First, a big old kiss to all of you, it just makes my heart go pitter-patter having others check out this story. Now for the mundane part…
Disclaimer: All Twilight characters belong to Stephanie Meyers, while I'm just teasing and bending them for a bit. No profit is being collected from the fiction contained within.
The storyline and non-Twilight characters are my creative fault and mine alone.
The storyline has women loving women, oh my, "Danger! Will Robinson Danger!" If this kind of love scares you, well darling turn around and go back the other way.
All language boo boos, whether it is in grammar or spelling or other miscues they lie at my feet, oh I could blame MS Word but heck fire that would be just silly.
Pausing in her drawing, Lina dressed in designer blue jeans and a soft yellow blouse, flitted over to her bedroom window and watched the blizzarding snow as it twirled and swirled towards the ground. It was like a chaotic dance, beautiful in its potent splendor. The snowstorm was first major one to hit the area and it seemed like Mother Nature was going all out. Already eight inches lay on the ground with the promise of ten more from the weather channel but Lina knew it would be more like twenty by the time the storm left the area.
Tilting her head she could hear Dani across the hall in her room, pacing and muttering about how unfair it was for her father to keep her home on a Friday night just because of a little snow. Lina's amber eyes twinkled in amusement as she listened to her friend and the absurdity of the comment. Even by Minnesota standards this was hardly a little snowstorm and certainly not one to take likely. Of course, Lina understood the reason for Dani's teenage moment of angst she was thinking with her hormones not her brain. She and her current boyfriend had made plans for the evening. Plans that if Conrad had found out about the boy in question would've of learned first hand what the word eunuch meant.
Shaking her head at Dani's continued diatribe towards her father, Lina turned her attentions back to the young human woman she had been drawing. The woman with the long chestnut brown hair and deep chocolate brown eyes had been haunting her mind for nearly a year. Lina had no idea who the woman was, not her name nor where she lived only that she was important to her. The images she received of the young woman, Lina knew were disjointed memories from her life.
"God how I wish they wouldn't be so scattered," she muttered. "Clarity would be a really help, but all I get is bits and pieces of my beautiful phantom."
Suddenly a smile graced as Lina's lips as she recalled one memory of the girl that had made her heart melt. The young woman's head was tipped down slightly as she shyly bit her bottom lip. A small hand and Lina just knew it was her hand, was tucking a loose strand of chestnut hair back behind the woman's ear. It was such an enduring vision that Lina had instead of just doing a drawing, she had made an oil painting of it.
Running her fingers through her spiked coifed hair she sighed softly as she recalled Gabi's thoughts on the girl.
(Flashback)
"She's quite lovely Lina," Gabriella remarked holding up the finished painting of the young woman. "You've done a wonderful job capturing her soul. Her brown eyes are quite enchanting almost a velvet quality to them I think. From this picture I would imagine her to be a gentle shy woman."
"That's the impression I had as well," gazing at the painting. "I just wish I knew who she was and why she haunts my memories." Sighing softly.
"Ah, my dear, you do know her, you just can't recall who she is just yet, but I daresay she is very important to you, perhaps even your soulmate."
"She's human."
"As we all were once, except maybe Aro and his brothers," Gabriella chuckled slightly as she handed the painting back. "The way they behave you'd think they sprung from the earth as vampires."
"You'd have no issues with turning her?"
"If it's what she wanted and she was my mate then no I don't see the problem." Seeing the surprised expression on the woman's face Gabriella wrapped her arms around her. "Unlike some, my love I don't see vampires as monsters, just an evolutional variation to humans, but putting that aside, if you two are true soulmates then no barrier can stop that love from coming together."
"Even if I don't remember who or where she is?" Lina asked with sorrow filling her entire being.
"But my petite little dancer, that is already changing," she said pointing to the painting Lina was holding.
(End Flashback)
As much as the idea of the brown-eyed woman being her soulmate, appealed to Lina, she was scared to put all her hopes into it being true. There were just too many ifs into the equation. Sighing Lina took a deep breath and decided to place her thoughts elsewhere for the moment. Hearing Dani moan about how nature and her father hated her Lina gave out a tinkle of laughter. Dancing away from the window Lina made the decision to go and comfort Dani as she reached the door she was stopped by a vision.
Screams permeated the air, roars of voices echoed back and forth, and the carnage of limbs lay on the stone floors. In the midst of all the chaos Gabriella kneeling on the floor cradling an auburn haired female vampire to her body. Her clothes were shredded and stained with vemoness blood. Her handsome face was ravaged with slash marks and the irises of her eyes were colorless and there was a pink fluid oozing out of the corners of her eyes.
"Emil," Gabriella rasped out turning her head towards a tall dark skinned man. "Torch it now!"
"But you and Zita…" the man called out his French accent thick with concern.
"Unlike Zita my gifts are not hindered by the severity of my injuries. We'll be gone before your flames touch us." Though she couldn't see the man, his hesitation was evident making Gabriella growl. "Katrina, get your goddamn mate to light this place before they completely recover."
"Do it Emil, they'll be safe," the blond haired woman said touching the man's arm. "Gabriella's right."
With a nod Emil brought his hands together and a small fireball began to grow becoming larger with each passing second. His face was scrunched in concentration and his body trembling from the exertion. Finally with a roar he released the fireball and the room was consumed with blue and white flames.
Lina staggered as the vision ended, her knees hitting the floor as all the strength in her seeped away. It was the first time she had ever had a vision of Gabriella and her work for the Volturi, god knows Lina tried several times to find the tall woman when she was away. Now she was rather glad she had not been able to see into Gabi's work before because she realized she would've snatched her head bald from worry.
Summoning up her strength she pulled herself up and quickly grabbed her cell phone and speed dialed Gabriella's phone number. Instead of getting the woman she went straight to voice mail.
"Greetings and salutations, if you're getting this message then more then likely I've busted the darn thing, see Sara no cussing this time, but have no worries. My girls insisted I buy more then one when we were in Vegas so drop me a howdy and I'll get back to you. Toodles."
Growling in frustration Lina's amber eyes darkened as she waited for the message to finish. "Gabi, please call me. I had a vision. Please be all right, I can't lose you. I've lost too much already." Lina couldn't stop the sob that escaped her lips as she finished speaking.
As minutes ticked by, Lina's agitation increased, she felt like a panther trapped inside a cage, while her prey merrily pranced on the other side. The beast inside her petite frame trembled to tear things a part, to release a holy hell of destruction to ease the tension building inside of her. Hearing Dani still mumbling about the injustice of being trapped at home, Lina couldn't but agree with the younger girl wholeheartedly.
Clenching her hands in to fists, "God, Gabi, is this what you call taking care of a minor difficulty for the Volturi." She muttered to the walls in her room as she paced. "If anything happens to you, I swear I'm going to tell Conrad all about these so called royals so we can tear them apart."
Suddenly Lina was overcome with another vision.
Gabriella popped into her bedroom suite, her knees buckling under her impacting the floor with a quiet thud.
"Fuck, that was as savage as a meat axe," she rasped out, keeping her voice soft to not alert the others in the house. "Lina, I need your help, grab some blood cause I sure as hell can't hunt, yet."
As the vision ended Lina blurred out of her room first to the attached garage where Gabi kept a supply of animal blood for emergencies. She grabbed three containers and then went up to the third level to Gabi's suite, just beating the older woman's arrival by seconds.
Involuntarily gasping, even though her vision had shown what had occurred it was still heart rending to see Gabi's abused form up close. Her left hand dangled useless and Lina saw the deep bite mark telling her the hand was temporarily paralyzed from vampire venom. The smell of venom and blood made her swallow harshly it was repulsive to her nostrils as it covered Gabi natural soothing scent.
"Saw me coming did you my petite seer," Gabi smirked as Lina wrapped her arms around catching her and stopping her from crashing to the floor.
"I saw it all," she whispered her voice quavered as she took the taller woman's weight with ease making her glad to be a vampire as she doubted as a human she could of handled Gabi's 143 pounds so easily.
Gazing at Gabriella's eyes her lips quivered in dismay. Up close she could see the irises but the normally bright amber eyes were covered with a thick milky substance, which watered them down to a pale sickly yellow.
"Shhh, figured you might once Zita passed out," she murmured. Feeling the delicate fingers caress her face. "They're not permanently ruined and the pain has receded."
"Oh Gabi," she cried softly thinking about how awful the pain must have been. Pulling the woman tighter to her. "How can you be sure about your eyes?"
"I've encountered others she spat on and they're eyesight is slowly returning. Thankfully she was a newborn or otherwise I'm sure the outcome would have been different." Shifting slightly in Lina's arms, "let's get these defiled rags off of me, so I can wash away the stench before I bend an elbow of blood."
It didn't take long to divest Gabi of the tattered remains of her clothing. Examining the woman as she guided her to the shower in the ensuite, Lina knew there would be new scars added to the older ones that decorated the sinewy body. Her gaze paused on largest scar that laced across Gabi's lower back that crawled over half of her torso ending just above her pubic bone. The first time she had seen it, Lina had gasped in horror and then apologize for her reaction.
(Flashback)
"Darling, I'm quite use to it shocking others," Gabi remarked with a smile. Hugging a mortified Lina to her she continued, "it's not pretty sight but after over two centuries I don't even notice it. This scar is just a reminder of the day I went from human to vampire."
"How did it happen," Lina asked touching the scar emblazoned on the woman.
"I received it from a fire that should have killed me as it did my three loves, Martha, Peter and Cassie, my children." Gabriella paused and closed her eyes at the memories, "they were the most precious things in my human life. My second husband Virgil had gone quite mad and unbeknownst to me until it was too late, he had set our cabin on fire. He had blocked the door so there was no escape."
"Oh my god, Gabi," tears that couldn't be shed filled Lina's eyes as she pulled the woman into a tighter hug.
"By the time I reached my babies they had succumbed to the smoke, which was a godsend, they didn't suffer and for that I'll always be thankful. Before I passed out a large burning beam crashed on me and I don't recall anything afterwards until I woke as a vampire under the care of Patience Miles. She's the one who dragged me from the building and changed me."
"Well, we must find her so I can thank her, because without this Patience Miles, I wouldn't be here." Lina replied softly.
"Wish we could, my dear, but Patience was killed by a crazed newborn a few years after rescuing me."
(End Flashback)
Shaking away the memory, Lina guided Gabriella in to the shower.
(Time Shift)
Holding a clean and sated Gabi in her arms as they lay in bed together, Lina ran her fingers through the silky short mahogany hair as the older woman snuggled around her petite body. Where Lina was dressed in blue silk pajamas, Gabriella was wearing an oversized green t-shirt and a pair of flannel boxer shorts.
"Gabi are all your missions like that one?"
"No, my petite one," she replied giving Lina's arm a soft squeeze. "We usually don't encounter such a large coven, most times they're much smaller." Sighing softly, "but I don't think it will be the last time."
Pausing in her ministrations to her friend's hair Lina frowned at the idea, "but surely the Volturi won't be sending you again not after this?"
"Once I'm able to see again then yes, I'll be sent out. It is the nature of my employment but until then I will have softer jobs. In fact, if you would like you could be my driver for the next one."
"What you already have one? How?" She demanded.
"After I dropped Zita in the Volturi's care Jane caught me before I could pop home to you and told me about it." Taking Lina's hand that was clutching her waist she kissed it before continuing, "she only kept me a few minutes love."
Huffing slightly, "well that was a few minutes too long as far as I'm concerned." Taking a deep breath to allow Gabriella's scent to calm her, "so what's this job?"
"Nothing exciting, Aro wants me to visit a coven in the Olympic Peninsula there's been rumors about new attacks in the area and I'm to investigate and see if they've heard anything."
"Isn't that near where I was attacked?" Lina whispered her normally chiming voice was now quite subdued.
Mentally slapping herself, Gabriella shifted from her position and pulled the smaller one into her arms, "oh love I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. Forget I asked you."
Closing her eyes, "no, I want to go with you. Perhaps, being there will help me to remember who I am." Leaning into Gabi's body, "I think I need to take this step." Pausing for a moment, "Gabi how are you going to explain to the family what happened to your eyes?"
"The truth to a point, though I must admit I had thought of running away, but I don't know how long my eyes will be this way."
"So I get to protect your sparkly ass from other vampires for a change," Lina chimed out with a giggle.
"Well," rubbing her chin. "I guess it depends on what they want to do with my ass, my petite one."
Kissing the woman's cheek, "I'll keep that in mind," Lina responded her eyes gleaming with merriment.