den. How would she explain it? He had to know. It's partly his fault. She accused, but the scent was real. What the hell was she going to now? That scent wasn't just a vampyre or a lycan, it was both. And the only way that could happen is…
"This is where you've been sleeping the past few days." Michael opened a door. It was the only door she had seen since they made a left turn some ten minutes ago.
Selene gave a quick nod of acknowledgement and walked into the room. She remembered that cold night where she woke, up only to puke from the disgusting candle smell, and then realize that she had been carrying…
"Um, Selene." Selene looked up realizing she had been standing still with Michael looking at her. She expected the questions. Bring 'em on.
"I talked to Keith while you were… unconscious. He says that the lycans had somewhat of a safe house as well. He says there's one in the states. If you want to leave… you can. I won't stop you."
"What?" Selene's eyes went wide in shock. She had expected questions, but not this. "Michael, what are you talking about."
Michael went on, "Well you left, and I thought it was because I brought you to a lycan den." Michael took his eyes away from her, which made her feel tense. "And I completely understand," Michael said, rushed. "I'll take care of Timothy and this bullet thing."
"Michael," Selene spoke his name softly. "I don't need you to protect me."
"I'm not. I'm giving you a way out of this war. Out of this life." Michael still felt Selene's feelings, thoughts, emotions. He knew that this was her life, and she hated it, but it was all she knew. He wanted to give her something better than what Viktor offered her.
"I don't need a way out of this war." Selene said stubbornly. "It's all I know, Michael," she whispered.
"I know." Michael said sadly. "So did you, did you want to go back?"
"Back where?" She said half confused.
"Ordoghaz." Michael looked down.
"No!" Selene said a bit more quickly then she would have liked. "I like being here," she said embarrassed, "With you." Where the hell did that come from? She knew it all along. She knew her feelings. She had been afraid to show them. This is what started the war. The forbidden love that went on between Sonja and Lucian.
"Selene," Michael said huskily."I'm sorry I left." She had to tell him what she really felt. It was a need that was deep down inside of herm and she couldn't hold it inside anymore. She didn't want to tell him about it. She didn't want it even to be mentioned.
Michael stepped closer to her. All these thoughts running through his head made him so confused, but he looked deep into Selene's eyes and he found a serenity that he never saw in anyone. Why had she left? What did the bullet do to her? Did she actually care for Michael as much as he hoped? The last one he could answer. It was obvious she felt something, but there were more concerning questions running through his head. What would she do if he stepped even closer? What would she do if he kissed her? If she fought back, would he stop? At their closeness, he didn't know if he could control his emotions now.
He put a clammy hand on her pale cheek. He heard her heart skip a beat. He leaned forward and pressed his warm lips against her cold ones. He craved the coldness. He hungered for her lips. He yearned for her body.
She responded with the same longing. Michael's hand drifted to the back her leather suit. He fumbled a bit with the leather laces. Selene leaned in for her own kiss as he undressed her. Michael carried her to the bed. He practically tore off his sweats and shirt. He pressed himself against her. Just looking at her lying naked on the bed aroused him. Selene let out an uncontrollable moan.
She gasped as he entered her. A warm feeling flowed through her. This was the only time she ever felt warm, even when she was against Michael's body.
The only time she was ever warm…A/N: So I thought I may leave off there. On a good note… oh I can't wait for the next chapter… I've got such a mean cliffy for you all…. Oh and sorry about the whole "24 hours earlier thing. I posted chapter 19 without telling everyone what happened… my bad…Oh and this story is going to last forever and ever and ever and ever echo's away and moose looks sad about it well she is sad about it… I do have other fics you know?
Sorry I couldn't post this earlier… I've been in Mexico… but now school starting, so you need not worry about it! Eternal life will go on stands in a super hero position
"And CUT!" man in director's chair yells.
