Part 2
The wait was always the hardest part. It was one thing adjusting to a new life, it was another thing gaining the memories of an Old Soul, and the most difficult part was the anticipation of the contact from the love of her life.
Though in this particular life, Pandora had run into some unexpected luck. By some unknown means, she had managed to be a born vampire, a Night World lamia. The downside of that meant she would no longer be reborn. Vampires were not Old Souls. She had heard that somewhere, in this life or another Pandora wasn't really too sure, but that was the truth. It didn't matter anyway.
She would miss being new people in different lives. She had been everything from the daughter to an Ancient Roman emperor, to a slave on a pirate ship, to a starving artist in Paris, to an actress in India. She had even had one life where she had drowned on the Titanic.
The bonus part of the being a vampire - was of course, she would live forever, as a Night Person. Her lover, an ancient vampire named Drayton, would find her shortly, and this time there would be no secrets, no scandals. There would be none of that forbidden love crap, no Council to avoid. They could finally, truly, be with each other forever.
Other Night World contacts they had made in Pandora's past lives were helping them get together. Most of hers were through Circle Daybreak, the people eager to get the species together no matter what they were. Drayton had always been a little reluctant to trust them, Pandora had never quite understood the reasons behind that.
Presently, she was sitting in a café/bookstore combination waiting for one of her Daybreak friends to get her the information she had been aching to hear ever since recovering her memories two months ago.
She was too keyed up and excited to read the book she had brought with her. Her concentration only wanted to focus on Drayton and where he might be this time round.
"Have I got news for you."
Pandora looked up, smiling at the speaker, a girl with magenta coloured hair, who walked quickly and confidently over to Pandora's table. "Well?" Pandora put the book aside.
"Eva dumped Max."
Pandora's eyes rolled. Gossip was not what she wanted to hear right now. Before her memories had resurfaced, she'd have been screaming for joy to hear that Max had /finally/ come to his senses and dumped Eva who was one of those annoying perfect and perky cheerleader types Pandora despised.
"That's /not/ what I want to hear about Ripley, and you know it," she whined.
"Really?" Ripley chuckled, sitting down and crossing her black spandex clad legs at the knees. "You and Max have been friends since you were, like, kids, right?"
"You're deliberately stalling! Come on, I'm /dying/ here."
Ripley smiled. "Here's currently in a place called Snakeskin, Texas," she told Pandora. "We've also found a Daybreak foster family for you to move in with there. There's a safehouse too."
Pandora's parents had died when she was young, she had been moving around with various Daybreak foster parents ever since. Now, it looked like it was going to work in her favour. She hadn't really minded, all the people had been typically Daybreak super-nice and everything, she wasn't too keen on moving every year or so. Hopefully this would be the last time that happened. "When do I go?"
"Tomorrow morning."
Ripley stood. "Yep. I gotta go, I've got a job to do. Good luck." She waved, and jogged away.
Pandora grinned, draining the last of the diet Coke with ice and lemon she had ordered earlier. A cold hand on her shoulder made her jump. She looked up into the model perfect face of a beautiful girl dressed in a designer white suit. Lilac coloured hair framed her stunning features. Crimson lips were curved in a strange smile.
Pandora frowned. "Is there something you want, Mercedes?"
"Just to point out something." The tone of the girl's cultured British voice sent a chill down Pandora's spine. It wasn't the accent, that didn't bother her, usually she loved the sound of a British voice, it was something about /Mercedes/ that she couldn't understand. She didn't know why the other girl apparently hated her.
"What point?" Pandora asked. Her shoulder was starting to ache under Mercedes' vice-like grip. Like her, the other girl was also a lamia.
"You might be on top of the world right now," Mercedes said, "but at some point sooner or later, that luck will run out." She let go and sauntered off towards the coffee shop counter, leaving Pandora cold.
* * *
The wait was always the hardest part. It was one thing adjusting to a new life, it was another thing gaining the memories of an Old Soul, and the most difficult part was the anticipation of the contact from the love of her life.
Though in this particular life, Pandora had run into some unexpected luck. By some unknown means, she had managed to be a born vampire, a Night World lamia. The downside of that meant she would no longer be reborn. Vampires were not Old Souls. She had heard that somewhere, in this life or another Pandora wasn't really too sure, but that was the truth. It didn't matter anyway.
She would miss being new people in different lives. She had been everything from the daughter to an Ancient Roman emperor, to a slave on a pirate ship, to a starving artist in Paris, to an actress in India. She had even had one life where she had drowned on the Titanic.
The bonus part of the being a vampire - was of course, she would live forever, as a Night Person. Her lover, an ancient vampire named Drayton, would find her shortly, and this time there would be no secrets, no scandals. There would be none of that forbidden love crap, no Council to avoid. They could finally, truly, be with each other forever.
Other Night World contacts they had made in Pandora's past lives were helping them get together. Most of hers were through Circle Daybreak, the people eager to get the species together no matter what they were. Drayton had always been a little reluctant to trust them, Pandora had never quite understood the reasons behind that.
Presently, she was sitting in a café/bookstore combination waiting for one of her Daybreak friends to get her the information she had been aching to hear ever since recovering her memories two months ago.
She was too keyed up and excited to read the book she had brought with her. Her concentration only wanted to focus on Drayton and where he might be this time round.
"Have I got news for you."
Pandora looked up, smiling at the speaker, a girl with magenta coloured hair, who walked quickly and confidently over to Pandora's table. "Well?" Pandora put the book aside.
"Eva dumped Max."
Pandora's eyes rolled. Gossip was not what she wanted to hear right now. Before her memories had resurfaced, she'd have been screaming for joy to hear that Max had /finally/ come to his senses and dumped Eva who was one of those annoying perfect and perky cheerleader types Pandora despised.
"That's /not/ what I want to hear about Ripley, and you know it," she whined.
"Really?" Ripley chuckled, sitting down and crossing her black spandex clad legs at the knees. "You and Max have been friends since you were, like, kids, right?"
"You're deliberately stalling! Come on, I'm /dying/ here."
Ripley smiled. "Here's currently in a place called Snakeskin, Texas," she told Pandora. "We've also found a Daybreak foster family for you to move in with there. There's a safehouse too."
Pandora's parents had died when she was young, she had been moving around with various Daybreak foster parents ever since. Now, it looked like it was going to work in her favour. She hadn't really minded, all the people had been typically Daybreak super-nice and everything, she wasn't too keen on moving every year or so. Hopefully this would be the last time that happened. "When do I go?"
"Tomorrow morning."
Ripley stood. "Yep. I gotta go, I've got a job to do. Good luck." She waved, and jogged away.
Pandora grinned, draining the last of the diet Coke with ice and lemon she had ordered earlier. A cold hand on her shoulder made her jump. She looked up into the model perfect face of a beautiful girl dressed in a designer white suit. Lilac coloured hair framed her stunning features. Crimson lips were curved in a strange smile.
Pandora frowned. "Is there something you want, Mercedes?"
"Just to point out something." The tone of the girl's cultured British voice sent a chill down Pandora's spine. It wasn't the accent, that didn't bother her, usually she loved the sound of a British voice, it was something about /Mercedes/ that she couldn't understand. She didn't know why the other girl apparently hated her.
"What point?" Pandora asked. Her shoulder was starting to ache under Mercedes' vice-like grip. Like her, the other girl was also a lamia.
"You might be on top of the world right now," Mercedes said, "but at some point sooner or later, that luck will run out." She let go and sauntered off towards the coffee shop counter, leaving Pandora cold.
* * *