A/N: Sorry that this chapter took so long! I was working on some submissions calls. I should finish this story before the end of September.
The last call for boarding was announced, and Blade wanted to put his fist through a wall.
What Abigail had done was stupid, and it would be hard to track her down.
As he saw the last of the people boarding the plane, he finally decided to join them.
If she didn't want to be found, then there was nothing he could do. However, he wanted to see this mission through. Maybe once he found King or Drake, they could point him in Abigail's direction.
Like many times before, he wanted to leave her to her own fate, but Whistler would be disappointed in him. He couldn't help her now, but he could keep her off the radar by stirring up his own trouble.
Now that he knew Drake was back, he had a starting point. It was unlikely that the Vampire King was in London, but part of the vampire network was there. He might be able to get some useful information if he hunted long enough.
He just hoped that Abigail would stay hidden until he was able to help her.
Months went by, and he heard nothing about or from her. He tried to brush off the concern, but it nagged at him. She could be in an unmarked grave, and not knowing did nothing to ease his conscious.
Once upon a time, Abigail had been able to take care of herself. Once Zoe and King were taken away, she came to him damaged. He watched in horror as she descended into madness. He had been there himself, but Whistler and Karen had snapped him out of it.
Abigail had no more friends or family left, except for him. If he gave up on her now, he would never find peace. It would weigh on his conscience for the rest of his life, and he felt uneasy about that prospect.
So he changed his attitude and became determined. He hunted down vampires every night and tried to squeeze the information from them. He utilized his old network to track Abigail down, and they were closing in on her.
He managed to get information on Drake little by little, but it wasn't enough for a complete picture. There was no word about King except for that one instance in France. That was odd.
He called Karen and asked her to look into news and police reports on the day of King's disappearance. She was able to expand the search, and her voice was shaky when she told him what she found.
When he heard the news from her, his blood went cold. He trusted Karen, but he didn't want to believe this. He thanked her for the information and hung up.
Then he contacted some of his friends around Europe. They finally had a location for him.
He packed up his current warehouse and flew to Romania.
When he arrived, his contacts gave him Abby's location. He went straight there.
He was dreading it. He knew how this was going to go, and it was going to be hard.
He picked the lock and entered the small house she had rented. It was nighttime, and he almost feared for his life. Abby was always alert, especially at night time. With her paranoia, she would be deadly at this hour.
She was waiting for him in the hall. He managed to wrench the knife out of her hand and pin her against the wall so she could see who he was.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded and struggled. He just shook his head.
She was even thinner now, and her blows didn't have the same force behind them. He took in the black circles under her eyes, and the bruised patches of skin that adorned her body.
"I am here to help you. You are not well and putting yourself through this misery is not going to help."
She kicked at him. "Screw you. I need to find Drake! He has King. I know he does!"
Blade let her go and backed away. "Drake doesn't have King, Abby. He never did."
"Yes, he did!" she exclaimed. "That one vampire even said so."
"He said it because we were torturing him. He would have confessed to anything at the point."
"You're lying! If Drake doesn't have King, then where is he? There were signs of a struggle all throughout the base. There was blood everywhere! The vampires have him. I know it."
Blade peered at her carefully. "Abby, think about it. Why would they want King? Sure, he's a hunter, but there are hundreds of hunters."
"Maybe they know he had a part to play in Drake's supposed death. I don't know! Why are you asking me?" she said. He watched as her hands went into her hair and tugged at it in distress.
"I'm trying to make you think. You need to be logical about this. Why would they want Hannibal King? He is of no value or use to them. Any vampires that knew him are long dead."
"There could still be people after us! I don't know! You're making my head hurt," Abby said and squeezed her eyes shut.
Blade took a small step towards her. "Abby," he said softly. "What happened the night he was taken?"
Abby dropped her hands to her sides and looked up at the ceiling as if it knew the answer.
"I went out for groceries. It was my turn to cook dinner, but I was missing some of the ingredients. When I came back, the door was open. There was blood and broken objects everywhere. I looked for clues, but there was nothing."
"Was there a note, Abby?" Blade asked.
"No, I would remember if there was," she said, staring into space with a wistful look on her face.
"Abby," Blade began. "When you first tracked me down, you said there was a note stating that he had been kidnapped."
Abby frowned. "There was no note. I would have noticed."
"But you said there was."
"I must have been mistaken."
"No, Abby. You just don't remember," Blade said. She cocked her head to the side.
"Remember what?" she asked.
"King's dead. He was killed that night. Don't you remember?"
Abby shook her head and took a step away from him. "No, he's not dead. They took him!"
"They killed him, Abby. Some up and coming familiars tried to prove their worth by killing him. They tried to kill you too, but you fought back and killed them. You survived, but King didn't. I'm sorry, Abby."
"No. No no no no! He's not dead!" she shrieked. She ran past him and down the stairs. By the time, he caught up to her, she was trying to start her car in the freezing cold.
He opened the door and dragged her out. She fought him, but he held her.
"I'm so sorry," he repeated over and over. Her struggles eventually ceased, and her cries filled the air.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I felt slightly guilty about this, but it felt like the only reasonable course.