disclaimer – anything recognizable is not mine! I do not own the little vampire.
Sera sat in her room in her silk robe brushing through her hair thinking about her rendezvous with Gregory. Her mind felt like a whirlwind of thoughts, all mixed up and none of them making sense. Half of her mind was screaming at her, asking her what the hell she thought she was doing. Put aside the fact that Gregory was a vampire but Sera had only known him for three nights and she was already making out with the guy. The other half of her mind told her to tell the first half to shut up. Other than her mother and aunt Gregory was the first in seven years to actually take the time to know her. He should be helping his family find the Stone of Attamon but he decided instead to see her.
The kiss in the garden had been unexpected but she'd enjoyed every second. It had been her first kiss obviously, hunting vampires with her father never left much time for dating, or making friends, or having much of a social life at all.
There was a knock at her door but before she could respond Theo let himself in, a glass of brandy in his hand. He was still a year below the drinking age but being a McAshton he was allowed to break that rule too.
"Have a good time tonight?" he asked. She shrugged still brushing her hair, looking at her reflection, keeping her eyes away from him.
"I guess so. Though a formal dinner with a bunch of old rich men isn't exactly my idea of a good time."
"I meant your time in the garden with that filthy vampire. Is being a demon's slut what you call a 'good time'?" Sera froze but only for a moment, there was no way he could have seen but still somehow he knew; there was no point trying to make up an excuse.
"Spying on a lady is a sign of very poor manners, what would your mother say?"
"If I see a lady I'll be sure to be more polite." He downed the rest of the glass in one gulp. "You will never see him again. You will never behave like that again, is that understood?"
"I'm not one of your servants that you can order around whenever you like. If you want me to be more like a McAshton woman fine I will; but McAshton's don't take orders from anyone so don't think you can barge in here and tell me what to do." Instead of winning the argument her words only seemed to anger Theo more. He threw his empty glass on the floor where it shattered, the shrill noise caused Sera to flinch. Theo bent over her, his hands gripping the arms of her chair, keeping her caged in.
"You'll be mine! And you'll behave the way a wife is meant to, understood?" when Sera didn't reply Theo slapped her leaving her cheek stinging from the force of the hit, he grabbed her by her hair and made her look him in the eye.
"If I see you with that vampire ever again I will drive a stake through his ribs and you can watch him die! Is that in any way unclear?" she jerked her head from side to side never taking her eyes off him.
"Good. I'll see you in the morning." He said smiling like he'd just won an award before straightening up and walking out of the room. Sera brought her hand to her aching cheek, she could taste blood in her mouth. She had never thought that Theo could be so possessive, or so violent. Her father had been wrong, vampires weren't the only monsters, sometimes humans were monsters too.
She wished Gregory were here, he'd find some way of making it better. But no matter what she wanted or how badly she wanted it she couldn't put Gregory in harms way. Yes in a fight with Theo he'd have many advantages like his speed and his strength but if Theo was as furious as she'd just seen him, could his rage help him win? Sera didn't want to find out, she'd do whatever she had to, sacrifice her happiness even, if it meant Gregory would be alright.
~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~O~ ~ ~ ~
Gregory P.O.V
Gregory was back in the Thompson's basement sitting on his straw basket staring off into space. Tony, Rudolph and Anna were flipping through the pages of a book Tony found on crests. They were still trying to figure out who the woman in his vision was. His mother was tending to his father who was still weak from Rookery's light. Every now and then she would look at her eldest son, like she knew. He hadn't said anything about his night, everyone had been asleep when he returned. He had just made it back before his family began waking up.
"What's this?" Rudolph asked pulling a piece of paper from the pages of the book.
"Oh, my dad had paperwork out earlier. It must've gotten stuck between the pages – hey that's it!" Tony pointed to the coat of arms at the top of the page.
"It's Lord McAshton's crest! He's my father's boss. The missing stone must be at his house!" Tony quickly made his way up the basement stairs yelling, "Dad! Can I go to work with you tomorrow?"
~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~ ~ ~ ~
Sera's P.O.V.
The next morning the McAshton's, Sera and Renee were gathered on the veranda having breakfast when Rookery pulled up in his truck.
"You'll have to excuse me." Lord McAshton told his family as he threw his napkin on the table and marched over to the hunter. Sera made to get up as well but after glancing at Theo she sat back down, fixed the long flowing skirt of her sundress and continued with her meal. Renee noticed and made a mental note to talk to Sera later.
Meanwhile, Lord McAshton had reached Rookery in the driveway.
"I told you not to come back unless –"
"Unless is exactly what's happened M'Lord." He opened a compartment in the side of his truck and pulled out a stretcher. Laying on it was the cemetery's caretaker with bluish grey skin and two puncture wounds in his neck.
"Ah!" Lord McAshton cried jumping slightly.
"Not the kind of holes that are good for the golfing business eh, M'Lord? A biting right here in McAshton-land. And there'll be more unless my funding is continued." He pushed the new vampire into his cramped cell.
"It's Elizabeth and her demon lover, isn't it? They've returned." His voice shook in fear.
"I told you, you have worries."
"Oh, come in."
~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~ ~ ~ O ~
The staff had come and cleared breakfast while Lord McAshton and Sera's father spoke outside. Sera was headed back to her room when she saw that little blonde boy, Tony, run up the stairs.
Theo was outside playing cricket with Nigel and Flint so Sera decided to follow the Thompson boy. She caught up with him by the portrait room. When he saw that he had been caught he looked so nervous but Sera put a finger to her lips and leaned closer to the door to eavesdrop with him. He calmed down when he realized she was on his side.
"Our ancestor, Elizabeth McAshton." The Lord said pointing to her portrait with a shaky finger. Her father grabbed the amulet around his neck and whispered in awe. "The Stone of Attamon."
"My grandfather told me the legend, he said it was to die with me."
"Could still happen."
"She saw a ship foundered upon the rocks. Though there had been no storm. No sign of life, no crew, save one who crawled ashore injured. But he was no mortal man."
"His name was Von, Von Sackville-Bagg, a vampire." Her father said, disgust coloring his tone.
"Elizabeth was taken by this Von and became one of the undead herself."
"Then what?"
"Our family staked her, and Von."
"Warm-hearted bunch aren't you?"
"You of all people should understand –"
"I'm joking my Lord. I'd have done the same myself. So where is she buried?"
"Why?"
"Like you said, we want to know if she's walking around. If I was a McAshton I wouldn't want her looking for me. How do you like your stake M'Lord?"
~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~ ~O ~ ~
Tony had rushed out quickly following her father and Lord McAshton to the family crypt. Sera had decided to head back to her room not wanting to risk getting caught by Theo. She walked into her room to find her Aunt Renee sitting on her bed, a small piece of paper in her hands.
"Who's G?" Sera blushed and looked at the floor.
"No one." She muttered.
"Mm-hmm. Sure."
"He's just a. . . boy I met the other night."
"And why did he want to meet you in the garden last night." Sera blushed harder. It was useless trying to lie to Renee, the woman knew her too well.
"Here." She passed Sera a mug of hot chocolate from the bedside table. Sera couldn't help but smile, when she was little and Renee wanted to talk she'd always bring her some hot chocolate and they'd talk about whatever was on Sera's mind. Though since she was only eight she usually only wanted to talk about cute Pokémon, and the newest Harry Potter book.
After an hour or so Sera had filled her aunt in on everything she'd been sneaking out to do the past three nights. It was convenient that Renee was a believer and didn't look at Sera like she was crazy when Sera said Gregory was a vampire. She had kept her mouth shut about the reason why she was at the cliff that night, but other than that she had told her the whole truth.
"So sweetheart what's the problem?"
"Theo knows, he's going to kill Gregory if I ever see him again."
"I wouldn't be too worried. Your oaf of a father trained him, how big of a threat could he be?'
"You didn't see him last night. He was so angry, he'd kill Gregory if he's ever given the chance."
"That's not the only thing holding you back is it?"
"I've only known Gregory three days, isn't this going a little fast?"
"You could be with someone three days, three years or three decades, but when it's right, it's right."
"But what if it feels right and we end up doing something we regret?"
"That's life. You live and you make mistakes, but mistakes are how we learn. If you and Gregory are meant to be together then life will work itself out in the end. You just have to be strong and make it through the rough patches. Follow your heart and don't be afraid of where it leads you."
~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~O~~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gregory P.O.V.
Gregory was woken up that day by Anna and Rudolph.
"Oh, dear! The sun."
"Daylight or not we must go."
Go? Gregory kicked the lid of his basket open.
"Where are you going?" he demanded.
"You stay here Gregory." Rudolph replied closing the lid again.
Stay here my ass! By the time he'd gotten out of the straight jacket (again) Rudolph and Anna were long gone.
Gregory decided he'd go to the McAshton's manor, they assumed the stone was hidden there and he'd get to see Sera again. Before he left he took his father's amulet. Frederick the Great was too weak so Gregory would take on the responsibility of making the call tonight.
~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~ ~ ~
Sera's P.O.V.
After Renee and Sera talked she had to leave to take care of business regarding her new home in St. Andrews and Sera had been sucked into having afternoon tea with Theo and some of his rich friends.
There were four guests, two boys and two girls – Sera hadn't cared enough to learn their names. The teenagers were all on the terrace sitting at a small round table eating finger sandwiches, scones and pastries while they sipped their tea and made mindless chatter.
Sera sat silently by Theo's side with his hand on her knee. He kept bringing it higher and higher up her thigh and she kept having to push it back down. Eventually, he got bored and suggested they swipe a bottle of brandy from the liquor cabinet. The boys all thought it was a wonderful idea, while the girls giggled at their foolish antics.
Sera was glad to be rid of Theo but the girls quickly made up for the lack of annoyance.
"Did I tell you about all the trouble we went through with the invitations?"
"No, but I did hear you finally worked out the problem with that decorator."
"Well, that was awful but after we sorted that mess out we had to send the invitations back, twice. They got the stationary all wrong!"
"What a nightmare!"
"And don't even get me started on the gown. I told the tailor I wanted lavender and the fabric was violet!"
"Excuse me, won't you?" Sera interrupted but they paid her no mind. She made her way to the hedge maze, eager to get lost in the bushes for a few hours. She loved the fresh smell of the plants, it helped her imagine that she was much farther away, in a much calmer place. The hedge walls were probably six and a half, maybe seven feet tall not only giving her privacy but some cooling shade from the afternoon sun.
She was suddenly pulled deeper into the shade by a cold grip. She quickly turned to see Gregory standing in the shadows the bushes cast.
"When did you – it's the middle of the day - how did you –"
"Long and embarrassing story, not important, but –"
"You need to leave. Theo, he saw us in the garden last night. I don't know how, but he knows about us, about you. If he sees you here he'll kill you."
"I'm not worried about a fool like Theo."
She took a deep breath, "Gregory, this is impossible. I'm betrothed, practically engaged, I can't keep seeing you." She tried to leave but he grabbed her arm.
"I need to talk to you."
"Gregory –"
"Look I'm not an idiot, alright? Your father knows our family name, our history. Even if we became human again he'd never let us have peace, I know that. But I'm too involved now. I can't go a day without seeing you and I like that. Even if you want me to go, no matter how much it would hurt; I'd let you go if that's what you wanted. But I can't turn away without knowing you'll be alright. That's all I want."
"Well I'll be fine."
"You might be fine at first because you're strong, but that fire you have, Theo is going to do whatever he can to snuff that fire out." His hand cupped her cheek.
"It's not up to you to save me, Gregory."
"You're right, only you can do that." He leaned in, resting his forehead against hers like he was going to kiss her again and if he did she'd never be able to let him go. And she had to let him go, if he stayed, if he kept coming to see her he'd be caught and killed. She took another deep breath preparing herself for what she had to do.
"I'm going back to him." she took his hand from her face, "Leave me alone." She stepped back into the sun and made for the exit leaving Gregory behind.
She had seen it in his eyes, the sincerity of his words, how much he cared. Three hundred years he'd been guarding himself and in three days she'd won his heart and broken it into pieces. But still better for him to have a broken heart than a staked one.