I want to give a big shout out to everyone that has read the story so far. I want to send a special 'Thank You' to Ms. Chandy, Queen of Extreme Kate, RoseannaMay, extremechaingangenigma, xAngelofHardyx, Lady Sony, SwtPoison and Arquero333. You guys rock!!! \m/ (.) \m/ Enjoy!
The hard, heavy hand coming in contact with my cheek brought me slowly out of my drugged stupor. The hand made contact again. I struggled to open my eyes.
"Wake up Queeny." Adam said in my ear. My eyes flew open. Adam's face hovered in my vision. He smiled. "She's awake!" He called over his shoulder. I found myself laying on the floor in an unfamiliar bedroom. I was laying beside the only bed in the room. I rolled my head to the side to find Maggie laying a few feet away from me, still out of it. I tried to make a move to go to her but my limbs wouldn't cooperate with my demands. They were still heavy from the sedative they had given me.
"Pick her up wolf." A deep sinister voice said from somewhere behind Adam. Adam stood up and jerked me up by my upper arms. He turned me so that I was leaned against his chest. My head flopped back on it's own accord. I was still too drugged to support my own weight. I was pretty much lifeless in Adam's grip. I let my gazed drift up as someone stepped up in front of me. My eyes widened at the sheer size of the man looming ominously over me. Taker. I had thought that Kane was big but Taker was a little bit bigger. The thing that scared me the most, his eyes. They were pitch black. Void of all color.
He grabbed my chin roughly. He twisted my head from one side to the other.
"You're rather pretty aren't you?" He said. I didn't answer. He felt down the sides of my throat feeling my veins. "Good veins." I saw standing off to the side, the merry band of vampires that kidnapped us plus a few more. Jay and Miz were there. And so was Kane.
I closed my eyes letting the tears slip down my cheeks as Taker essentially molested me in front of all of them. He felt my breasts and my hips, claiming that my body would work fine for him. I opened my eyes as he grabbed my left hand and flipped it over, looking at my palm.
"How long have you been trued Queen?" I paused, deciding on whether or not to answer him. It must have been too long for his liking. He backhanded me. I felt my lip split at the contact. I watched his dark eyes follow the trickle of blood run from my lip. "How long?" He growled.
"A little over a month," I said, barely above a whisper.
"Aaron?" The unknown vampire that had drugged me earlier, stepped up to Taker. "Are you sure she isn't breeding Hardy's young?" Aaron nodded. He must be their version of a doctor.
"Yes, sir. No young." Taker turned back to me. The smile he gave me made my blood run cold. Now, I was officially terrified.
"Good." He leaned in and licked the blood off my chin. "Good. Hardy will come after her. Then I can finally end him and that brother of his. Aaron, knock her out." Taker turned and walked out the door. Aaron pulled out another syringe. It only took a few seconds for that now familiar darkness to pull me under.
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Jeff's POV
I looked up for what had to be the hundredth time since Sophi left the office, over a half an hour ago. I couldn't concentrate for shit. All I could think about was her ass, thanks to the comments she made right before she left. That and I had this underlying feeling that I couldn't shake. You know that 'something bad is about to happen' feeling?
I tossed my pen down on my desk and stood up. I'll go find Sophi and see if she wants to spend some alone time with me. It's not like I was getting my work done anyway. I'll find Sophi, we'll kill a couple of hours and maybe, I'll find a way for her to help me with my work. Hopefully, that will help me focus a little better.
I smiled to myself thinking of how we were going to spend our alone time as I made my way to the back of the house. I nearly stumbled into the wall as this of fear rushed over me. Something was wrong. I vanished to the back door. I threw open the door, scouring the deck for signs of Maggie or Sophi. Nothing. Shit!
I jerked my head out to the field behind the house when I heard a noise. God, no! Adam and a large group of Taker's vampires were standing there. I know my eyes went black as I noticed Sophi, limp in Adam's grip.
"Sophi!" I yelled as loud as I could, praying that she would hear me and fight back. I vanished to them ready to take on every single vampire in the group to save her. When I appeared where they were standing, they were gone. I dropped to my knees in the last place I had seen her. I let out a gut-wrenching roar as every emotions rolled through my body. I was afraid for her life and the pain they were going to put her through. I was scared that I would never see her again. But more than anything, I was angry. How dare anyone lay their hands on Sophi. When I found her, whether alive or, God forbid, she was…I couldn't even bring myself to think it, anyone of those fuckin' vamps that touched her, I was personally going to kill.
"Jeff?" I heard Matt's voice as he, John and Randy vanished beside me. "Jeff, what's going on?" I dropped my head.
"Sophi. They took her. Taker has her. Fuck me, he has her." I saw Randy glance around suddenly.
"Where's Maggie?" I looked away from him. "Shit, Maggie was with her. Fuck!" He walked a few steps away with his back to us. His hands curled into fists at his side.
I felt Matt touch my shoulder. He and John each took one of my arms and lifted me up to a standing position. I shrugged them both off.
"We'll get her back, Jeff." Matt said. "We'll get them both back." He said sparing a glance at Randy.
"But in how many pieces? God damn it! She won't be able to withstand whatever they have planned for her."
"She's never gonna betray you, Jeff." John said, defensive of her.
"I could give a fuck about that. If it saves her one ounce of pain, she can give them everything. I just…" I turned to look at Matt. "You better get your shit together and be prepared to led cause if she…if my Sophi…dies, I'm going with her. I have nothing else to live for."
"Jeff, don't…" I waved Matt off and started to walk back to the house. My mind flashed to a picture of Sophi smiling at me when she walked out of the office earlier. My knees started to buckle as the pain from the thought that I might never see her again, shot through me. If Matt and John hadn't been walking beside me, I would have hit the ground. They grabbed my arms again and vanished me back to my office. Again, I jerked away from there grasp. I walked over to my desk and sat down behind it.
I had to find my Sophi, but I couldn't think right now. I was numb. Both my brain and my body wouldn't function. The only positive I could find was that I could feel that she was still alive. When we became trued, I started to be able to pick up some of her emotions. Right now, I couldn't feel anything from her. I didn't know if it was because she wasn't close to me or because she was unconscious. But I could still feel her heart beating.
I dejectedly ran my fingers through my hair. What was I gonna do without her? Die, that's what. Sophi was my heart, my soul. I was never gonna live without her. I looked up to see Matt, John and a devastated looking Randy, busy on their phones? No doubt doing what I supposed to be doing, my job as King. I needed to get up and help them but I just couldn't. I could hear them talking but my brain wouldn't process the words.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the framed picture on my desk. It was of me and her a couple of weeks ago. We were laying in bed and she had begged me to smile at the camera for her. I had laid my forehead against her temple, not looking at the camera, but still smiling. I grabbed the photo off my desk and laid it in my lap. I traced her outline with my fingertips, thinking about how beautiful she looked with her dark hair spread out on the bright white sheets of our bed. I don't know how long I sat there staring at the picture of us together, but the next time I looked up, the office was full of vampires. Some of them were from our city and some of them were from the cities we had alliances with.
I set our picture down on the desk, ran my hands into my hair and left them there, leaning down with my elbows on my knees. This was my own personal hell. Not knowing where Sophi was or if she was okay…it was official. This truly was hell.
"Where is Hardy?" I heard a voice ask. "How long has he been like this?" Damn it, what was he doing here? Someone must have pointed me out to him cause he walked over to me. "What the fuck did you do Hardy? You true your precious Queen and then you let Taker get her? I knew I should have taken Sophi back home with me. She would be safe in my bed, but now she's in Taker's. I'm sure he likes it rough." Shane said to me. I felt myself getting angry. Shane slammed his hand down on the desk, making me look up at him. He glared at me. I growled deep in my throat. "You must like the thought of Taker hurting her. He probably has her down right now and…" Before I knew what I was doing, I was out of my seat, grabbing Shane by his shirt and shoving him into the opposite wall. I got in his face.
"Don't you EVER say anything like that again. I'll kill you." Shane just looked at me.
"What about Taker?" I growled again.
"What about him? When I get my hands on him, I'm going to kill him too." I didn't even notice that the whole room had gone silent and everyone was staring at us.
"Good, then stop mopping like she's already dead. Let's find her, kill this fucker and bring our girl home." I was stunned into silence. Shane McMahon was actually thinking of someone other than himself for a change? "Are you back with us man?" Shane asked me. I nodded.
"Yeah," I let go of him and stepped back. He stepped away from the wall and straightened out his shirt. He started to walk away from me but I grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Umm, thanks." I mumbled quietly. Shane nodded and patted my shoulder.
"Your welcome, man. It's the least I can do." I let him go and turned back to face the room. I bowed my head to them, letting them know I was sorry. I looked back up
"Okay, let's get to work."
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"Sophi, Sophi?" I could hear Maggie's voice. I slowly opened my eyes, praying that what I remembered from earlier was all a dream. When I took in the still unfamiliar room, I groaned. This was horrible. We were still trapped in some unknown location, surrounded by Taker and his men. "Sophi? Are okay?" Maggie's face was a mask of concern.
"Umm…yeah." I pushed myself up. My body actually worked this time. I got to a sitting position and leaned back against the bed. My head was swimming. I was still dizzy from the sedative Aaron had given me, yet again.
"What's going on Sophi? Where the hell are we? I just woke up on the floor and you were laying there." I wanted to cry.
"Taker has us Mags. I don't know where we are. They took you to keep me in line and they took me so that Taker could lure Jeff here and then kill him. I think Taker wants to use me to have his children. I don't know what's going to happen to use Mags." Maggie stood up. Her face took on a look of determination.
"Come on Sophi. Let's vanish outta here. By the time they realize that we're gone, we'll be back home." I shook my head.
"Maggie, I can't vanish remember? And you aren't strong enough yet to vanish someone else out of here. Besides, they have a camera over the door. Don't look!" She started to turn her head. I suddenly had a moment of inspiration. At least I could save one of us. I needed to test and see if the camera was picking up sound as well. "I can't take this anymore. If you can hear me, anyone, I'm willing to betray Jeff and lure him here. Then you guys can kill him like you want to. Come in here now and we'll do this." I said out loud. I had looked away so that I wasn't facing the camera.
"What are you talking about Sophi? Why woul…"
"Shh!" I told her quietly, discreetly covering my mouth. "I'm testing something." She just nodded. We sat there in silence for a few minutes. When the door didn't open, I was pretty sure there was no sound. I started to pull myself up to a standing position. "Okay, Maggie this is what you're gonna do. Don't look at it, but there is a big vase over by the wall. Do you see it?" By this time I had made it to my feet and was leaning over the bed.
"Yeah, I see it."
"Good. In a few seconds, I'm gonna stand up and face away from you. I want you to grab that vase and hit me with it, knocking me out."
"Sophi? Wha…" I didn't give her a chance to finish.
"Then I want you to vanish back to my, no, Jeff's house and tell them everything is fine. Don't you dare tell Jeff where here is Maggie." I told her when I saw her take out her phone out of her pocket. "Don't let him come Maggie. It's a trap and they'll kill him. Tell Jeff that I love him, but don't come for me. I can't let him die. Promise me, Maggie. Promise me that you'll tell him." I saw her nod. "Okay Maggie. Here we go."
"Wait Sophi! I can't do this. I can't leave you here and Jeff will kill me."
"No, he won't. You don't have a choice. As your Queen, I'm ordering you to do this. Now, hit me!"
"Sophi, please. I can't leave you with them. I can't do this." I felt the threat of tears listening to the desperation in her voice. I knew it was killing her to do this but I needed to get her out of here and out of danger.
"Margerette Laurell, your Queen demands that you do this. Go get the vase now!" I said through gritted teeth. I heard her walking over towards it. "Promise me that you won't tell Jeff where I am." Maggie sniffed. She was crying.
"I promise." I stood up and wobbled. I turned my back to her like I was trying to keep my balance.
"Tell Jeff that I love him."
"I will." I felt her step closer.
"I love you Maggie." She sniffed again.
"I love you too Sophi." Maggie knock the shit out of me with the vase. I was out before I hit the floor.
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Jeff's POV
I hung up the phone. I had just made arrangements for triple security at all of the buildings I owned. I was making sure that none of the vamps from Taker's gang were getting in to disturb anything or anyone. I had this weird feeling that someone was watching me. I looked up to notice someone standing in the doorway. Maggie. I vanished to the doorway.
"Maggie! Holy shit, are you okay?" I hugged her tightly to me. She nodded against my chest and started to cry. As soon as I said her name, everyone in the room looked. Randy was by our side in an instant later.
"Maggie," I let go of her and she flew into his arms, "Baby, I'm so glad your okay. I was going crazy." He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back trying to calm down her crying. I was so glad that Maggie was okay. My heart sunk back to it's depth of despair as I realized that Sophi wasn't with her. I looked out in the hall, hoping that maybe she was out there. No, she wasn't there. I turned back to Maggie and Randy.
"Maggie," I started. The tears started to roll down her cheeks again.
"She made me leave her Jeff. I didn't want to but she made me." She went on to tell me exactly what Sophi made her do. Sophi was sacrificing herself so that the rest of us would be safe.
"Where were you guys, Maggie?" She looked away and shook her head. I walked over to her and laid a hand on her arm. "Maggie, please. I need to know where she is. I have to go to her." She shook her head again.
"She mad me swear not to tell you. It's a trap. They are going to kill you, Jeff. Sophi told me to tell you that she loves you and not to come for her. She says she can't let you die for her." Maggie cried harder. She fished in her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She handed her phone to Randy.
"I know it's a trap but I don't care Maggie. I have to save her, even if it means my life. Please, Maggie…" I was literally reduced to begging.
"Randy, there are new pictures on my phone." Maggie said, tapping the phone where it lay in Randy's hand.
"Baby, this isn't the time to look at…"
"Randy, PLEASE look at the pictures." Maggie became insistent. It dawned on me what she was telling him. He started to say no again.
"Randy, look at the damn pictures!" He looked at me and then back at the phone. He flipped it open and scrolled through them. "What are they of man?"
"Ah, there's one of some woods, the side of a house, an empty bedroom and…" he looked back at me.
"What? What's the next one?" He handed me the phone. The screen had gone black. I hit the button to bring it back up. I felt my heart clinch in my chest. It was of Sophi. She was leaned over with her hands rested on the bed. The phone made a popping noise as I gripped it tighter. The side of her face, that I could see, was already starting to bruise. I could tell that her lip had recently been busted. He arms were also bruised. Thank God she was still alive though. "When did you take this?" I asked Maggie.
"Right before I came here. They aren't gonna kill her Jeff. They're gonna use her. Taker wants her to have his children, Jeff. He plans on raping her to get them. Jeff, please don't tell Sophi that I told you any of this. She'll be so mad." I snapped Maggie's phone shut and handed it back to Randy before I crushed it.
"Don't worry Maggie. She'll never know."
"Oh, I almost forgot. Kane gave me this when I vanished outside of the house." She handed me a folded piece of paper. The small paragraph told me that he was keeping an eye on Sophi and making sure that they didn't hurt her too badly. He also said that he would be there when we came and to be extra careful. Taker fully intended to kill me and take the city, making Sophi his Queen.
Everything I already knew.
"Okay," I looked back at everyone gathered in the room, "as much as I want to fly in there 'guns blazing', we need to come up with a…" I paused as I heard a knock on the front door.
"Who would that be?" John asked me. I shrugged.
"I don't know. Brad," one of my vamps stepped up to me, "go check and see who's there." He bowed slightly.
"Yes sir." He vanished and was back about 20 seconds later.
"Who was it?" I asked.
"I don't know. No one was there when I opened the door but this," he handed me a manila envelope, "was laying on the step."
"It was just laying there?" I asked, taking the envelope.
"Yes sir. Just laying there." I flipped the envelope over. It simply said, 'Open Me' on the outside. I lifted the tab and empty the contents on my desk. All the envelope contained was a DVD with 'Sophibella Hardy' written on it.
"Matt," I walked over and pulled a chair in front of the TV in the corner, "can you put this in for me?" Matt took the DVD from me and slid it into the player, pushed play and turned on the TV. Everyone in the room gathered around behind me as the TV came on.
The screen stayed black for about 30 seconds then abruptly changed to a shot of Sophi. She had been stripped down to her plum colored bra and panties. She was crying and begging for the few vampires and Adam to stop. Adam was touching her and the few vamps were biting and drinking from her. She was trying to get away but couldn't. Her arms were handcuffed to the headboard and her legs were tied to the foot of the bed. I heard the chair groan from the serious grip I had on the armrest.
"Enough!" Taker's voice boomed from the video. He walked into the shot. Adam and the other vamps stepped back. Taker ran his finger across one of her few still bleeding wounds. Sophi looked away from him as he licked his finger. "Oh, don't hide now my dear, you better get used to me drinking your blood. Or you could…tell Hardy to come for you."
"No." She said quietly. He roughly grabbed her face and turned her back to face the camera.
"Tell him to come for you!" Taker said again. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"No." She said a little bit louder. "Don't come Jeff. It's a trap. I love you but don't come for me." Taker let go of Sophi's face and backhanded her, splitting her lip again. The arm of the chair I was sitting in, cracked under my grip. Taker grabbed her face again.
"Tell him!" Her yelled at her. The blood from her lip trickled down her chin to leave a trail of brilliant red down the cream colored skin of her neck. She stayed quiet as her tongue flicked out and licked at the cut on her lip. Taker shook her face and yelled at her again. "Tell him!"
"Fuck you." Taker growled. He let go of her face and wrapped his massive hand around her small delicate throat, cutting off her air supply. Her eyes widened when she lost the ability to breathe. Taker turned his face to the camera.
"If you ever want to see your precious Queen again, you'll come." He let her go. She gasped and inhaled sharply, trying to catch her breath. "Or don't." He stroked a hand down her stomach as she coughed, trying to clear her throat. She tried to move away from his touch. "I'm kinda liking keeping her here at my disposal. I can't wait until she is fully broken and I have my turn at her. You better make your decision quickly, Hardy. Your lovely Queen's time is running out." The screen faded into black. I had noticed the time in the corner of the video. It had to have been made moments after Maggie left.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maggie walking towards me. I didn't want to deal with anyone right now. I was on the verge of my breaking point. I was way beyond livid. I wanted to break something or better yet, kill someone. Maggie stopped just short of touching me.
"Jeff?" The arm of the chair came off in my hand. Maggie jumped back away from me. Randy was instantly by her side and trying to push her behind him. I stood up and dropped the wooden arm to the floor. I held my hand up to stop Maggie from coming any closer to me. I shook my head 'no'. I vanished upstairs to our room. I paced back and forth, trying to control my anger. I know that Sophi needed me to have a cool head. I need to be able to think clearly or I would get the both of us killed. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Taker hit her and touch her. I turned and slammed my fist into the wall.
"Shit!" I looked at my bloody hand. Sophi would kill me if I got blood all over the floor. I walked into our bathroom to wash off the blood and splashed some of the cool water on my face. I left my hands on the edge of the sink, staring down at the drain in the sink as the rest of the water slowly drained out. I have to calm down enough to get to her. I blindly grabbed a towel from rack beside the sink. I wiped off my hands and face. I went to hang the towel back up and noticed Sophi's red silk robe hanging on the corner of the towel rack. She must have taken it off when she got into the shower and hung it there.
I touched the silken fabric. I lifted the robe to my face, rubbing it against my cheek. The silk reminded me of the feel of Sophi's skin. I inhaled deeply, filling my senses with her intoxicating scent. I could smell the subtle scent of her perfume and the lilac and honey scent of her skin. I inhaled again, finding myself calming down enough that I could think some what rationally. As mad as I was, I needed to tamp some of that down. My anger wasn't as important as bringing my Sophi safely home to me was. I glanced down at my left palm, seeing our shared truing mark. I curled my hand into a fist.
Okay, I was ready. I hung her robe back up where I found it and vanished back down to my office. Everyone jumped to attention when they noticed me. I waved them down.
"I'm ready to plan our attack. Let's bring our Queen home."
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I wiped my eyes on my bicep, which was the only part of my arm that I could reach. They hurt so bad from being stretched up above my head. I was laying handcuffed to this bed, waiting for Taker to either kill me or rape me repeatedly until I became pregnant with his child. God, I hoped Jeff listened to me and didn't come for me. I started to cry again as I thought about how much I had secretly, in the last few weeks, thought that I might get pregnant soon and Jeff and I could have a child of our own. A little boy or girl with dark hair and Jeff's beautiful green eyes. Now, I would never see or hold or love that child. I was as good as dead chained to this bed. Stop! I mentally scolded myself for thinking this way. Somehow, I'll get out of here and find my way back to Jeff. Maybe…yeah right. Who the hell was I kidding?
I wiped my eyes again as the door opened. Great! Another round of torture the Queen. As soon as Taker had finished making his little video for Jeff, he gave his men free rein on me with only one warning and one rule. Warning: If any of them got me pregnant, the child belonged to him. They were not to challenge him on that. Rule: They couldn't kill me. Everything else was fair game. Yeah, lucky me. So far, none of the vampires had tried to rape me. Mostly, they had beat me and threatened me with the sexual things they wanted to do to me. I glanced at the door to see who my abuser was this time.
"Finally, a little alone time with the Queen." Miz said with an evil grin on his face. I looked away. "Aww, don't go all shy on me now Mrs. Hardy." He ran his hand down my stomach, stopping just short of my panties. "I'm gonna pretend that I'm not upset that my Maggie Mae turned on you and left before we had our chance together." The consensus among Taker and his men was that Maggie had hit me to save herself and then left me here at their mercy. God damn, they were stupid. If there was any kind of smart in them, they would have known that she would never do something like that. "Are you gonna ignore me now?" I still didn't say anything. He grabbed my face, turning me towards him and slapped me. "Is that what you like? Do you like to be hurt? Is that what turns you on?" He leaned in and whispered in my ear. "Is that how you like for Hardy to fuck you, baby doll? Abuse and then hot sweat sex?" He licked my ear and stood up. "Well, I think I can handle that. You don't mind if I pretend that your Maggie do you?" He pulled his shirt over his head and leaned down over me again. "Do you think my dick is bigger than Orton's? I'm sure it is and it would make my Maggie Mae so much more happy than Orton ever could."
"She would rather die." I said quietly. Miz's eyes quickly turned black. He growled and moved down to my side right below my ribs.
"By the time we're done with you baby doll, so will you." He bit down hard on my flesh causing me to cry out in pain. "You like that? I knew you would. Do you want me to do it again?" He didn't let me answer. He moved a few centimeters over and bit down again. This time, I bit down on my own lip, keeping myself from making noise again. I tasted my own blood. Miz growled again when someone knocked on the door. "What the fuck do you want?" He yelled. The door cracked open slowly and Jay walked in.
"Man, your time is up. It's my turn to have a shot at the Queen." Miz grumbled. He leaned down and licked my ear again.
"We'll finish this later, baby doll." I jerked my head as far away from him as I could. He laughed. Miz grabbed his shirt and stomped out, shoulder-checking Jay on the way out. Jay shook his head and shut the door behind him. I heard the lock click. My heart jumped to my throat. None of the others had done that. He was going to be the one to finally rape me. Jay had been the only one I wasn't completely terrified of. His eyes had always seemed a little kinder than any of the others. I guess I was wrong.
Jay stopped by the side of the bed. When he pulled his shirt over his head, I turned my head. The tears began to fall yet again. Jay climbed into the bed and started to position himself over me.
"Please, you don't have to do this." I begged quietly. "Please. It doesn't have to come to this. You don't have to let me go, just…" Jay lowered himself on top of me but oddly, hovered just above my body. He tucked his head against my neck.
"Shh…it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I wouldn't never dream of hurting my Queen." Jay said quietly near my ear. "I'm Jeff's source. I'm here to protect you." I froze as his words sunk in. He moved his face like he was kissing my neck. "I came to tell you that your people are coming to save you. I'll be on their side. There will probably be a fight and I wanted to give you a heads up." I nodded slightly. "I need to make it look like you made me mad so I have a reason for not going ahead with hurting you." He paused. "I need to slap you. I won't hit you that hard, but I need you to sell it. Okay?"
"Okay." I whispered. Jay pushed himself away from me and sat back on his knees between mine.
"I'm sorry, my Queen." He reared back and slapped me. The hit was nothing more than him pushing my face. I jerked my head to the side like he slapped the hell out of me. He climbed out of the bed and leaned back in my face like he was threatening me. "Any moment now." He turned, grabbed his shirt and huffed out of the door, slamming it behind him. I noticed that when he unlocked the door and pulled it open, he locked it back.
My mind began to race at the possibility that I might get out of here. I barely had time to focus my thoughts when I felt the atmosphere change, letting me know that someone had vanished into the room with me. I looked down past the foot of the bed where my legs were tied. I felt a wave of relief followed quickly by a wave of fear wash over me. I was grateful that they had come for me, but I knew every single person standing there, it would kill me to see one of them hurt. Randy, John and Matt were standing at the forefront of the somewhat semi-circle. If they got hurt, I would never forgive myself. Neither would Maggie or Jeff ever forgive me either.
"What are you doing in here? You have to get out! They can see you cause they're watching me!" I yelled at them, trying to make them understand that they needed to leave. I couldn't let them stay and watch them get hurt or worse…killed. Suddenly, I saw Randy and John being shoved forward. They moved out of the way as Jeff came barreling towards me. He was by my side an instant later. He lightly ran his hands over my body, making sure that I was relatively fine. He placed both hands on my face as I watched the look of relief come over his face. He kissed me repeatedly.
"Love, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I let this happen. I'm gonna get you out of here." I shook my head.
"No, Jeff! You cant be here!" I felt the tears start to roll down my cheeks. "Jeff, he wants to kill you. I don't want you to die for me. Please, just leave me. I'll get out somehow. Please…" I pleaded with Jeff to listen to me. He just smiled softly and kissed me again.
"You know I can't leave you here. I'll never leave you behind, Sophi. Never. I'm going to try not to die, but you know this is my fight." Jeff took off his button up shirt, leaving him in just a black wife beater, and covered me up with it. "I have to be the one to kill him. Not only for what he did to my family, but for what he's done to you. I can't let him live." He moved down to the foot of the bed and untied my ankles which I had continuously rubbed raw from trying to free them. He briefly touched , just a whisper of his fingertips, the abraded skin of my ankles, cursing softly under his breath.
He came back to the handcuffs. I looked up above my head as Jeff grabbed the chain and attempted to pull apart the links. "Fuck!" he said quietly to himself. He attempted to break apart the section of headboard I was attached to at least get me loose. By this time, John had come over to help Nothing was happening.
"I think they're lead, Jeff." John told him. So that was why Jeff didn't just grab me and vanish us out of here. The lead in the handcuffs and headboard were enough to prevent it.
"I don't care. If we have to, we'll take the whole damn bed with us." Jeff said. Why was he still here? Why wasn't he listening to me? Didn't he understand the danger he was in?
"Jeff, please…please leave me. You have to go. Baby, please just go. He's gonna kill you." I sobbed. Jeff stopped trying to break the headboard to cup my face.
"Love, shh…it's okay." He kissed my forehead. "You'll be okay, I promise. Don't cry." He leaned in and kissed my ear. "Do you love me Sophi?" He whispered to me.
"Yes, Jeff. You know I do. More than anything." I whispered back.
"Then will you trust me to save you, love?" I hesitated, but nodded.
"Yes, I will." He smiled slightly and kissed my cheek.
"Good." He and John went back to work at trying to get me free. I heard the headboard groan as they pulled it away from the wall in an attempt to break it. They each had a foot on the wall to anchor themselves while they pulled. Everyone in the room turned their heads at the same time to look at the door as it shuddered repeatedly on its hinges.
"Shit! Jeff, we're outta time." John said.
"I know." Jeff reached across me and the bed to grab John's arm. "John, I need you to guard her with your life." John nodded. Jeff looked back down at me, caressing my cheek. "If something happens to me, take care of her. Don't let her follow me into death."
"Yes, sir." John said, bowing his head.
"No, Jeff. Please…" I begged him again. The men formed the same semi-circle around the side of the bed closest to the door. They were a vampire barrier between me and the door.
"I love you, Sophi. Don't you ever forget that. No matter what happens, I'll always love you." He kissed me. "Forever." He whispered. Why did I feel like he was telling me 'Good bye'? My heart felt like it was tearing in two.
Jeff looked over at the door when it started to vibrate dangerously in its jam. All at once, Jeff and John were throwing themselves over me to protect me as the door exploded into the room, raining fragments of woods down on us. The door seemed to blow apart just by someone's violent force of will. Taker. John stood up and blocked me with as much of his body as he could. Jeff touched my face and vanished, only to reappear right in front of his men. I know John was just trying to keep me from seeing but if I raised my head up slightly, I could see between everyone. Taker and his men had filed in and were standing in a similar formation.
"Hardy, finally we meet again." Taker said with an evil smile. "It's a good thing you don't listen to your Queen."
"Taker, let's make this between just you and I. Send everyone out of here, including my Queen and we'll end this." Jeff said, nonchalantly. Not like his life was on the line or anything. Taker just laughed.
"Why would I do that when I want your precious Queen to see me kill you. The first time I take her, I want to be covered in your blood." Taker growled at him.
"I'll ask you one more time, send everyone out of here and let's keep this between us or I'll be forced to have my men attack." Jeff said, still acting like it didn't matter one way or the other. I, on the other hand was going insane. This was my own personal hell. Having to watch Jeff fight Taker and meet his possible death was the worst moment of my life. This truly was my hell. If Jeff died today, I would cease to live. I would will my heart and body to shut down. I wasn't going to live without him.
"No way in hell, Hardy." Jeff nodded.
"Fine." Jeff flicked his left hand and his men, except Randy, John and Matt, went for them. Taker's men busted ass getting out of the room. No doubt to lure the men to other parts of the house so that Taker could have the upper hand. Jay, Kane and Aaron stayed behind. "Now, that's a little better and Ihave the upper hand." Taker narrowed his eyes at Jeff.
"How do you figure that Hardy?" To Taker's surprise, Jay walked from behind him to stand behind Jeff, next to Randy.
"You fuckin' trader! I knew you were no good!" Aaron said, pointing to Jay. Taker waved his hand, silencing him.
"Now, this fight is going to be between the two of us. Neither of them will interfere and my men won't either." Taker nodded once. Jeff didn't hesitate. He charged forward hooking his arms around his waist and dropping him to the floor. Jeff laid into him, punching him continuously in the face and upper body. Taker took a couple of good hits and then came back with some of his own. Taker got one good one that knocked Jeff off of him and sent him skidding across the floor. I made a quiet noise. John turned around to look at me.
"Baby, you shouldn't watch this." He used his thumb to wipe the flowing tears from my cheeks. "He wouldn't want you to cry over him. He's gonna be okay. Despite what he told us, we aren't gonna let him kill Jeff." I whimpered quietly at the thought of Jeff dying. "Don't cry baby. He'll be okay." He rubbed my cheek and spun back around as Jeff grunted in pain. Taker had knocked him to the floor near the foot of the bed. He grabbed Jeff by the throat and lifted him off the floor. He shoved him into the wall across from the foot of the bed. Jeff's feet were a good foot off of the ground.
"Should I let your Queen watch you die? Do you think she'll be damaged from that?" Taker got into his face. "Do you think she'll cry over you while I fuck her?" Jeff growled and slammed his forehead down into Taker's nose, instantly breaking it. He dropped Jeff to grab his destroyed nose. "You wanna go for blood and broken bones? You wanna up it? Fine, we'll do it your way. Aaron, swords. I'll even be fair to you Hardy boy. I'll get you one too."
"Shit!" John muttered to himself.
"What? Please, tell me." I said. John just shook his head. "I'm still Queen here damn it! Tell me NOW, John!" He sighed heavily.
"Taker's weapon of choice is his sword. He has killed many people with that sword. Including Jeff and Matt's father." I sucked in my breath. Oh God. I felt ill. This was it. I was going to see Jeff die before me. I couldn't breath as Aaron reappeared with two wicked mid-evil looking swords. Aaron handed Taker his and dropped the remaining sword at Jeff's feet. Taker took a couple of steps away from Jeff. He grinned.
"Now, we fight." Jeff got his sword up in just enough time to deflect Taker's deadly swing. Steel clashed against steel over and over again, sending out sparks every time the two swords met. They both got a couple of swipes in and were pretty evenly matched until Taker got lucky. He stabbed Jeff in the side. When Jeff doubled over in pain, Taker used the flat side of his sword to hit him in the back of his legs, driving Jeff to his knees. He must have hurt Jeff badly cause he wasn't getting back up. It looked like Jeff was having trouble breathing.
"My dear," Taker directed at me, "you may want to watch this. This is the end of your King's life." He raised his sword above his head, readying to deliver the death blow. Think Sophi, think.
"No!" I screamed, causing Taker to pause. "Me. Kill me instead." I yelled to him.
"No, Sophi." Jeff said weakly from the floor.
"Ah, that is actually a good idea. What's better than for him to watch you die and then for me to kill him." Taker took a step towards me. Jay, Randy and Matt tightened up their formation in front of John and I. They had no intentions of letting Taker near me without him going through them first. "I will cut every single one of you down to get to her. I have no problem killing all of you, even her supraveghere there." John growled. "Now, move before I kill everyone." They didn't budge. "Fine. Now, you're dead too." Taker raised his sword to cut down Randy. Before he could start the swing, Kane reached out and grabbed his wrist. A startled Taker turned to look at Kane. "What the hell are you doing?" He bellowed at him. He tried to pull his arm away but Kane refused to let go. "Kane, let me go." Kane just stared him down. "I'll kill you for this." Taker growled.
"No, you won't." Jeff said quietly from the floor. Taker looked down at him in the same instant that Jeff drove his sword through Taker's chest. Jeff stood up and forced the blade out of his back. Taker's sword clanked to the floor as his eyes widened in shock and surprise. Jeff snarled as he twisted the sword. "That is for all the strigoi you have killed." Jeff twisted it again. "This is for my mother and father." He twisted again as he shoved Taker down to his knees. "And this is for you daring to touch and threaten my Sophi." Jeff yanked out the sword. "You'll never be able to hurt anyone ever again." Taker's breath was harshly sawing in and out as he slowly died.
"Finish it." Taker muttered, barely breathing. Jeff smiled.
"Enjoy hell, Mark." The blade whistled through the air, severing Taker's head from his body. His body slowly tipped forward and hit the floor as his head lay close by. Jeff stripped off his wife beater and wiped Taker's blood off his face and dropped the shirt over Taker's head.
Randy, Matt, John and Jay moved aside to let Jeff get to me. I couldn't stop the tears of pure joy that cascaded down my cheeks at the sight of him walking towards me. I could see the stab wound on his side had already stopped bleeding and was starting to close up.
"John, stay here." Jeff turn to the rest of them. "Go help them round up the rest of his men and bring them here to me." They nodded and headed out the door. "John, hand me Taker's sword." John walked over to Taker's body and picked up his discarded weapon and handed it to Jeff. He finally came back to me.
"Love," he touched my cheek, "close your eyes." I closed them tight. I heard the sword whistle through the air again. Suddenly, my arms went limp and fell to the bed. Jeff had cut through the chain. I was free. I opened my eyes to find Jeff's face right there. He smiled and kissed me. "He's gone, love. I got rid of him for you." He whispered to me.
"Is it really over? Is he really gone Jeff?" I asked. He grinned and kissed me again.
"Yes, love, it's really over. He's gone forever." He helped me sit up. My arms still hurt but at least I was starting to get some of the feeling back in them.
Jeff was helping me slip his button up shirt up my shoulders when the men started to file in with their, for lack of a better word, POWs. Temporary POWs. John, who had stayed with Jeff and I, had been watching Kane and Aaron. When everyone had filed in, Jeff made the POWs kneel. He stepped in front of them, holding on to me. He wanted them to know who was still in charge, who was still King and Queen after all was said and done.
"I'm going to give each of you a choice. You can either choose to acknowledge me as your King and serve me and the Queen or you can chose not to. If you chose to serve me, all your past sins under Taker will be over looked and I will find you a nice stable job and a place to live so you can become a productive part of the city. If you chose not to serve me, you will be executed, here on the spot." Jeff let go of me and kissed my cheek. "Please stay back here, love. I don't want them near you until I can be sure that they pose no threat to you," he whispered in my ear. I brushed some of his hair away from his face and nodded.
"Okay, baby."
Jeff stepped up to each vampire in turn and asked them the same question, 'Will you acknowledge me as your King?" Each answered, 'Yes, your majesty.' They bowed, with their foreheads touching the floor at Jeff's feet, the ultimate sign of respect and also asking for forgiveness. Even Aaron, the one who had drugged me and stood by Taker's side till the end, said yes to Jeff and bowed at his feet. He even gave Jeff the key to my handcuffs that he had in his pocket.
Then Jeff came to Kane. He asked him the same question. Kane said nothing. "I'm sorry. I forgot that you don't speak." Jeff said to him. "You may nod 'yes' or 'no'. Will you serve me?" Kane looked at the floor.
"No." He said quietly. Everyone was stunned. One, Kane was the first one to say 'no' and two, that was the first word he had spoken in some twenty-something years.
"No?" Jeff asked, not believing.
"No. I'm sorry your majesty but my loyalty lies somewhere else. I can not serve you." I was stunned. How could Kane say 'no'? he was the one who essentially saved Jeff's life.
"Well, then who do your loyalties lie with?" Jeff asked. Kane looked up and directly at me.
"They lie with the Queen. I will serve her or no other. Not that I don't acknowledge you, my King, but she is the one I chose to serve." Kane bowed in my direction. Jeff looked at me and then back at Kane. He held his hand out to me, asking me to come to his side. Once I did, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him.
"Sophi, this is up to you." He stroked my lower back. He kissed my cheek. "It's your decision, love."
"Oh," I looked down at Kane, who was currently bowing at my feet. I looked back at Jeff. He could obviously read what I was thinking. He nodded, letting me know that it was okay. I reached out and touched Kane's shoulder, making him look up. "please, you don't have to bow to me. If anything, I should be bowing to you."
"Regina mea?" My Queen? He asked, clearly not understanding what I meant. I smiled at him.
"You saved Maggie and I when we were little. You kept Taker from killing us. And just now, you saved Jeff's life and my life once again. Kane, please stand up." Kane looked at Jeff, who nodded. Kane stood up.
"Kane…"
"Regina mea, if you would, could you please call me by the name my mother gave me? I don't want to be called by the name that Taker gave me." He kept looking at the floor.
"Of course. What would you like me to call you?"
"Glen. Please call me Glen." I smiled slightly.
"Okay…Glen. Thank you, for everything. I wholeheartedly accept your loyalty and servitude." I touched his arm. Again, he went to his knees in front of me. He took my right hand and kissed the Black Diamond ring. (Another sign of respect, Jeff later told me.)
"Regina mea, I will do my best by you. I'll never fail you." I placed my hand on his shoulder.
"I know." I stepped back into the comfort of Jeff's arms. Jeff directed Randy to take Taker's former men back to the hotel. They would stay on the 13th floor. We never booked the some 20 odd rooms on that floor. The double-occupancy rooms were used for things like this. If a vampire needed a place to stay, Jeff set them up in one of those rooms. Randy started making calls. The first one was to Maggie letting her know that he was fine and so was everyone else.
I stay attached to Jeff's side. I just needed to hold on to him, reassuring myself that he was really okay. Jeff had a serious grip on me as well. I guess he was thinking the same thing about me. I looked up into his face. He had a bruise along one side of his jaw, bruising along his neck and an almost healed cut on his cheek. I knew I didn't look much better but I had never been so happy to be beat up and see Jeff beat up in my entire life. The alternative was simply unbearable to think about. I pressed my face against his shoulder and laid a hand on his bare chest. He looked at me and smiled. He turned so that I was pressed fully against his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and settled my cheek above his heart. It was wonderful to hear it pounding in my ear. Jeff softly stroked my hair.
"Jeff?" I asked quietly.
"Yes, love?" He said, still stroking my hair. I pulled back to look at him.
"Can we get the hell out of here and go home?" He smiled again, leaning in to kiss my forehead.
"Yes we can. Let's go home." Jeff pulled out his phone and called Dr. Dave, asking him to meet us at the house. He let Randy, Matt and John know that we were leaving and vanished us back to our room.
I was home. I was home, with Jeff and we were both alive. This was the most glorious feeling. Dr. Dave arrived a few minutes later and, at Jeff's insistence, made sure that I truly was okay. To turn the tables, I made Jeff get his side checked out. We were both fine. Bruised and battered, but still, for the most part, we were fine. He left a few moments later, leaving Jeff and I alone.
I insisted that I take a shower. I wanted to wash off all traces of Taker and the abuse I suffered at his hands. At the same time, Jeff vanished down the hall and took a shower in the guest bathroom.
I finished up, wrapped myself in my robe and walked back into our room, just as Jeff vanished back in. The moment Jeff saw me, he walked over and wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight.
He lifted me up and carried me, bridal style, over to the bed. He laid me down and crawled in beside me. Jeff wrapped his arms around me again and pulled me against his body, just holding me. He pressed a kiss to my temple and laid his forehead there.
Was this a dream? Was I really here with him and everything was okay?
"Jeff?"
"Hmm?" He pressed another kiss to my temple.
"This is real, right? Taker's gone and we're okay?"
"Yes, love. This is real. He's gone. We're fine." I closed my eyes.
"I'm not gonna wake up and be back in that room again am I? I don't think I could take that." A few tears slipped from beneath my lashes. I felt Jeff's hand softly caress my face.
"Sophi. Look at me, love." I opened my eyes to find myself staring into Jeff's amazing Emerald eyes. "You are never gonna be in that house again. Tomorrow morning, I'll have some of our men go through the house to see if there is anything useful there, then…I'm burning it to the ground. I don't want you to ever have to see that house again. By tomorrow evening, every trace of Taker in the city will be gone." I burrowed myself closer to Jeff's body. I kissed his chest.
"I love you, Jeff. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm so glad that you came into my life." I kissed his chest again. "Thank you for not listening to me and coming to save me. I love you so much."
"I couldn't breathe when I saw them take you. I knew that I was going to die if they killed you. I could never not come for you, love. I love you with every fiber of my being. I will never go another day with out telling you." I looked up into the face of my love, the man that I planned on spending the rest of my eternity with.
"Telling me that you love me everyday? You do that already. And besides, I know that you do." I kissed his beautiful lips, smiling. He smiled back and kissed me.
"No, I know that I do that, but I need to tell you…Sophibella, my love," he caressed my cheek with his marked palm and kissed me softly, "you were always worth the wait."
This, sadly is the last chapter. I have just a bit more for you and then the offical end. I do have a question for you though, would you like to see a sequel? Maybe Randy and Maggie's story? I kinda have it worked out but I need to know if you would like to read it. Take a second and tell me what you think! =^.^=