The smell of fresh coffee filled the hallway nearest the kitchen as Sarah walked up it twenty minutes later, her hair still wet. As she entered the kitchen the smell was even stronger and more inviting. Caryn was just getting up from her spot at the small kitchen table to go pour herself a cup when she sensed Sarah's presence.
"Well good morning Sarah. Your up a bit later than usual, but then I suppose you would be after the fun you had last night. Goddess it sounded like the bed was going to crash through the floor for a while there." Caryn said with a straight face as she filled her mug with coffee.
"Eat shit Caryn." Sarah laughed as she retrieved a mug for herself and filled it with coffee as well. Caryn laughed as she sat back down at the table, Sarah joining her.
"So where is Jessica and Aubrey? In bed I suppose, they have been getting up every morning lately." Sarah asked, sipping the hot coffee, enjoying the taste.
"No acually they went out to buy a Christmas tree. Jessica acually managed to convince Aubrey to get one this year, she said it'll be fun if we could all have an actual Christmas this year. Seeing as neither of us are witches anymore, I think it is a great idea." Caryn answered cheerfully.
"Yeah it is. I've always wanted to have a Christmas tree, maybe we can get Nissa and Christopher to come over for it. I know neither of them have celebrated it in a long time." Sarah replied. It was true, she remembered when she had first started elementary school and all the kids in her class were taking excitedly about Christmas. She remembered the sight of beauty she saw when she went to school one day and saw a beautiful pine standing in the front of the class all decorated with ornaments that clearly were used every year. To her it was breath taking that some holiday could have such a beautiful tradition with it, but when she had gone home and asked her mother if they could get a tree, her mother had shot her request down coldly. He reason was that witches didn't celebrate Christmas, that allowing oneself to get caught up in a human holiday would only make them weaker prey to the vampires. Her thoughts were interupted to the sound of her cellphone ringing from the island. She rushed over to it and answered, not able to determine the callers idenity.
"Hello?" she asked emotionlessly.
"You had better come down to Ash Road Vida. There is a witch here that you may want to say goodbye to before she dies." Said a voice that Sarah did not know. Fear went through her as she thought of the only human she cared about; Adianna. She hung up the phone and tossed it on the island turning to face Caryn, who sensed her fear and anger.
"Who was that?" Caryn asked fearfully, not wanting to know the answer.
"I don't know but Adianna's hurt. I need to go to her." Sarah said, dissapearing. She appeared on Ash Road, using her power to search out the area, there was no trace of any vampires or blood bonded humans. Caryn appeared at her side, her face etched with worry and concern. Sarah could smell Adianna's blood it was strong, she was close. Sarah followed the scent, Caryn behind her and came upon an empty, large, victorian style house. On the front yard was none other than Adianna, who was drenched in her own blood and unconsious. Sarah ran to her side, kneeling down on the ground. Adianna was barely breathing and her throat had been slit, not enough to kill her, but enough to do major damage. Rage filled Sarah as she tried to think of who could have done this, it must have been Kaleo, wanting to get back at her for beating him last night. But he wouldn't do it personally, he knew that she would have known if he had done just that, so instead he talked someone else into doing it, someone who must have been strong to be able to get past Adianna's guard.
"Dear God, this is so..." Caryn started, her words failing her as she fell to her knees beside Sarah.
"Help me, we need to try to save her." Sarah said desperatly as she summoned her power. Caryn stalled for a second before doing so, she knew that had she of been human she would have not been able to heal someone with this much damage but now her magic was twenty times stronger than it was and she knew that she could save her with Sarah's help. An hour had passed as Sarah and Caryn worked effortlessly at trying to heal all of Adianna's wounds, but it seemed that there was still much that could not be healed by magic but by time. They fortunatly however, were able to give her all of the blood she had lost back and did not have to worry about any other options. Sarah had paled even more, she had done most of the returning of the blood as to not wear Caryn out, but was seriously feeling it now. She needed to hunt soon but she couldn't leave until Adianna was safe.
"We need to get her to the house." Sarah said tierdly as she looked over at Caryn.
"Okay let's go before the one who did this comes back. Can you take her without losing control?" Caryn asked serioulsy as they both got to their feet.
"Yes, I will be fine for a bit longer." Sarah replied as she picked Adianna carefully up as she dissapeared with her back to their house, where Sarah placed Adianna on a bed in one of the second floor bedrooms. Caryn checked her over once again, she bandaged some of the cuts and other numerous injuries, and grminly looked back at Sarah.
"When they slit her throat, they damaged her vocal cords. The damage isn't permanent but it will take time to heal, I took her ability to speak so she will not do any worse damage to them when and if she tries to talk. As for everything else, her two ribs that were shattered will need to heal now that we put them back together, there is still several fractures in them that are there. I set her wrist that had been broken in ten places, as well as relocated her shoulder. Fortunatly the only other injuries that we couldn't heal anymore are just some cuts and bruises but compared to the rest they are mild." Caryn explained as she covered Adianna up with the blankets after Sarah had helped her finish dressing her in clean clothes.
"As long as she is alive." Sarah said weakly, she needed to hunt badly now, she was a danger to Adianna if she didn't leave. However, she felt her legs give out on her, her need for blood taking it's toll on her. She felt Caryn catch her and lower her down to the floor, helping her lean up against the bed frame. Sarah could feel Caryn's worry as she sat down next to her.
"Sarah, are you alright, can you hear me?" Caryn asked fearfully, lightly shaking her shoulders. Yeah Sarah could hear her but she didn't have the strength to speak, she did but if she used it she would totally lose control and kill Adianna. She looked over at Caryn her eyes telling her what she need to know. Without a word or motion to suggest what she was thinking, Caryn revealed her neck and slit it with the scissors she had on the bedside table. She brought Sarah to the cut, allowing her to drink from her. Sarah felt Caryn's power sear through her entire body as she drank her blood. There was so much magic in her blood that it almost made Sarah light headed, the blood an unusual combination of vampire and witch. She only needed to drink for several minutes before she was full. She hauled away, licking the blood off of her lips and fangs. The cut on Caryn's neck healed instantly and she wiped her remaining blood off with her fingers, absentmindedly licking them off.
"Thanks Caryn." Sarah said quietly as her fangs dissapeared back up into her gums.
"No problem Sarah, just don't scare me like that again." Caryn replied with a smile as she stood back up on her feet.
"I'm going to go back downstairs and wait till Jessica and Aubrey come home so I can explain the situation. I assume you'll be staying here." Caryn said, heading towards the door.
"Yeah, when you see Christopher, tell him I'm up here." Sarah replied, taking a seat in a chair that she had hauled up beside her sisters bed.
"Sure thing." Caryn answered, dissapearing as she closed the door. Sarah sat in the chair, watching her sister as she slept, the fear that she had felt just a short time before gone. If anything had of happened to her sister and she had died, Sarah knew that she would have torn every vampire hotspot apart with her bare hands till she had found Kaleo. He was lucky, for her sister had lived, whether he had planned for her to do so or not did not matter right then. He had till he next met her to live, for then and only then would she kill him in the most painful way she could. Adianna was the only human she cared for and loved and she was not going to allow anything to happen to her as long as she was still alive. She knew that Adianna was safe here for as long as she needed to be, for Dominique would not go looking for her but just assume that she was off on some chase outside of the country and not injured and currently unconsious in a vampires home. Sarah already knew how precious life was, she had learned that long ago, but it's meaning never really sinks in till you almost lose the life of someone you love. Sarah covered herself up with a blanket, it had been only about two hours since had woke up, but almost losing control had made her irritable in the bright early afternoon sun. She fell into a dreamless sleep, soothed by the rythmic sound of her sister's steady breathing.
Sarah woke suddenly as she felt someone appear by her side, however relaxed when she saw Christophers face. His face was filled with worry as he looked away from her over to Adianna who was still asleep. He cursed under his breath as he looked at all her visible injuries.
"It's things like this that make me ashamed to be what I am." He said softly, turning back to Sarah.
"Yes, but you are not a killer like I am Christopher. This was done by someone who has no love for the beauty of life, you are far from being what that person is." Sarah answered. Christopher looked sternly at her, taking in what she said. His expressioned lightened a bit as he sat down next to Sarah in the armchair, covering himself up with the large blanket.
"How am I different from you, a killer?" Christopher questioned whimsically, looking in directly in the eyes.
"You are caring, gentle, romantic. You do not seek vengence, you were willing to love me even when you knew I was your enemy." Sarah stated, their faces inches apart.
"It seems to me that you are all of those things as well. You risked losing your witch title by be-friending Nissa and myself. You do seek vengence but only with respectable reason to do so." Christopher replied teasingly.
"I am a killer Christopher, how can anything that kills be gentle, caring and romantic?" Sarah asked, her eyebrow arched with curiousity.
"Not all killers are cold and ruthless. You have been taught by those whose line are cursed by love, that has gave you compassion." Christopher answered, his lips brushing up against hers.
"And I wish for you to teach me to do the same as you were taught." he added, lovingly licking her neck.
"Are you sure that you are willing to give up all that you have spent so long becoming accustomed to, just for me?" Sarah replied, growling with pleasure.
"Yes." Christopher said, as he gently kissed her lips. He leaned his forehead up against her's and looked at her black eyes, in marvel of her immortal beauty. Had he needed to breathe, he knew that would be impossible, for just looking at her would have left him breathless. She sat back in the chair with a laugh, looking at him with a look of mischief and seduction. He smiled as he sat back with her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, hauling her close to him.
"You don't need to change how you live on account of me Christopher." Sarah said, snuggling up closer to him.
"But I want to. You hunt differently than either Nikolas, Nissa and I, yet you kill and being a Daughter of Vida do not regret it. You do not kill like Nikolas, I can tell that right now just by being here with you, your not like that." Christopher said, kissing the top of her head. Sarah remained quiet, enjoying the silence of his company. About two hours later their silence was broken by the sound of Jessica and Aubrey crashing into the room. Jessica's face went paler as she saw Adianna, Aubrey fought back rage as he looked at her.
"I trust you will take care of the one who did this justly?" Aubrey asked, fury in his voice.
"Only when we cross paths. Right now my focus is purely on Adianna getting better." Sarah answered calmly.
"Has she woke any yet?" Jessica asked, taking a quick look at some of her injuries.
"No, not yet. She was unconsious when we found her." Sarah answered. Jessica walked over beside Aubrey who was nearly shaking with anger, despite his hatred towards Vida witches. Without a word he disspeared, leaving Jessica standing, her face disgruntled at his sudden absence.
"I'd better go after him before he does something stupid." Jessica said as she too dissapeared.
"I wouldn't think that Aubrey or Jessica would care that much about the welfare of your sister." Christopher said with disbelief.
"They know of the sort of peace treaty my sister and I had between each other. Kind of like what Risika and her brother Alexander have." Sarah answered with a sigh. The sound of movement in the bed caught her attention and both she and Christopher got to their feet. Sarah neared the bed, Christopher stayed behind her, not wanting to startle the hunter anymore than she would be. Her sister was now awake, and became aware of Sarah's presence. Adianna looked up at Sarah's groggily, pain evident on her facial expression. Sarah's still heart ached, Adainna wasn't the one who lost a fight, she wasn't the one that got hurt this bad. However, if it hadn't of been for Sarah, Adianna wouldn't be in this mess.
"Hey Adia, how are you feeling?" Sarah asked quietly, taking her sister's hand in her own. Adianna opened her mouth to talk but no sound came out, fear and frustration filled her face as it became obvious that she was trying to talk, trying to convince her brain that she knew how to do so. With a sigh she gave up, and looked up at Sarah.
"Hey Sarah. I feel like shit but I figure you could have guessed that much." Adianna thought dryly.
"I'm glad your alright Adia." Sarah said softly, brushing a hair out of Adianna's face.
"Where am I?" Adianna thought as she looked at her surroundings, trying to place them with places she had been before.
"In my house. Or well I should say Aubrey and Jessica's house, but this is where I as well as Caryn and those two live." Sarah answered.
"Your in New Mayhem." She added, seeing the confusion on her sisters face.
"What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I talk?" Adianna asked, wincing in pain as she took a deep breath.
"Because your throat was slit last night, among other numerous injuries. Your vocal cords were damaged beyond immediate magical help, so Caryn cut your ability to talk so you won't make the healing even longer and more painful by trying to talk. Fortunatly for you, everyone here can read minds so you won't have to go without the ability to communicate in some way with everyone." Sarah explained softly, giving her sister a small hopeful smile.
"Why did you bring me here?" Adianna asked honestly, meeting her sister's gaze, but breaking it quickly as to not get caught into it.
"Because you are safest here." Sarah answered. Adianna looked past Sarah and noticed Christopher for the first time. Despite how Christopher thought she would act when she first noticed his presence, she never became startled or frightened. She looked at him and then back at Sarah, a deep understanding in her expression.
"So you truely do love him." Adianna thought, a small smile on her face as she tightened her grip on Sarah's hand.
"Yeah I do." Sarah answered, motioning for Christopher to come up beside her. He slowly came over and took Sarah's free hand, making sure to keep his own free hand visible to Adianna so that she would not think he had a weapon.
"Listen, Adianna I want you to know how absolutly sorry I am that this happened to you. It's all my fault and I swear to you that I will make it up to you somehow." Sarah said finally, looking down at the floor in shame and guilt.
"What do you mean Sarah? It's not your fault, I was the one that was out hunting near the area where a bash with Kendra's circuit attending. It's not your fault in anyway." Adianna replied, turning Sarah's face back towards her.
"It is Adia, I got into a fight with Kaleo last night and he lost badly. If it hadn't of been for me he probably wouldn't have ordered one of his lackys to go out and try to kill you. Because of me you almost died." Sarah argued back, anger building up inside of her. Adianna looked at her in disbelief, she was calm and collected still, her Vida training making it hard for her to show any real emotion.
"Sarah that is not it. I was only attacked because I was a Vida and a hunter. There was no other reason." Adianna stated firmly.
"No it is not Adianna! Despite what you want to make me believe, I know the real reason. If it hadn't of been for me Kaleo wouldn't have gone after you, he would have stayed put and told everyone to do the same unless you came inside and attacked. I will kill him Adia for what he did to you the moment I see him, I will not let him off this time." Sarah growled in anger, her eyes almost entirerly black in her rage, her fangs coming down as well. Adianna held her hand against her chin, preventing her from looking away as she looked at her sister's true form.
"Sarah." She thought soothingly, the same way she used to when Sarah lost control of her emotions when she was too young to really be scolded for doing so.
"No Adianna, I don't want you to see me like this." Sarah said, breaking free of her sisters grasp and sat back in the chair, covering her face with her hands as she tried to gain control of her anger.
"Vampire or not, you are still my sister. I don't care if you don't want me to see you like that or not, it's my decision whether I see you as a demon or my little sister, the one that use to run around naked at the age of three, not a care in the world as to who saw her or not." Adianna debated strongly.
"That was before reality came into play, but now I am the very thing that disgraced my own mother into disowning me. You never had her look at you before as if you were vermin, a leech, and not as her own flesh and blood, her own daughter. I'm no longer a Vida Adianna, no matter how much you try to convince yourself that I am. I am not a hunter, I am a vampire. I am not Sarah Tigress Vida, I am Sarah Dakota." Sarah spat, her rage only increasing.
"You are still my sister." Adianna said, tears in her eyes.
"In whose eyes Adia?" Sarah asked, dissapearing before Adianna could say another word. Adianna laid back and closed her eyes, allowing for her own warm, salty tears to stream down her cheeks. Christopher walked over next to her and with a burst of courage, took her hand comfortingly. She opened her eyes, wiping them with her casted hand. She looked up at Christopher, and their eyes locked, understanding with each other. Christopher knew that Adianna could tell that Sarah had left the house altogether, most likely went to Los Noches in hopes of seeing Kaleo there so she could pummel him to a bloody pulp before making the killing strike.
"She will be alright Adianna, just give her time." Christopher said quietly.
"Why did my seeing her like that bother her so much?" Adianna asked, her face filled with sorrow.
"Because she knows what you think of our kind. She knows that even though you still see her as your little sister, you cannot look past the black eyes, fangs and her vampiric aura. You see her as a killer whether you want to or not, it's who you are, but the killer part of her is who she is now." Christopher answered meaningfully.
"I'm worried about her." Adianna admitted.
"Don't worry, I'll send Nissa after her. She will talk to her, and when she comes back Caryn, Aubrey and Jessica will to talk to her as well." Christopher said, tightening his grip on her hand slightly, weary to not cause her anymore pain. Adianna looked at him once more, before closing her eyes and letting herself be engulfed in memories.