A/N: Yeah! Second post for the night! Typing so fast cause my dad's waiting for his turn. The beauty of a shared computer. :D Just had my very first basketball training, and to be honest, it isn't that bad. I just need more training, and I'm planning on jogging around my neighbourhood tomorrow. Get rid of that extra fat. The right way. :'D

Oh, and one more thing. HAPPY HANNUKAH for those who are celebrating. I don't. :\

DISCLAIMER: Ho Ho Ho, Since I'm not Santa Claus, I can't claim everything, that includes the characters from YUMGirlAndMoltMan's vampiric story between Horatio and Anisa, CSI:Miami, and lyrics from Coldplay. Can't say that I didn't own this story though. :)

Chapter 16:

Marisol's POV:

I could still remember the meetings I had with the elders a decade ago, even before Anastasia came into our lives. They were disgusted by my presence, telling Horatio that humans are meant to be slaves and food. Poor Horatio, he must have gone through a lot for me. If it hasn't been for Yelina, the only female elder, and her power to see the newborns, I would have been in dirty clothes, feeling weak and without adequate food or water, or even dead. Anastasia would have never ceased to exist.

The sun began to set as we arrived into the familiar mansion, it's very antique, being more than 500 meters high and is set to be built around the Italian renaissance. It still has a nice touch around it, even towards the minor details such as the staircase and the door handle. Horatio stopped the Hummer just in front of its roundabout, cutting its engine off, before turning to look at me, "Sweetheart, if you don't want to do this, we could find some other way."

His hands went from the handbrakes, to cup my hands, looking at me with longing eyes as I shook my head heavily, "That's okay, Horatio. I want my daughter back and sound, if that's what it takes."

He singlehandedly took my hand and pressed his lips on it, "Anything for you, my love." He then went on to open his door and in a few seconds, he was standing behind the car door from where I was seating, opening the door and waiting for me to get out of the car safely, being the perfect gentleman.

I slowly got out from the car, being extra careful not to slip and fall since the Hummer does have a high suspension. I accidentally missed my footing on the step, but Horatio caught me before my face could kiss the floor. I smiled and gave a peck on his cheeks, "Oh, thank you for that."

"No problem," he smiled as he helped me to regain my balance. I straightened my suit as Horatio let out a chuckle, "You know sweetheart, fashion isn't really helpful at times."

I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue at him, being the childish little girl I always am, "Yes, thank you, Mr. Caine. It can be quite cumbersome, yeah I get it." I looked at him again, just as he reached his hand out for me, palm up. I could still remember the first dance at the wedding, with him doing the exact same thing. It was the sweetest thing he had ever done to me, even if it is such a small act.

"Shall we, my sweetheart?" I smiled as my hand went around his, and we started heading for the mansion. On the way towards the inside of the building, a manly figure was leaning against one of the pillars. Horatio slipped out a growl as both of us recognized the person. It's Rick Stetler.

"Tsk. If it isn't Captain America and his wife. You've woken us up quite early again, Horatio. If this keeps up, the elders wouldn't like it. This had better be good," Rick looked away into the distance with sarcasm, something that Horatio and I didn't really like about him. It's a good thing he didn't get promoted to a Lieutenant in the police force either. Served him right.

"Oh, this is good Rick," Horatio emphasized on his name, as if his mouth has just tasted something awful, "You might want to come around and see," he jerked my arm, not too harsh in case he hurts me by accident, and went straight for the wooden structures that would lead us into the meeting.

"Sure, I'll be there," groaned Rick as the doors closed behind us.

I looked around the room again, taking in the new things that I've never seen before with my vampiric eyes. When I entered the room before, everything was dim; I could only see slight patterns of the elders' faces. I couldn't even remember the turn by turn directions into the meeting room myself.

But now that I could see it clearly, my eyes widened to our surroundings, as reality kicks in. The common room that we are currently in consists of vampires and humans, except the fact that the humans themselves were kneeling on the floor, begging for possible essential items like food and water, or even affection. The bad thing is: the vampires only looked away and talked to their comrade, ignoring them completely, or busy punishing them.

I'm sorry you have to see this, sweetheart. These people certainly aren't the reasons I'm proud of, Horatio's voice echoed in my mind.

I looked back at his face, not planning to look at the devastation any longer, That's okay, Horatio. It's just that, sometimes, we need to see things for ourselves. I know its bad, but it's for our own good.

All right sweetheart, we continued walking down a path before we reached a set of double doors. They were clearly engraved with flower patterns and that the material was made out of pure gold. Not the type that you would find in the Hawaiian beach, yet the Florida bays.

As we reached the doors, Horatio took one last glance at me, Ready, my love?

I'm ready, I gave him a few nods, just to make sure, before opening the doors and entering a sort of dark cave. It has chairs and a large table that is high enough so that the person would have to look up when being interrogated, the kind that would give you a sense of insecurity, of being small.

Heads turned as we continued walking, before stopping in the middle of the semicircle, awaiting orders. The elders were discussing a certain issue earlier, but stopped once we entered the room. "Ah, if it isn't Horatio Caine and his wife."

"Good evening, elder Aaron," Horatio instructed me once on what we should do when we were on the road, and remembering it for now, the both of us bowed in front of them, not saying another word.

"Word comes around that you've needed our help this time. I hope Anastasia is in good shape? I do tend to miss her presence," the leader of the elders, seated in the middle, began tapping his fingers impatiently on the table, leaning forward.

"That's the problem, your highness," Horatio didn't want to use the word highness, but that's the only way around here, to give respect to someone who has lived a longer time and seen more things than you, "You see, she's been kidnapped."

"She's WHAT?" Aaron stood up in an instant, while the others murmured to themselves. On my right, elder Yelina's eyes seemed as if it is going to pop out when she heard the news, "When was she kidnapped? This has got to be your entire fault, Horatio! How could you let your, I meant our, precious little gem get lost?"

Horatio's blood pressure, if he has one, was rising rapidly, but he managed his cool. He didn't want to fight back and end up losing our choice of help, "She was in school when it happened, your highness. I believe the person whom abducted her is related to Grey. I think that he and Casey had a family."

The room suddenly became a fish market with all the discussions going on between the elders and those who attended today's meeting, only to be hushed by the leader, "Grey and Casey together? That explains her disappearance. And this time we're not letting Grey escape again. Once, it's all right. Another time…, no it's impossible for him to escape again."

"So, is that a 'yes' then, your highness?" Horatio looked up at him, eyeing me for a second on the way.

"A 'yes' it is then, Horatio. We'll keep you updated about our plans, as for now, make sure you could contact her, keep her in touch and make sure she's alive, so that we could locate her and hopefully find her in time," both of us heard a groan from behind, turning around the find Rick crossing his arms and being all annoying again, "Don't you ever get tired from talking about 'Anne this and Anne that' all the time?"

There was a gust of wind beside me and Horatio was clutching Rick by the neck, pushing him against the tile wall, which has broken into small little cracks around Rick's body, "Got a problem with that, Rick? You know, you shouldn't let your jealousy take over you at times. It can be very, very annoying."

I love it when he gets all angry for his family, even though it could be a bad thing considering that he was in a thin line between justice and murder, but it's good that he lets out the extra power he had in him for a long time. I walked up towards him and placed a comforting but firm hand on his shoulders, Horatio, please don't do this. He's not worthy of your attention.

He turned to look back at me, eyes shining brightly in an ocean blue colour, his trademark, but sweetheart; I can't stand this scumbag for long. He's driving me crazy.

Just leave him, please? For Anne and my sake? I waited for him to change his mind, and for a moment in which I thought he didn't, but at last he shrugged and let go of the slightly frightened vampire. He turned his head and bowed slightly at the elders, never looking back at the guy who mocked him a few seconds ago, "I'm sorry, elder Aaron. I guess I got a bit carried away."

"I understand how you feel about your family, Horatio, but like your wife said, now's not the time to use violence. You still have Grey and Casey to think about. Like what I've instructed you to, maintain contact, we'll try to locate them as soon as possible."

"Your Highness, is it possible if we could work together with…," he gulped, not wanting to say because he knew the elders dislike Ryan's true nature, along with other rogue vampires, "…werewolves?"

The whole room broke out into gasps and strong discussions all around. Elder Aaron raised his hand, signaling for all of it to stop again, before looking at the both of us, "Werewolves? Since when did you become best friends with them? No, that I can't tolerate."

"But listen, my highness, apparently, a friend of mine…," I'm pretty sure Horatio didn't want to use the term 'daughter's best friend', "… have friends who happen to be the best trackers in the country. They could help you find the location where Anne is at, just by the scent itself. From there, you can take over and finish Grey off, just like you wished."

The leader slammed his fist unto the table, prompting shocks from everyone in the room, least of all the foxy Rick, who stood there just looking at the scene with glee, "You do like to get away with things not related within the book, is it Horatio? I'll tell you what: I didn't want to be part of the operation if you decide to take in those mutts, but for Anne, I will. You mark my words, Horatio. This will be the last time you disobey our laws, do you get what I'm saying?"

"I will, and I heard it loud and clear, your highness," he bowed, prodding me on the waist, and I bowed slightly, following his instructions, before his booming voice echoed the walls, "Now off you go. Don't bother wasting our time any longer. We have a family of vampires to catch and our dear little comrade to save."

I completely let out a big sigh after walking through the doors. I felt simply relieved after being tensed in that room for about half an hour. We turned around to see the now annoyed Rick glaring us for a moment with a feeling of angst, before turning left into a different direction.

As we were heading out back to our car, Yelina came right in front of us and embraced me, "Mari, are you okay? You seemed to be in a pretty bad shape."

I returned the embrace, glad that someone, other than my family, would actually care, "Yelina! I'm just so glad you're here," we broke off the embrace, before I could find some confidence to tell her, "Nah, I'm just so messed up. I can't believe I let someone take my daughter away. I'm such a bad mother."

Horatio was standing stiff beside me, ready to comfort me in any minute, but I only shook my head, amused as the way he is being overprotective towards his family, "I'm all right. Thanks for your concern, Horatio," and looking back at Yelina, "I hope you can find her. I heard she's not the only one missing. Apparently, so does her club members."

Yelina took in a deep breath, even more shocked than before. She looked at Horatio, glaring at him as per usual, "Horatio, this is getting serious! You know Grey, and you know he's not going to stop torturing the children. Someone will die if we don't hurry."

"I know, and Casey is teaming up with him as well. Who knows what they would do to them," Horatio took out his sunglasses and toyed with it, before putting it on, "But I'm going to catch him before he starts."

"Remember," Yelina's words echoed in our heads as she hurried back into the room, the clock is ticking.