I do not own…
Days had come and gone since Vlad saved Sophia and her ankle had healed since.
Sadly her memory hasn't.
They had tried everything to help her with her memory lost but nothing seemed to work. Vlad wanted to try his power on her but Eileen warned him that it might damage her brain even more, so that was out. So today he and Alice took her and Chris back to where she was before she fell and see if it could bring back any memory.
"Now Sophia, does this area seem familiar to you?" He asked
The young girl looked around with a frown and shook her head.
"It's okay, sweetie. It'll come to you when the time comes." Alice smiled and patted her head.
Sophia smiled up at her. She liked Alice. The woman was very sweet to her, brave and made the girl feel safe. Both Alice and Vlad had been kind to her since she met them. They had looked after her like she was one of their own and that made Sophia happy.
"Mom. Dad. I think I found her tracks." Chris said as he crouched to the ground.
Alice and Vlad looked at the ground and saw what Chris was pointing at. The prints were a few days old but they were still good.
"That's my boy." Vlad smiled in pride as he ruffled Chris's hair.
"We can follow her tracks and they may be able to lead us to her family." Alice said "You think you can track them Chris?"
Chris nodded and took the lead. Daryl and Merle had been taking him hunting with them since he was three so he was a pro at tracking. Alice took Sophia's hand and they followed after Vlad and Chris. They walked through the woods for about five minutes till they reached a small river.
"The tracks end here. I think she must have stayed in the shallow end of the water cause I don't see any more tracks." Chris said
"Vlad, do you see anything?" Alice asked
Vlad looked through the trees for miles but found nothing.
"Nothing for miles, love." He said "But at least we got a lead and we can map it out."
They were interrupted when they heard splashing and turned to see Chris digging in the water. When he got up he held up a frog and placed it in a sack that he brought.
"What are you doing?" Sophia laughed
"Catching frogs. This place is full of them. They're good eaten too." Chris said
He spotted another one and with fast reflexives he snatched two more.
"Cool. Can you teach me how to do that?" She asked
"Sure. All you have to do is catch them as fast as you can." Chris smiled and then caught another one.
Sophia spotted one and tried to catch it but it got away from her and she got all muddy.
"That's a good idea. The mud will distract them from our scent." Chris smiled as he started placing mud over him.
"Chris, no…" Alice groaned, not wanting the kids to get all dirty.
"Love, let them have their fun. It's been a while since they laughed like this" Vlad said as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "See."
They watched as Sophia and Chris continued catching frogs as they laughed in enjoyment. Then Sophia cried in victory as she finally caught one. She placed it in Chris's sack and continued on catching another one. As Alice watched the kids with joy Vlad looked at her with a mischief smirk on his face and he quickly lifted her up, bridal style.
"Vlad what hell are you doing?" Alice gasped
"Having fun." He said with an amuse smirked
"Don't you dare!" She yelled
It was too late and he threw her in the deep end of the river. She gasped for air before cursing at him.
"Oh what language you have my love. How did that dip feel?" He smirked
She glared at him as she swam up and tried to pull him in but he wasn't giving up without a fight.
"Help mommy, kids." She said
"They won't help you." He laughed
Laughter was heard behind before he felt something jump on his back and waist.
"Traitors." He laughed
With all her strength she was able to pull him in the water along with the children. The next thing they knew a splash fight started between the boys and the girls. They were having the time of their lives that they forgot about what they were doing. An hour later they were walking back to the bass so they could dry up in the Georgia heat.
"Well that's one way to get them clean." Vlad grinned
"And you had to throw me in there?" She glared
"You enjoyed it, don't lie." He whispered in her ear.
She scoffed but couldn't hold back a smirk.
"How many frogs did you two catch." Vlad asked the kids.
Chris stopped to take a look inside the sack.
"Maybe about two dozen." He said
"That's my little hunter. Sophia, you did a good job too." Alice said "Looks like we're having frogs' cajun style tonight."
"Yum!" Chris smiled, pumping his fist in the air.
Alice and Vlad laughed.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
After the group's Cajun feast it was time to place the children to bed. Alice tucked Chris in his batman sleeping bag that they found and placed his batman toy in his arms.
"Night baby." She said, kissing his head.
"Good night, mom." He muttered in his sleep.
Then she turned to Sophia who was right next to Chris tucked in her sleeping bag.
"Did you have today?" She asked
"Yeah, it was great." Sophia smiled
"That's good. How about tomorrow I teach you how to track and then show you how to use a bow to hunt. Would you like that?" Alice asked
She nodded and brushed Sophia's hair out of her face with a smile.
"Then we'll start after breakfast okay." She said and kissed her head. "Good night."
"Night." Sophia said and closed her eyes.
Alice shut the door behind her before clenching her throat as her thirst started to reach up. It took all of her strength to not attack the children and she was very proud of herself. She hurried out of the house and once she was outside she formed into a swarm of bats like Vlad taught her and flew in the woods. Vlad saw her and asked Morgan to watch the children as he followed after his mate. They flew in the air till they smelled the scent of humans nearby. They went down, turning into their human form and watched their prey. The people were a gang of men and what they were doing made their blood boil in rage. They were taking turns in raping two young girls while they made their father watch. Not able to hold back their rage they attacked the men with quick speed. Taking one man at a time and dragging them in the woods. They screamed in terror as the two vampires took their lives. Some ran away, scared as hell, while some stayed behind trying to shoot them but the couple were too fast and killed them.
The father and the two girls huddling together scared to even move looked around them waiting. Wondering if they were going to be next. So far, nothing had come for them so they quickly grabbed their stuff and hurried out of there. One of the girls looked back at the woods thinking that she saw two figures in the darkness with red eyes. They stepped back into the darkness so they couldn't be seen. When the girl's father called her she hurried back to them before whispering 'thank you' to them before leaving.
Vlad finished the last drop of the man's blood before dropping him to the ground and crushed his skull. He looked up to see that Alice, who was still feasting on her seventh human. Well she was feeding for two so he didn't see anything wrong with that. It was when she was done she started bashing the mans' head to the ground over and over till his skull was all over the place. Vlad saw the anger in her eyes as she continued bashing the others in rage and hurried to her side. He grabbed her by the arms and held her in a tight hug as she struggled to break loose.
"They were just teenagers. Teenagers! And they raped them! They don't deserve to live! I want to hunt them all down and kill them." She growled
"I know, love, I know." He said "We'll hunt them down tomorrow, I promised. Let's let them fear us for now."
After taking a few deep breaths Alice was able to calm herself down and look up at him.
"I can't, I promised Sophia that I'll teach her how to track and hunt tomorrow. I never break a promise, Vlad." She said
Vlad smiled. "I know you never do." He kissed her forehead. "I'll hunt them down for you."
They made it back to the base and while Alice went to sleep Vlad told them what had happened. Everyone was in rage and disgust at what those men did.
"I'm going to hunt them down tomorrow. Those that survive won't stop what they are doing and will keep continuing no matter what." He said "Angelina, Eileen and Gabriel I want you three to go tomorrow and find the man and his two daughters. After what happened tonight they'll need a sanctuary and we can give them that."
Everyone agreed to his orders and after the meeting everyone went to sleep while Nathan was on watch.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
When morning came and breakfast was over Alice and the kids went out hunting while Eileen's team left to find the man and his two daughters from last night. Vlad was the last one to leave but he stopped when he saw Morgan following him with a shotgun, an axe and bow staff that Vlad had found and trained him with.
"Where are you going?" Vlad asked
"With you. Even if you're immortal it wouldn't hurt to have some backup." Morgan said as he placed his weapons in the Honda car.
"Where's Duane?" Vlad asked
"Alice took him with her. He wants to help provide for the group." Morgan said and shut the trunk. "Ready?"
Vlad sighed and thought about it. He knew it wouldn't hurt to have someone to watch his back.
"Alright, but you're driving." He said, sitting in the passenger side.
Thanks to his eyes and sense of smell he was able to track the men down in town by noon. They stopped the car a few blocks from them and went on the top of the roofs with a good view of them. What Vlad remembered was that fifteen men ran off and there were thirteen right now. He saw two inside the bar with three people that weren't part of their group. One of the new people smelled familiar but couldn't remember until he heard the man's voice.
It was Rick's.
Vlad had an amused smirk, as he was surprised that the man had survived and seems to have a group of his own. So Vlad waited. He wanted to see if Rick could see who these people really are. It didn't take long until the man tried to reach for his gun but Rick was faster and shot him in the head before shooting the fat one.
The shots attracted the other men's attention and started shooting the bar. Seeing that it was time to make the odds even Vlad nodded at Morgan to start shooting as he teleported to the men and started slaughtering them one at a time. There were only three left until one of them shot Morgan. Vlad hurried to his aid, no longer caring about the three since the dead were heading their way because of the gun fire. When he got to the roof Morgan was holding his side where he was bleeding out.
"I see why you wanted to go alone." Morgan joked before coughing out some blood.
"I'll get you to Eileen. She'll fix you up, my friend." Vlad said as he tried to put some pressure on the wound.
"Even with your fast abilities I won't make it if she's not there." Morgan said "I can't leave Duane, Vlad. I'm all he's got now."
There was a pause moment when Vlad looked away, already knowing what he was going to ask him.
"I want you to blood me, Vlad." Morgan said "Like how you did with Alice."
"That was an accident. Morgan you need to understand if I give you my blood it will be hard to resist the hunger. The thirst is very strong in the beginning." Vlad said "If you can't control your hunger I might have to kill you."
"It's a risk that I'm willing to take." Morgan said before coughing out blood again.
Vlad rolled up his sleeve and bit his wrist. He quickly held it above Morgan's mouth so the blood would drip before healing. Morgan managed to take a few sips and he started to feel the change.
"Your body is dying now so you'll feel some pain for a while. But it will pass." Vlad said as Morgan gripped his stomach. "I'm gonna give you three days my friend. If you could outlast the thirst in three days you will return to your human self, heal and all. But if you don't...you're stuck like this forever."
It wasn't until nightfall that Morgan came through. When he woke up he had the same expression on his face as Vlad did when he turned. He could hear everything around him. Walkers feasting on something, insects or animals crawling up the wall. He could see things for miles. His favorite part was looking up in the sky and saw the whole galaxy.
"Beautiful, isn't." Vlad said as he too looked at the sky.
"This is far more amazing than I thought it would." Morgan smiled
"I always thought of this as the bright side of being a vampire." Vlad said and stood up. "Come on. Let's go. The last two were eaten by walkers and the other one was taken by that group from the bar so we're done here." He stood on the edge of the roof and looked back at Morgan with a smirk. "Ready to test your wings out."
He ran and jumped off the roof forming into a swarm of bats. Morgan grabbed his things and followed his lead by jumping off the roof and he was able to form into a swarm of his own.
It didn't take long for them to return to the base and Vlad had to explain what happened and that it was Morgan's choice. Vlad then asked Eileen if they had found the man and his daughters but two of them were attacked by the dead and only one of the daughters survived. He saw that it was the youngest one that was looking at them in the woods.
Amy White was her name and she was sixteen with short brown hair and green eyes.
When dinner started Vlad saw Chris and Sophia hurried over to him, wanting to tell him everything that they did today. Duane did the same thing with Morgan, saying that he was able to shoot a bow and arrow and shoot two squirrels.
Vlad made sure to keep an eye on the man knowing very well what he was going through. They all thought it was best not to tell the kids what they were unless it was necessary. Alice then came up to his side and wrapped an arm around his waist before kissing his cheek.
"Thank you." She whispered
"There's no need. They needed to die." He whispered and looked down at her. "I'll do anything to keep our family safe."
They then kissed again which made Chris and Sophia gagging faces, causing everyone to laugh.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
After what happened Vlad and Alice wanted to teach the kids to defend themself with hand to hand combat and weaponry. With all the metal around Jesse was able to create swords for everyone on Vlad's request.
A few days later Vlad was training Chris, Sophia, Duane and Amy with their sword fighting while Alice and Morgan were hunting. Sadly Morgan couldn't stop himself from drinking human blood but he was able to control his thirst everyday. So now he has become Alice's personal bodyguard when they were off hunting. Alice found it ridiculous but she was carrying his child so if she wanted to go out in the woods they agreed to the bodyguard.
While Vlad was practicing with the kids he was very proud of Sophia since she was getting better than the boys.
"Very good Sophia. It looks like you are ready for the advanced courses." He said
"Thanks dad." Sophia smiled
Vlad smiled at that. Even though she hasn't been with them for long the girl was actually comfortable in calling him and Alice her parents. It already has been two weeks since he found her and the whole group has taken her in as one of their own.
"Hey Alice and dad are back." Duane smiled
The children sheathed their swords and ran towards them.
"Kids get back here, your training isn't finished yet." Vlad scowled
"I don't think they'll listen, Mr. Tepes." Amy chuckled
"I guess the training session is over." Vlad said
So seeing that the kids didn't listen he followed after him. Morgan and Alice hugged the kids but they had a serious look on their faces.
"What is it?" Vlad asked
"There's a problem." Morgan said
After having Eileen watching the kids upstairs while Vlad set up a meeting in the living room. He told them about the news that Morgan and Alice told him. The news frightened everyone.
"How many?" Nathan asked
About a hundred...or two hundred, I'm not sure. It was the scariest thing I ever saw." Alice said
"How far away?" Angelina asked
"About maybe 50 miles from here." Morgan said "Any gunshot noise coming from here they'll be coming and these walls aren't that strong enough to hold off that many walkers."
"Vlad can't you just use your vampire powers and tell them to go the other way?" Jesse asked
"This new power of mine is still new. I don't think I'll have the power to control them all." Vlad said
"I think we should move out now while there's an open window for us." Gabriel said
"And go where Gabriel, Fort Beginning is on the other side where the herd is." Angelina said
She pointed to the map that was on the table in front of them.
"We can always go back on the highway and take another route." Nathan said "We have enough food and gas to last a few days. We can pick up now and leave."
"I agreed with you Nathan but I've flown all over the place and each highway has been blocked. They're coming everywhere." Vlad said "Winter will be upon us soon. We need to find shelter with walls or build a wall before winter starts." Then he looked at Nathan with a serious look. "And I know for sure that Alice isn't the only one that's pregnant here."
It was true, Eileen was now ten weeks pregnant and she was showing a little. Alice looked over the map and noticed something.
"I just remember something. There's a prison not that far from here. My brother went there a few times." She said "It's surrounded by fences, stone walls, maybe has some food in the kitchen, weaponry and medical stuff."
"I think I know what you're talking about, love, I've flown by there before. The fences are still up but there are still a few walkers inside the gate area and who knows how many are inside." Vlad said
"It's not like we can't handle it, Vlad." Morgan said
"We vote. All in favor in the prison?" Vlad asked
Everyone looked at one another and agreed with the plan. By next morning they'll be leaving for the prison.
