After few sappy chapters, there are some dark clouds covering the horizon. If Michael, Selene and Eve thought they could live peacefully they have been mistaken. There are still enemies out there, there are still battles to be fought and won.
Thank you for your support and I hope you still enjoy the story.
I'll Always Stay With You – Chapter 5
Suddenly, Michael opened the door and exited the car while grinning at Selene boyishly all the time. As soon as he was outside, he bowed to look at his mate through the open door and stretched one hand towards her.
Selene looked at him, not quite sure what he was up to and her confusion was clearly reflected on her face. A slight frown and slightly pursed lips revealed that she didn't know what to think of her mate's latest action.
"Come on, Selene! Let's take a short walk in the woods." Michael still held his hand towards the vampiress while he lifted his head and looked around. They were in the midst of the forest, just this narrow country road leading through it and a small parking space, barely big enough for one car. There were no other cars in sight and the moon shone brightly from the cloudless sky. Almost full moon! If there were any lycans around … He didn't finish the thought, he chased it away. Now was not the time to think of dangers, now was the time to be with the love of his life.
Selene still wasn't convinced if Michael just snapped over or was he being serious. "Why?"
"Don't you think that it would be nice to walk through the forest with such beautiful moon shining? The winter tale extraordinaire." Michael's grin grew wider and he wiggled his fingers to invite her.
Selene sat unmoving for a second, before she sighed resignedly as if giving in into Michael's temporary insanity. I'm too old for such stupid things! The thought shot through her brain but almost instantly, another voice inside her head objected. You haven't been a woman in centuries. You haven't tasted the sweetness of just being in love and being with the man you love. So, why all the fuss over the Death dealer attitude when you can be Selene, the woman, again? Her face brightened. Maybe it isn't such a stupid idea after all! Maybe Michael would really make her feel better, feel the affection they shared.
Michael saw how different thoughts swept over Selene's face and he noticed that it brightened at the end, just a moment before she flung the car door open and joined him outside.
"Well, I'm here. What now?" She challenged him with a voice, carrying just a slight trace of huskiness, signaling him that she was accepting his proposal.
"Now we walk!" He grinned at her while grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the forest. But before they even crossed the tree line into the thicker forest, he pulled her closer, enveloping his arm around her thin waist and pulling her body close to his. The closeness suddenly sent waves of warmth through his veins and he sighed contentedly. Selene really wasn't the warmest woman, regarding body temperature, but her closeness still always caused heat waves in him.
"What?" Selene looked at him questioningly as she heard his sigh. Not that she would object the closeness at all. Actually, her arm was already encircling his waist too and the warmth from his body was already spreading through her.
Michael shook his head slightly. "I love having you so close to me." Nothing more, just few words, but they revealed all his emotions, all his love for the woman at his side.
Selene's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile and she laid her head against his shoulder for a second. "Me too."
They walked for few minutes in silence, enjoying the closeness of the loved one and admiring the beauty of the snow covered forest in the moonlight. Suddenly, Michael broke apart from Selene and jumped few steps to the side.
Selene stopped dead in her tracks, uncomprehending what just happened. She was safely tucked into Michael's warm arms one moment, just to stand alone in the cold in the next. She looked at Michael with creased forehead, trying to figure out what he was up to now.
Michael was grinning like a madman while he squatted and quickly made a snowball. Before Selene could say anything or react, he straightened up again and threw a snowball at her, hitting her in the chest.
As soon as the snowball hit her in the chest, Selene froze into a statue. Her first instinct was to jump at Michael or shoot at him, but she suppressed the habit of shooting first and asking later. She tilted her head and looked at the traces of snow on her chest indignantly, before turning her look at Michael. With inclined head she looked at him as if he'd gone mad. "Are you all right Michael?" She glared into her mate's eyes.
Michael had to laugh aloud as he heard Selene's question, spoken in a voice, clearly depicting her thoughts. She believed him to be temporary insane and in the need of adult guidance. "I'm just fine Selene. You should let go a little and enjoy the game!"
"Why would I want to get hit with a snowball escapes my understanding." Dryly spoken in a flat voice, it depicted what Selene thought of his idea.
"Because it's fun! You should try to hit me too! Come on, Selene! You must have had some snowball fights before you have been turned. Or?" Suddenly Michael wasn't so very sure that this was a good idea and his slight hesitation could be heard in his voice too. Selene's burning eyes, glaring at him, slowly turning blue, only underlined his considerations.
Selene was trying very hard to remain glaring at him indignantly and maintain her stone face. Sure, she did have some snowball fights in her youth with her sisters and friends, but, Jesus, that was more than six centuries ago. She forgot how it felt then and Michael's action woke up the faded memories. Yes, she enjoyed it then. But she was different person now, wasn't she? She was not the playful Selene anymore. Or? She suddenly began to doubt it. Maybe she really should let go of her ice princess image for a while, at least when she was together with Michael.
Michael watched Selene and noticed how her glare slowly lost its intensity and he even believed to see a small tug upwards in the corners of her lips. He sighed relieved that she, at least it seemed like that to him, accepted his proposal and grinned at her as to apologize for his surprise attack.
Selene felt how some strange warmth suddenly began to curse through her body, the warmth of being just Selene, a girl, together with her boyfriend. She might be immensely old according to human standards but the experienced, bitter person Selene began to make place for the vibrant, joyful girl Selene, playing with her boyfriend. She remained stoic for a moment, but as she saw the grin on Michael's lips, she realized that the face betrayed her and in the next moment, she exploded into movement.
Like in a blur, Selene's body moved towards Michael and before he could sidestep, he found himself lying on his back, Selene upon him and her nose just inches from his, while she grinned at him. True, he knew before what was coming his way and had he wanted to, he could easily evade Selene's 'attack', but he enjoyed it far too much to use his inhuman speed to spoil her joy.
Suddenly Selene's hands appeared like out of the blue on his face, carrying a significant amount of snow, which they quickly began to rub in on his face. While she was doing it, she lifted up and straddled him all the while her hands never stopped rubbing the snow into his face. She grinned like a Cheshire cat, a smile Michael almost never saw on her face and it was such a beautiful sight that he simply couldn't resist or even try to stop her.
For few seconds Selene continued what she had been doing, but then Michael obviously decided that it was enough and he grabbed her wrists and lifted her palms from his face. "I guess that you proved your point, Selene." He smiled at her warmly.
Selene enjoyed the action like she'd be sixteen years old again. As soon as Michael stopped her, she felt the heat from his palms on her wrists and bowed to him. He could barely say few words before her mouth covered his in a passionate kiss.
Few seconds, that was all that the kiss took, but to Michael and Selene it seemed like an eternity. As Selene lifted up again, she dreamily gazed into his eyes, just to receive the similar look from him back.
"Are you angry?" Michael's soft voice penetrated Selene's still slightly foggy mind.
"Why would I be?" She was genuinely curious why he would think so.
Michael shrugged before answering. "Well, you didn't seem all too eager to play along with my suggestion. Actually … you looked a bit more than just a little pissed."
Wondering made place to a grin on Selene's face before she nodded. "I have been … pissed, that is. But you managed to wake the little Selene in me. Again."
"I'm glad." Michael was genuinely satisfied. Then he lifted his upper body into sitting position and with small difficulties stood up with Selene still straddling him. Another kiss was on program before he let her down and pushed her few inches away. "I have another suggestion."
"Which would be?"
"Have you ever made a snow angel before?"
Selene thought for a moment before her face lit up in remembrance. "Yes, I did. About six hundred and few more years ago."
"Then it's about time to freshen up your knowledge." Michael grinned like a young boy and looked around to find a suitable spot. It didn't take him more than few moments to find it. "There!" his arm pointed in the direction where a small clearing with untouched snow could be seen.
Selene followed his gaze and nodded. "Right. Should be big enough for both of us."
"Definitely." Michael was already pulling her towards his destination and in few seconds they were there. He let go of her hand and turned so that he was facing her with his back towards the flat surface of the clearing. He grinned, spread his arms and let himself fall to his back. As soon as he landed, he began moving his arms and legs for few times and then lifted his arms towards Selene as if asking her to help him get up.
Selene rolled her eyes, shook her head but grabbed his outstretched hands with a smile and pulled him upright with ease. "Boys!"
"Your turn now, Selene." Michael dared her.
Selene didn't let him wait for too long and positioned herself near his snow angel just far enough to let the angels touch with their wings and let herself fall back.
Michael grinned at the sight of his beloved vampiress in the snow, looking like an excited teenage girl.
But in that moment as Selene began to move her arms, they both froze upon hearing a distant roar. Selene got up instantly and her face was again a pure Death dealer mask, while she waited for the roar to repeat. And she didn't have to wait for too long.
"Lycans!" Michael whispered to Selene and she only nodded, her hands almost subconsciously reaching for the guns at her sides, checking if everything was OK.
"They're getting closer." Michael's voice was barely audible upon another series of roars, this time from very close.
"They're almost here. Watch out for them!" Selene whispered back while her eyes swept the surroundings for any possible threat. She wouldn't allow anything happen to Michael. He wasn't just invaluable because of his hybrid nature … he was irreplaceable as her lover and the father of her child. She'd protect him till her dying breath.
Michael froze to a statue, trying to stop breathing even, of course, utterly failing. But he remained as quiet as possible. The beasts were getting closer and he'd be damned if he'd let anything happen to his lover. Without Selene his life would be worthless and he'd shed the last drop of his blood before letting anything happen to her.
Seconds ticked off and the forest was silent again. After a minute, Selene looked into Michael's eyes with her blue orbs. She slowly shook her head and tilted it in the general direction of their car.
Michael nodded and waited for few second to be sure that there was no threat. After he was satisfied, he turned towards the car, just to be crushed down by a roaring beast, jumping down from the tree above them.
Before he could even try to defend himself, Michael hit the ground and as the faith wanted, his head crashed against the only stone on the clearing, with the two hundred kilograms heavy beast landing upon him. No matter his physique, this was too much even for the powerful hybrid and his eyes rolled back before he lost his consciousness.
Selene was pushed aside by the falling lycan and she found herself lying on her side, her eyes wide open in horror as she saw how the enormous beast pounced on Michael, who was lying on the ground unmoving.
The lycan was not as big as the one she killed in the Antigen basement, but still larger than the ones she knew before. But it didn't bother. He was hurting her Michael!
In a blink of an eye she was back on her feet, hissing furiously at the beast while her eyes turned snow white in her anger. But before she could do anything, two other beasts roared from the bushes and jumped out with clear intention to attack her.
Selene felt reminded of the almost fateful night in Budapest not so very long ago as she almost lost her life in the fight with few lycans. But this time she wouldn't go down so easily. She had to protect her lover, she had to protect her daughter. Casting a last look at the lycan, pouncing on the unmoving body of her hybrid lover, she whispered in her mind. "Hold on Michael, I just have a minor obstacle to overcome and I'll get the beast off you." The lycan, trying to stomp Michael in the ground obviously had no interest in attacking her, however, the other two were clearly set on her.
Before the two beasts, big, but significantly smaller than the one attacking Michael, could make a step towards Selene, her two guns were already angrily barking and spitting silver bullets towards them.
Selene had always been efficient killer of lycans. But this time she surpassed even herself. Maybe because she, differently than before, fought for and because of love. It had always been personal, but never like this.
It took her only few seconds to fill both lycans with poisonous silver and dropping them down before they had the chance to do anything to her.
The biggest lycan, until now busying itself with trying to crush Michael, finally turned its attention to the vampire, who effectively killed his two comrades. It roared savagely and let go of the body on the ground and jumped towards Selene.
The furiously hissing vampiress cast a last glance at the two human bodies, riddled with bullets in front of her and made to turn towards the last lycan, the one who was trying to kill her mate. She was halfway turned towards the last enemy, as a tremendous blow swept her off her feet and sent her crashing into a large tree trunk, several meters away.
The roaring lycan stopped for a second to admire its handiwork and its vicious eyes glared at the female vampire, who slightly shook her head and climbed to her feet under the big fir. Her snow white eyes glared at the lycan with unhidden fury and venom and a low, dangerous hiss signaled the beast that she meant business.
Maybe it was the fact that the vampiress was back on her feet so quickly, maybe the fact that the beast had never seen a vampire with white eyes before. No matter which reason, it made the beast hesitate for a second and it was all Selene needed to finish it. She lost her two guns at the blow, the lycan delivered to her, but she still had her silver knife and in a matter of seconds the silent but deadly weapon was flying towards the lycan.
The beast noticed the knife, tried to evade it but was too slow. It could move its skull a bit, but unfortunately to the wrong side and the knife, aimed for its right eye, finished plunging into its left eye.
Selene had to grin mentally in her fury as she saw that her aim was perfect but she still hit the other eye. The beast roared a last time, stood still for a split second and then fell like a log, raising a cloud of fluffy snow.
But Selene had no time to admire her effectiveness. In a matter of a second she was at Michael's side and carefully turned him over to reveal a bloody face of her beloved. "Michael!" She was instantly remembered on a similar situation at the banks of Danube, as she believed him dead. Her voice breaking a little she tried to wake him up. "Please! Michael, wake up! Please!" She was almost pleading now. Michael's eyes remained closed and now she remembered to check for his heartbeat and as she put her hand on his chest, she sighed relieved. His heart was beating, he was obviously only unconscious.
She sat back on her heels, feeling the urge to cry and laugh at the same time, Michael's head on her lap and her hand slowly stroking his cheek, while the other held his head firm. Then she remembered and grabbed for a handful of snow and gently tried to clean the blood from his face with it.
Michael had no idea what happened to him. One moment he was trying to start towards the car and in the next he was hitting the only rock on the clearing and the lights went out. But now Selene's almost pleading voice penetrated the fog, which still engulfed his mind and he suddenly shivered, feeling something cold on his cheek. His eyes opened abruptly only to see Selene's face above him, her eyes full of worry, glittering dangerously wet, while her hand slowly rubbed his cheek with snow. The most beautiful sight a man could wish for upon regaining his consciousness.
"Haven't you had enough of this game before?" He croaked at the vampiress and tried to crack a grin, but drew air in sharply in pain as he felt his cut lips stretching.
"No, I believe that it hadn't been enough." Selene grinned at him relieved, before adding. "You bastard! Don't you ever get me so worried again, do you hear me!"
"Oh, I had it all under control, dearest Selene." Michael tried to straighten up and realized that he must have suffered few broken bones and other injuries which would each by itself kill a normal human, but for him they were just minor inconvenience, incapacitating him for a short period of time. Damn! It will take few hours before I'm fully healed! Shit!
"Of course you did!" Exasperation but also amusement could be heard in Selene's voice. "Will you be able to get up?"
Michael tried to get up, hissed in pain but his stubbornness won and after few seconds he was back on his feet, leaning heavily on Selene not to keel over. "Absolutely. Just give me a second … and stay put, please!" He hurriedly added as Selene tried to move, which would effectively withdraw her support.
Selene now grinned relieved that he was obviously going to be OK. "The strong hybrid needs help from a vampire! What a wonder!"
Michael tried to laugh but failed miserably upon the pain in his chest and his free hand clutched to it. "At the moment I'm anything but strong. And you have never been just a vampire. Now … now you're almost as strong as I am. Remember Marcus?"
Selene's face fell a little. She didn't like to be reminded of the way she killed the last elder of the vampires while protecting the world and Michael from him. Actually … wasn't it more to protect Michael than the rest of the world? "Yeah, I do. Even though I don't have to like it." Her flat voice clearly told Michael to back off of this topic.
"Shall we try to get home, please? I feel like I'll need few hours to be back in top form." Michael changed the subject feeling her uneasiness with the topic.
Selene now put her arm around Michael's waist and put his arm around her shoulders. "Here. Let me help you."
For once, Michael didn't object, but readily accepted her help. He knew that he'd have some difficulties reaching the car on his own. But then he remembered the lycan. "What happened to the beast that hit me? Did it hurt you?" His eyes worriedly scanned the body and face of his mate.
Selene had to grin at him and shook her head. "No, it had no time to hurt me. Well, it threw me against the tree, but that was all it and its two companions managed to do."
"There were three of them?" Michael gasped in surprise. "You managed them all?"
Selene nodded and looked at the three naked bodies, remembering that the biggest one still had her knife embedded in its skull. And there were her two guns still lying on the ground. "Will you be able to stand alone for a while? I have some items to collect."
Michael followed her gaze and saw the three bodies. He just nodded to her question and let her out of embrace. His eyes followed her as she strolled casually towards one of the bodies, overturned it easily and pulled her knife from the skull. Then she straightened and took a look around, almost immediately spotting her two guns. In a matter of seconds, the guns were safely tucked in their holsters on her hips and a knife in its position on her back.
"What?" With a slightly tilted head she walked back towards him and a barely noticeable self satisfied smile showed that she enjoyed his baffled expression and was challenging him to answer her.
"You're unbelievable Selene! You took out three lycans in a matter of seconds and think nothing more of it." He slowly, carefully shook his head for he anticipated it would cause him some pain and the white hot stab in his head confirmed his fears. He tensed the muscles on his neck and bowed his head a little.
Selene noticed his gesture and understood it correctly. "I believe you'll have some headaches for a short time. Sorry, but there's nothing I could do to help you." Her voice was compassionate and worried. Towards Michael she could show her true feelings.
"I know. It just surprised me that's all. Even though I expected it," Then his gaze fell on Selene's outfit. "You're soaking wet, Selene. You should get home and change into something dry and warm."
Selene's eyes slowly travelled up and down his body too and a small ironic smile appeared. "And you think you're dry? Look at yourself, Michael! You'll ruin the upholstery in the car!"
Michael carefully dropped his head and looked down on his clothes, which were, as Selene said, even more soaked than his. "I guess we both should get home and change into something dry." He commented as he looked back at Selene.
The vampiress just nodded and offered him her help in getting to the car.
XXXXXXXXXX
Eve was bored. B. O. R. E. D. There was nothing interesting on the television, there were no interesting books in the house (sometimes she asked herself if her mother possessed any books at all) and she couldn't play any games by herself. Her parents had been gone for hours in search of blood supplies, which were running dangerously low and she had no idea what to do.
Just as she debated with herself should she check all the 150+ TV stations for anything acceptable, she heard the car coming to a halt outside and she instantly rushed to the window. Leaning beside it, she took a quick, careful look outside, just to sigh in relief as she saw her mother exiting the car. The characteristic slamming of the car doors called a smile on Eve's face. Mom's never going to learn how to close the car doors quietly!
She ran to the entrance door, but before opening it, she checked again if the persons outside were really her parents through the peep hole. After she made sure, she opened the door and stood on the threshold awaiting her parents to come in.
As soon as Selene stepped into the light, Eve notice that she was soaking wet. She frowned. "What have you two been doing? Didn't you go out to get some supplies?"
"We stopped along the way to have a snowball fight and made snow angels." Michael's amused voice came from behind Selene.
Eve's eyes widened uncontrollably. "You did WHAT?" Then she pouted. "And you did it WITHOUT me? You're evil!"
Selene grinned at her pouting daughter. "Well, we also had a little trouble with some lycans, trying to dispute our right to live."
Eve was now even more astonished. "Lycans! And again without me! I want to fight them too!" Pouting a little more, she then asked. "Are you OK?"
"I'm fine, but your father has had a rough time with one of the beasts." Selene pulled Michael, who was still standing behind her in the darkness into the light so that Eve could see his bruised, albeit already healing face.
Eve inhaled sharply before slowly reaching out for her father. As her hand touched his cheek, he smiled at her reassuringly. "I'll be fine in an hour or so."
Eve's fingers gently glided across the cuts on her father's cheek and her wide opened eyes followed their path. For a while she seemed lost in examining his injuries, before she snapped her eyes towards his. "Do you have any other injuries, dad?" Worry etched her voice and her expression demanded an honest answer.
Michael gave her a reassuring, albeit a little bitter smile. "Oh well, few of my bones have been broken and I had some other injuries, but it's already healing. As I already said, I'll be fine in about one hour."
Eve's still wide opened eyes roamed towards her mother's ones and she asked. "What happened to him? Did he protect you and got all the punishing for it?" There was no accusation in her voice, just pure worry. She still remembered what lengths her father was prepared to go to protect his mother. And seeing him so heavily beaten while Selene wasn't even disheveled, she came to the conclusion, that Michael must have protected Selene and got beaten up in the process.
Selene smiled at her daughter and pushed her gently to enter the house. "I guess we should talk inside."
Eve nodded and made place for her parents to enter the house, closing and locking the entrance door behind them. She noticed that her father was limping slightly and she rolled her eyes while sighing exasperatedly.
AS soon as they were seated, Selene began. "Actually, this time it was the other way around, Eve. Your father got hit by a huge lycan and lost consciousness before he could do anything. So I had to take care of all three lycans before I could help him." As she finished, there was a small smug smile playing around her lips.
"Three? And you took care of them all? Wow!" Eve was for once speechless and her eyes gazed at Selene adoringly. Then she remembered something. "What were these lycans doing here? Are there any lycan dens here around?"
Selene shook her head. "I haven't heard of any lycan activities here around. But you never know."
Michael interrupted her. "I'll call Sebastian first thing tomorrow morning and check if there are any known lycan dens here around. Until then we should activate the perimeter sensors."
Selene looked at him with confusion written all over her face. "What sensors? There are none."
Now it was Michael's turn to smile at her smugly. "There weren't any, but now there is a complete array of sensors for perimeter control installed. I found some sensors and used them. So … we can rest in peace. Should anything or anyone approach, we'll be warned in time."
"What if they come from above? You've been attacked that way!" Selene wasn't sure that the sensor array could really protect them from any possible attack.
Michael still smiled. "No problem! They can't approach the house on the trees and would have to descend to ground. Then they'd be detected by the sensors."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely!" Michael nodded and slowly got up, grimacing at the pain that still shot through him. "Now, will you accompany me into bathroom to clean up a little before I fall in our bed?"
Selene smiled at him mischievously. "Are you sure you can take that?" She was already on her feet and grinned at her mate.
Eve only rolled her eyes again, sighing. "You two are impossible! Get a room!" She smiled before adding. "Well, you already have one. Make use of it!"
Michael's eyes swept from Eve to Selene and he shook his head. "Children!"
Selene giggled quietly. "She's your daughter, Michael!"
TBC
