disclaimer – anything recognizable is not mine! I do not own the little vampire.
Later that afternoon Sera found herself in the McAshton's portrait room. She was staring up at the painting of Elizabeth McAshton. She was so different from the McAshton's Sera knew. She had been kind, kind enough to help Von on the shore. She'd been brave, brave enough to die protecting the Stone of Attamon. Most of all she'd been open-minded, enough to overlook what Von was and not only help him but pursue her feelings for him. Sera hoped that the pair had a few peaceful happy years together before they were hunted down.
The sound of footsteps alerted her to someone's arrival, but she never took her eyes off the painting. She felt a pair of hands grasp her shoulders and felt the person kiss her neck – Theo. He noticed which portrait she was staring at.
"She was a fool." He breathed in her ear also looking at Elizabeth's picture. "She chose to whore herself to a vampire and in the end it got her killed. There are no happy endings when you get involved with their kind. Eventually he would have screwed you until he got bored, then he'd drain you dry and leave your body to rot."
"No, he wouldn't." she whispered.
He scoffed, "Vampires are always looking for a pretty and innocent girl to ruin. You're lucky to have me, a husband who knows how to destroy such monsters."
Sera turned to him with fire in her eyes, "I'd rather be his whore than your wife." The loud sharp slapping sound his hand made when it collided with her face echoed through the room. Before he could reply there was a call from the hallway.
"Theodore!"
"Not now grandfather." Lord McAshton and Sera's father then walked into the room, her back was to them so neither one could see her pain.
"Theodore, Mr. Rookery has a new lead on the vampire clan and would like you to assist him."
"Of course." Theo replied giving Sera a lingering stare before he left with her father. Lord McAshton's attention was now drawn to her and he saw her distress.
"Oh not to worry miss, I'm sure they'll have this all sorted by morning."
Sera took one final look at the picture of Elizabeth. She wanted to be like her, brave and strong and unafraid to love.
~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~O~~ ~ ~ ~
Gregory's P.O.V.
Gregory was back on the cliff leaning against one of the stone pillars waiting for nightfall. The sun had already dropped beneath the horizon but the sky was still a brilliant shade of orange with streaks of deep purple clouds. He was exhausted, being up all day had drained him of most of his energy. But sleep could wait, he had to make the call tonight and hope they found the stone in time.
"Hello Gregory." He turned to see Sera standing there still dressed like a McAshton lady, she smiled at him.
"I changed my mind." He couldn't keep the smile off his face, the emptiness he'd been feeling since their talk in the maze vanished and despite his exhaustion he felt a wave of energy wash through him. Sera began to approach him, "I figured I'd find you here –"
"Do you trust me?" he asked, holding his hand out for her. She looked confused before smiling slightly and taking his hand. "Close your eyes." He saw her hesitate but eventually follow his instruction. He moved to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and felt her lace her fingers with his. Slowly, he lifted them both into the air, "Open your eyes." She gasped in surprise.
"We're flying. How are we-"
He chuckled, "All that training and your father never mentioned that we fly?"
"I knew you could change into a bat but. . . "
"We don't need to be bats to fly Seraphina." he whispered still smiling.
When they touched the ground again she turned to him and he met her gaze, neither one could look away. Just like the night before they were so close one moment and the next they were kissing. It was just as amazing as the other night in the garden, everything else seemed to melt away, like for a brief moment they were the only two people in the world. The kiss lasted until the orange faded from the sky and the stars began to show. When they did finally pull away Sera said, "I need to show you something."
~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~ ~ ~ ~
Sera P.O.V.
Sera snuck Gregory into the manor and into the portrait room and pointed to one specific picture.
"Elizabeth McAshton, she found your Uncle Von on the shore after a shipwreck."
Gregory nodded, "There had been a rumor that he'd found the stone and was making his way back to Scotland on a merchant ship."
"Which is how he met Elizabeth and how she came to wear the stone in her portrait."
"Do we know if she still has it?"
"If she does it would be buried with her, and that would explain why Tony rushed out of here after my father earlier."
"That also must be why Anna and Rudolph ran off." Together they made their way to Sera's room.
"They must have a lead on the stone." Sera said once they'd reached the privacy of her room.
"There's no time to try and catch up with them, we should head directly to the cliff."
"Alright, just let me change first. How much longer do we have?"
"It's 8pm now, the comet won't reach the moon until midnight." Gregory said looking out at the position of the moon and the comet.
Sera opened her dresser drawer and clawed past the expensive fabrics until she found her hunting clothes. Getting the dress off was another problem entirely, the one Trudy had chosen had a million small buttons going up the spine, Sera twisted her arms every way they would go but there was no way she was getting out of it without help. She heard a chuckle behind her.
"Need some help?" Gregory asked as he walked up behind her and began undoing buttons, starting at the top and working his way down. As he worked Sera asked, "Do you wonder what life was like for them? Von and Elizabeth?"
"Wonder what? Specifically?"
"Did he turn her immediately? Or did they spend time sneaking off to see each other—"
"Kind of like what we've been doing?" he whispered in her ear as he finished the last few buttons. Sera shivered as he gently ran his cold fingers up and down her bare spine. When she turned around she could see the mischievous glint in his eye, his hands grabbed her hips and he pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers. As they kissed his hands moved to her bare back again and in a flash she was laying on her bed with him above her.
His lips moved down her jaw to kiss her neck, she gasped in surprise when she felt his fangs scrape against her skin. He paused, and pulled away to look at her.
"Are you afraid of me?"
"Yes." He seemed hurt by her answer.
"Not because you're a vampire." She clarified.
"Then why?"
"Because. . because of how you make me feel. Their such strong emotions, I don't know how to deal with them. . . it scares me. And there's a part of me that likes being scared like that." he smiled and resumed kissing up and down her neck. She worked his jacket off of him and threw it on the floor. When she reached for the buttons of his yellow and black striped vest he pulled away.
"Are you sure?"
She remembered the advice her aunt had given her and she nodded, "I want to be with you, in every way." She whispered before he kissed her again taking her breath away.
~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Theo P.O.V.
Theo was quite pleased as he walked back home from the cemetery. The children had learned of the stone's location first but that wouldn't stop Rookery from taking it from them, they were only children after all.
By morning the vampires would all be back in hell and he'd never have to worry about that vampire scum stealing his girl ever again.
~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gregory P.O.V.
Gregory was sitting on the edge of the bed fully dressed except for his jacket, lacing up his boots.
"I'm going to need that back, Sera."
Seraphina bent her leg resting her foot by his knee. The only thing covering her was his jacket. Her bare leg sticking out from the bottom, as Gregory leaned forward and kissed up her leg, breathing deeply.
"It's getting late." He whispered against her smooth skin, "The comet will be here at midnight, we should leave for the cliff now. I want to make sure there's enough time to make the call." She looked down at him and nodded.
~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Theo's P.O.V.
Theo made his way to Sera's room, he wanted to brag about how her vampire would be dead in a few hours. Instead, he found her room empty, the bed was a mess, her dress was on the floor and the doors to the balcony were open.
Now paranoid, he made his way to the security closet and ejected the disc to the hidden camera in Sera's room. All the guest rooms had cameras in case any of the McAshton's finer things went missing. He brought the disc back to his room and put it in his computer. He began with the footage from 7pm, right after he'd left with Rookery. He fast-forwarded through the first hour of nothing but around 8pm Sera entered her room with that filthy vampire.
The pair talked for a short time before the demon approached Sera and began unbuttoning her dress. Theo's vision became tinted in red as he watched them kiss passionately, as clothes came off and that monster put his hands on Theo's property.
He slammed the computer shut and grabbed a stake and some other hunting gear from his desk drawer and made his way to the cliff where Rookery said the beasts would be meeting for their ritual. This ended tonight.