Well. It's been a year. Recently I recieved an email asking me to post what I had, since it is widely known that I was working on a sequel, but not when it would be out. Well, the truth of the matter is I had stopped working on the sequel a long time ago. This email got me looking at what I had and I realized I could end it relatively quick. I'm sorry to disappoint so many of you, but this will only be a few chapters long.

The good news is that I'm writing another fanfic for Companions of the Night. I'm not making any promises, but I can assure you that I love this book more than anything, despite the fact I'm probably too old for it. So enjoy.

Michel chortled endearingly, not able to wipe the grin off his animatedly charming face, as he grabbed her and pulled her to him on the crest of the cliff. His mouth grazed against hers, and she could feel his smile widen. This was the first time she had seen him express the emotion of joy without the suspicion it was bogus. His arms encircled her waist and he pitched himself backwards, dragging them both into the snow. Her elbow rammed into his gut and he guffawed, rolling so he was on top of her. His knee slid between her thighs and he nibbled slowly on her bottom lip.

She should have seen it coming, but she was more interested in the way her body was reacting to Michel than her surroundings. She ended up with snow melting on her eyelids, stinging her cheeks, and trickling down her collar to saturate the silky lace of her whore-bra. Michel smoothly jumped off her and backed away, his laughter echoing through the mountains. She clumsily staggered to her feet, using a nearby tree for support while wiping snow from her face. She tried to feel infuriated with him for scooping snow on her, but the best she could do was a half-assed glare, which made him laugh harder and taunt her.

She took a step towards him, planning on attempting to tackle him to the ground; yet knowing he could easily move out of the way and make her fall face first in the snow. He raised an eyebrow and her foot got caught in something on the ground, probably her other foot, and she stumbled, reaching out blindly for something to hold on to. How she managed to keep herself upright was nothing short of a miracle, and the blessing didn't stop there. She had grabbed a tree branch directly overhead and the force of her jar had caused snow to tumble down over an unsuspecting Michel.

He coughed, sputtered, became sober for one moment then started grinning again. "I never thought you'd manage to retaliate." He shook the sweater he was wearing to dislodge any snow. She figured if any touched his skin it probably wouldn't melt. She found her theory wrong as a trickle slithered from his unruly hair into his eyes. He caught it in surprise and looked up at her with closed emotions.

She shuffled over to him and coyly licked the drop from his finger. She gasped in surprise as he grabbed her hand and laid it flat against his cheek. "You're burning up!" She yanked the cuff of her coat sleeve up to expose her wrist and touched it to his forehead. The heat radiating from him was enough to warm her wrist in the cold temperature. He swayed on his feet and she slipped her arm around his torso.

"I'm sick." He sounded incredulous. "Merde! How is this possible?" He kicked a fluff of snow and the motion almost upended them.

"We have to get you home." She started to pull him through the woods. Their snowshoes continuously intertwined, almost causing them to fall multiple times. She gritted her teeth and forged ahead, barely aided by the nearly comatose vampire. She reached where the driveway intersected with the forest. Propping him against a maple tree, she promised to be back as soon as possible and hurried towards the cabin.

She barely tottered a few feet when Michel's car came spinning down the snow-covered slope towards her. Snow spewed from beneath the rapidly rotating tires as she bemusedly watched it speed towards her. Her mind yelled for her to move out of the way, but her body was overcome by exhaustion. She began to sway, wondering what was wrong with them both. The car was still speeding as she felt her eyes roll back and lost control of all senses.

Her eyes blinked open to the bright natural light and a snowball hitting her on the arm. She found herself spread on the still warm hood of Michel's car. He was crawling through the snow behind her, calling for her to awake. She felt herself slide from her perch and fall beside him.

"Owww, I feel like crap." She moaned and rubbed a glove-covered hand over her freezing face. Her head lolled to the side and she looked at his upside-down face.

"Jesus, you're alive. I thought you got hit by the car." He said this in a blasé 'I don't really care if the car hit you' kind of way. She hoped he did care, she was the only one standing between him and dying of hyperthermia or something.

"If only I could be so lucky." She rolled over and slowly lurched to her feet. Bracing her hand on the car she pulled Michel up after her. He sat on the hood and panted. Kerry could slowly feel her strength returning, but Michel was looking paler than normal. Since she had previously assumed he couldn't go any more pallid, his color was frightening her. She somehow managed to get them both in the car and it started without any encouragement on her part. It was tempting to just fall asleep and let the car drive, but she watched its progress towards the lodge wearily.

It was worth it to die young if her powers got Michel to safety.

They both managed to stumble into his wood chalet and into the nearest bedroom. Michel fell face-first onto the bed and stopped moving. She managed to crawl from under him after a half-hour or so. Then came the highlight of her life- stripping him out of his wet clothes and down to his boxers. He was still shivering after she managed to maneuver his fine half-naked body under the blankets so she crawled in beside him and fell asleep.

She wasn't sure how long she remained there oblivious to the world, but around noon she awoke to Michel gasping for breath. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head in fear. It was a moment before she sprung into action, wetting a face cloth with warm water and placing it across his chest in an effort to loosen his lungs. Then she went through the medicine cabinets in each bathroom, only to come up empty. She should have known vampires wouldn't need drugs. She couldn't understand why Michel was like this now; the only thing she could figure was it was her fault.

Rummaging through her purse she found a package of Halls. She couldn't see how they could aid him, and figured she'd probably manage to get it lodged in his throat and he'd die of suffocation. It alarmed her to realize he would probably die from lack of air anyway, if she didn't do something. Leaving him was out of the question, so she couldn't drive to the nearest pharmacy. She definitely couldn't bring him to a doctor, even if she thought he would survive being moved. Who knew what kind of medical things about him screamed 'vampire' that only a doctor would notice.

She did what any sane teenager would do under the circumstances- she called home. No one answered the phone and she realized with only two days left until Christmas, they were probably shopping. Infuriated, she lobbed the Halls across the room and it shattered like glass against the oak wall. Hurrying over, she smashed them a few more times for good measure and dissolved the shards in a glass of tepid water. She took a sip herself and grimaced at the strong sweetness of the vapor-action concoction. It managed to clear her lungs, and probably kill all living cells in her body, so she figured it would be perfect for Michel… he didn't have any living cells.

She hurried back to him, pleased with her fast action in saving his life. He was on his side, breathing deeply, but otherwise unhampered. She shrugged, placed the glass on the table next to him, and figured her wet cloth must have worked after all. She took the cloth and placed it on his forehead to bring down the fever. Proud of her multi-purpose accomplishments in the pharmaceutical department, she searched the cupboards once again for food.

Cucumber was still the only thing clinging to the shelves of the fridge, and for a moment she contemplated scraping it off and eating it. Or she could boil it and make soup. She found a telephone book and bribed a fast-food restaurant to bring her food. The teenager on the phone managed to get her up to twenty-five dollars if he could deliver her order within thirty minutes. The ad in the phone book said free delivery, but she was so famished she'd pay him whatever he wanted if he managed to get there before she died of malnutrition.

The boy arrived within the time limit, just as she exited Lestat's room fifty dollars richer. She paid, and he wished a Merry Christmas to her and her family- hoping they enjoyed the meal. Kerry lugged her food to the kitchen table and her eyes brightened at the load of food. She stuffed a piece of pizza in her mouth and took a bite of an egg roll. Washing it all down with a root beer, she took a large mouthful out of one of her burgers.

A few minutes later Michel stumbled into the kitchen and eyed her vastly depleting stock. He snitched a piece of pizza out of her hand and sat beside her, staring at it. After a moment of looking at the dripping grease from all direction, he took a nibble. "Vampires can't eat food. I've always wanted to try pizza, but the smell made me nauseous." He took a larger bite. "I guess this means I'm not a vampire anymore." He stuffed the rest in his mouth and grabbed her root beer to wash it all down. "Mmmmmmmmmm."

He grabbed fries and a box of Chinese rice. She watched wide-eyed as he packed more food into his stomach. Obscured by the table, she unfastened a button on her jeans for extra room and took another piece of pizza. In his haste he accidentally ripped his finger open on the sharp corner of the cardboard takeout box. They both watched bemusedly as a drop of blood dripped to the table and the wound closed over. Before long Kerry could no longer even detect the lesion.

"Well… I'm still a vampire." He nonchalantly wolfed down a burger. "This is great. I can understand why you mortals eat it now."

He paused mid-chew and spit the glob of masticated meat onto the table. Hurrying over to the counter he started regurgitating swallowed food into the sink. Kerry scurried over and scooped his shoulder-length black locks out of his face while trying not to look in his direction. She watched as Lestat sauntered into the room, paused mid-greeting, and looked like he was about to be sick himself.

"For Christ sakes you idiot." Kerry didn't know whom the exclamation was directed towards as Lestat rushed over and turned on the garbage disposal. "You know damn well vampires can't digest food." He grabbed Michel by the head and rammed him into the sharp edge of the counter, probably trying to help him purge the food from his system. Michel moaned in pain and vomited up blood. His discharge finally cleared until it was clear greenish bile.

Kerry yelled for Lestat to stop, but there was no need. The demon was immobile, staring at his best friend in horror. If she hadn't just witnessed Michel heal as usual, Kerry would have insisted they bring the sick vamp to a hospital. Spent, Michel sluggishly wiped his mouth on his sleeve and buckled onto Kerry. She grappled with his inert form for a moment before Lestat seized and dragged him into Michel's bedroom.

He stormed out, grabbed her and violently pulled her into the living room. "What the hell is going on!?!"

"He hasn't been well all day. Since a few minutes after the sun rose on us." Lestat stopped his predatory pacing and stared her down.

Growling, he inquired, "What do you mean? The sun rose on you? I thought you understood what would happen if the sun touched a vampire. It's not possible." His eyes narrowed. "Jesse!"

A few moments later the red-head groggily stepped out the door rubbing her eyes. The mannerisms were a habit from her human life, not due to tiredness. She paused, taking in the sight of Lestat with his face pressed angrily before Kerry's. Kerry was having trouble restraining the tendrils of livid power wafting from inside her brain. She actually could see the wisps of deep scarlet wrath encircling both she and Lestat in a helix.

Jesse pressed her finger and thumb against the inner corner of her eyes and sighed. "So it has started."

©RelenaFanel2005