Author's Note:

Here we are. The continuation of a great story. Thank you for all that posted comments on this. This story will never be left unfinished. I assure you. Now here is Chapter 4. Let us see what is happening with Mavis.

Chapter Four:

Surviving Heartbreak

The rushing of and bubbling of salt water hit the sandy beach on a cloudy night sky. The water retreats again. Some stars visible between thinner, wisps, and breaks of clouds. The water again rushes up in a small wave and crests, bubbling back up. She soon heard the loud surf. The loud swish of the waves breaking on the sand. As the water rushed up again toward her, she felt the water hit her feet and lower legs. It was cold and wet. Again another but a little stronger wave hit the beach, this time running itself up her legs and just barely reaching up at her waist.

The cold and noisy ocean water made her stir from her unconsciousness. Squinting her closed eyes, she wrinkled her nose up as a frown formed on her black lips, letting out a moan. Her stomach almost flat against sand but partially on her side. One side of her face was pressed into the beach. Moving her head away from the sand, granules of wet sand stick to her cheek and the side of her hair. As she tried to roll over to her back, a sharp pain coursed its way from her right arm. The pain was great enough to stop her roll. Her eyes opened wide with the onslaught of pain, her mouth opened as to make a sound, but no sound came. She wanted to scream but nothing happened. Eventually a raspy, half scream was all she got out. Mostly due to the ocean water roughing up her throat. Her face grimaced at the pain as she continued to roll onto her back. She reached over with her left hand and reached for the painful spot. She doesn't remember a time she felt such a horrible pain before. Of course she had cuts and bruises before but nothing this bad.

As she lay on her back now she continued to clench her right arm, checking what was wrong with it and trying to support it make the pain stop. Slowly and gingerly, she moved her left hand up her right arm. As she reached her bicep, she felt a hard, boney lump. Her face scowled at what she felt and hoped it wasn't true. But no doubt about it. Her arm was broken… bad. It would take a long time to heal, maybe days. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh to help relax and not think of the pain. Opening them up again, she stared up at the night time sky. The clouds moving in packs, countless stars twinkling. She never saw so many before, not at the hotel and even not in Hawaii because of the city lights. She laid there for a while until another wave came up to grab at her feet. It was cold, especially for her left foot. She pulled her left leg up in response to the chill and saw her left shoe was missing. She looked and noticed tears and holes in her black and red stockings, then feels a coolness up her leg. She feels a small vertical rip on the side of her black fitted dress.

She began now to gingerly sit up. Inspecting herself for any damage to herself or clothes. She looked up, seeing the vast ocean in front of her. Turning her head left and right just produced sand and beach as far as she could see within her vision. "Where am I right now? What happened to my arm? Where's Joh…" The memory hit her hard, like a slap in the face. The plane, the storm, … OH NO! Johnny! Her eyes opened wide, her mouth flew open out of shear surprise and terror. Tears started to form in the corners of her blue eyes. "J…J…Johnny?" she asked with a raspy voice from the sea water.

Quickly looking around, left… right… left…, then twisting at the waist, looking behind her to only see a vast tropical jungle. It was very densely packed with all types of tropical brush and large, swaying tropical palm and coconut trees. She didn't see him. "Johnny!" she yelled louder after clearing her throat more. Worry and panic starting to show its way on her face. She pulled herself up off the sand, rubbing the sand off her cheek and hair. She stood up as straight as possible with a shoeless foot. Proceeding to walk the beach, she looked up and down the for any sign of her zing. Panic was rising in her as she quickened her pace up one way of the beach. "JOHNNY!" yelling louder over the surf. She started to run, looking for any sign of Johnathan. She yelled for him again, "JOHNATHAN!" Pausing and listening for any response from him. The only answer was the waves hitting the beach. She ran back to where she started and continued down a little further, clenching her right arm as still as possible. "JOHNATHAN!"

Panic set in. Tears flowing freely now from Mavis's deep blue eyes. She fell to her knees in surrender, not being able to find a single trace of Johnathan Loughran, her fiancé, her one true love, her ZING. She slumped down and began to cry loudly, bawling her eyes out while screaming his name. "JOHNNY! Another memory hit her as it all came back too quickly for her. She now remembered, losing his grip, seeing him float away from her and she tried so hard to get back to him. This made her cry even harder. Mavis fell from her knees onto her right side. The pain was great as her right arm made contact with the slightly solid beach. However, the pain of losing her true love was worse than the pain in her arm.

"I failed him," Mavis said in between sobs. "I could have protected him better but I failed him!" So distraught of losing Johnny and pondering her existence without him, on this island, she did not notice the purple colors starting to form in the night sky. The sun was coming. All the things he said to her over the years surfaced as a flood of emotions took her:

"Remember. Even if we are apart, I will still be with you in your heart, to keep you strong."

"Never give up. Always remember to just 'roll with it.' Then everything will be fine."

"Always remember Mavy, I love you and no matter what happens and I will be with you forever."

Keep you Strong

Never give up

WITH YOU FOREVER

As Mavis sat back up on the beach, reminiscing and pondering Johnny's words and their short two years together, he would want her to fight hard to survive anything, never quit living, and always live for him… to remember him. That would make him happy, even if she was stranded on an island. He would have done the same for her. The sky now grew a little brighter by the second, purple shades started to turn red and orange. Mavis still didn't pay attention until something in her mind told her to wake up and move. She lifted her head and saw the sun was almost up.

"Oh no! I got to find some where to hide, quickly!" she thought to herself. Her right arm still painful, she ran into a small opening to the dense jungle to find any type protection from the sun. A hole, a large hollowed out tree, a cave. That would be ideal. But at this rate, anything right now would work and quick! She looked around for any type of protection, she was starting to panic thinking she wasn't going to find anything in time. The sun crept slowly up, soon the top of the great ball of fire could be see over the horizon. She ran further into the jungle and quickly found a rock formation. The vampiress looked around it and found what she hoped would work. A small entrance in the rock that formed a cave, she can hide from the sun in there.

The cave was tall enough she could stand up in most places. It wasn't too deep either. She found a small opening in the ceiling near the back where water trickled down into a small pool and out through a small hole along the side. This could be beneficial for drinking water. Finding the softest part to rest was difficult as she was just surrounded by rock and what rock is soft? But she made the best of it. Trying to get some sleep, Mavis just continued to cry. Lying on her left side, letting her broken right arm rest on her side. She brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face deep in them. She sobbed and cried for what seemed like hours. Lifting her head up from her knees, showing her tear stained cheeks and wet, puffy eyes from all the tears. "Daddy… Johnny… Daddy, help me," saying to herself in between sobs. "Help me… help me… help m… help," she kept repeating until she put herself to sleep.

In her dreams, Mavis's mind was very busy. Visions of her and Johnny in their travels, tender moments between them. She always remembered times on their first trip to Hawaii, they just sat on the beach, looking at the night sky and moon light shimmering off the sparking ocean. He just held her in his arms while she was sitting in his lap with her legs bent over his one knee. They were content on staying like that for a long time. She would always look up at him as her head only came up to his chest. She stared up at his locks of wild, red hair and his big hazel eyes, mesmerized by them. She was so content… she felt so… protected while in his arms. So… loved.

Waking up was hard for the vampiress. She did not want to let go of those dreams, those moments of happier times. They seemed so real now since Johnny wasn't truly there with her. It was night time again, however. She needed to get some strength back in her body. Luckily for her, she could hunt some small animals to help her and help her right arm mend quicker. However, it would be very hard for her to hunt with it being broken but she had to try or she wouldn't survive long enough.

She got up from the rocks with a very stiff neck and sore back. Sleeping on bumpy rocks didn't help much at all. Mavis walked outside, looked around, and looked up. She saw an open canopy, just large enough to show that tonight, no clouds were in the sky and the moon was full and bright tonight. It surely will make it easier to find some food. She knelt down and listened for a while. Listened to her surroundings to see what was around. She heard some scurrying of some mice not too far away. They were small but it was a start.

At first, it was very difficult to catch anything, only being able to use one arm efficiently but she soon found a method that worked for her. Using her vampire speed, she caught a mouse with her left hand. She looked at it, struggling in her grasp to free itself. She noticed how adorable it was. She didn't want to but she had to. To survive and be able to hopefully find Johnny. "Sorry little guy," she said to the squirming mouse. She then did what she had to do. She sunk her fangs into the mouse, quickly puncturing its skin. She finished it quickly so she didn't dwell on the poor creature. Not much in the way of nutrition in the small mouse for Mavis but every little helped. She continued to hunt in the bushes, picking smaller game up.

Content with what she caught and feeling some strength return to her, she decided to explore and hopefully find Johnny… or at least some traces of him. She traced her steps back to the beach, making sort of a path to easily get back to her "home-away-from-home." Once reaching the beach, Mavis noticed some debris and wreckage that must have washed on shore during the day. Most of it was useless to her being just hunks of plane but then again maybe she could make like a door or sign that someone could see. What she could carry or drag with one arm, she placed them close to the path she made. Down the beach a little way, she did find a suitcase full of wet clothes. Using a long sleeve shirt from the suitcase, she was able to craft a sling for her right arm. It worked well in keeping her arm steady and secure. It didn't hurt much although it was a little wet. She gathered the remaining clothes and placed them in her salvage pile. She could make some bedding out of these once they dried, of course.

Continuing to walk down the beach, Mavis saw something incredibly familiar from a distance. She couldn't make it out too well but hope filled her. "Could that be…?" pondered the vampiress as she ran toward what she saw. Getting closer to the object she finally saw what it was, she ran faster until she got closer. She slowed down and walked toward the object and as she was over it, she fell to her knees. Tears running from her eyes as she turned the object over, feeling its familiar straps in her hand and seeing some sewn patches of different countries on it. It was Johnathan's large back pack. She cried over the ocean soaked pack as it brought up memories and visions of Johnny. She sat back on the beach, bringing her knees up to her body and just sat right beside her fiancé's hefty bag.

She sat for some time, pondering how she would get this heavy backpack to the cave where she could use its contents. "Johnny wouldn't mind, especially if they are put to good use in helping me," thought Mavis. She looked up at the stars for a while. She closed her eyes. She started to see Johnny standing on the shore, smiling at her. Almost like he understood what she was doing and giving her the okay to do so. And it was like he was whispering something to her, "Someday soon we'll be together." She opened her eyes again hoping to see him in front of her. Sadly no, but this gave her a strength to tell herself to fight on. Fight on so you can see him again, someday, she hoped.

Mavis was still tearful but she knew now was not the time to mourn. She knew Johnny was out there, somewhere. She just needed time and a plan to find him. She needed to survive for herself first. She knows he can survive. Mavis remembered Johnny's story about his survival training he attended in the United States before traveling in Europe. He said he always "rolled with it" but wanted to make sure he was prepared for anything. She was also glad he taught her some things from that survival course too while they backpacked on their travels. She knew he would use his training well and she would also use what he taught her.

With this, she looked over Johnny's backpack with tears partially clouding her vision. Some of his belongings were no longer there. They were replaced by a ripped compartment. However, Mavis was glad to see Johnny's tent survived. This certainly would be very useful to her. Most of his clothes were here which she could use as soon as they dried. Mavis looked at the sky and could see a purplish light forming. The sun would be coming up soon. She quickly dragged the heavy pack back with her good arm to her cave she called "home" … for now.

The sun came up faster than anticipated and Mavis almost didn't make it back to the cave in time dragging the oversized backpack, but she managed. She was tired after that, though. "I really wonder how he was able to carry so much and not hurt his back?" thought Mavis. She started to remove the tent from the pack, unrolling it and opening it up in part of the cave to let it dry. She could really use it for a canopy outside against rain and some sun. She was surprised that she found Johnny's sleeping bag rolled in the tent and still in one piece. Now Mavis could use it to get a better rest and keep warm, again once it dried first. Looking at all his clothes, she pulled out a shirt she remembered getting him in Japan. It was in Japanese but the text said, "I Believe" with a picture of a set of teeth with long vampire fangs on them. She thought it was cute for him at the time. Mavis couldn't help but cry a little while hugging the empty shirt, just longing for Johnny's warm embrace. Pulling herself back together, she decided that was all she would do with the pack today. She pulled some clothes out of the bag to dry. She didn't want to stay up too much longer in fear of waking up later in the night and losing precious time she needed to search for Johnny. Another night, though. Sleeping on rocks… alone.

Two nights have past. Just as her usual on this island, she hunted first thing and explored afterwards a little farther away each night, finding new places but no sign of Johnny. Mavis's right arm was almost healed. It took longer than she thought only because of how little she was eating and with small animals becoming a little scarce around her from her hunting. But soon that would change when her right arm was fully healed and she would be able to hunt larger animals and get around the island faster.

Mavis was starting to feel a little different the past few nights and she wasn't sure why. Inside her, was a battle of her being a vampire and just plain instinct, not thinking at all. Forgetting names of friends and family sometimes, forgetting some memories of the past. It was almost like the vampiress was inheriting the instincts of some of the smaller animals she was hunting. But how could that be possible? She just ignored it and blamed it on stress, some lack of food and sleep. That's all.

Tonight, she explored in land more, finding another freshwater source she could use. She also wanted to see if there was any type of high point on the island so she could see how large the island truly was, if it was indeed an island. The forest here was dense, too dense and very hard to traverse. Mavis eventually gave up trying to fight the brush she was getting stuck in it and wait until her arm was fully healed to take advantage of her bat form and fly over this.

Making it back to her make shift "home-away-from-home," carrying some fallen and dried tinder, she tried to make a fire. Searching in Johnny's backpack for his fire starter flint, she didn't find it. "It must have been in the pocket that got ripped open. That's just great!" thinking to herself as she pouted about it. She then recalled when Johnny showed her how to make a fire without a flint or match. Just using some sticks and some small bundle of dried up brush, using nature to her advantage. It surely was the hardest thing to do. Trying many times and no success, she was about to give up. Frustration set in after a few more attempts and she threw her fire starting material down. She stumbled down, crawled up her legs into her and buried her face as she began to cry. Memories surfaced from a time where Johnny showed her how to make fire.

"I can't do this Johnny!" as Mavis threw down the nature made fire starter and sat down in defeat.

"You can Mavy, trust me you can. It takes time and patients," Johnny said with a smile on his face even if she looked defeated. He picked up what Mavis threw down. "Let me show you," as Johnny started the process of making fire with friction. It showed Mavis that it took a while, a constant rhythm and some patience. Johnny was doing exactly what she was doing to create that friction. Waiting for some hot embers emerge in some dried up brush. Johnny almost had it but lost the spark. He looked up at his zing and asked her, "Could you try one more time? For me?" with a smile, in a soft and gentle tone that she loved and couldn't resist.

Without saying anything she looked at the sticks in Johnny's hand he was offering her, then up at Johnny's smiling face. Mavis got up and took the fire starter from Johnny. She positioned herself just as he did to start the process. Determination filled her face. Getting herself in a rhythm. She started to see smoke. Johnny gave her some encouraging words along the way. She kept going. More smoke now. "Almost got it Mavs!" Then she saw a small ember start to form. Mavis stopped and knelt down to lightly blow on it to give it some oxygen. IT WORKED! She saw a flame appear. A smile appeared on her face. She looked up at Johnny as he gave her the greatest acceptance smile ever. "I knew you can do it, Mavy. I'm so proud of you!" Giving her a big hug and kiss on her forehead as they embraced.

The memory faded and she still sat there, pondering his kind words and smile no matter how mad and frustrated she was. He was a great and patient teacher. A little teary eyed, it still gave her strength to get back up, just like back then and position herself to make another attempt. As she continuously moved the sticks in an equal rhythm, she was seeing signs of the friction working. Some smoke appeared. "Keep going, Mavy!" she heard in her head. Not stopping at all, Mavis saw more smoke. "Don't stop now! Almost got it!" It was almost like Johnny was right there behind her. She continued on until she saw a small faint ember. Stopping to bend down, Mavis quickly and lightly blew on the small ember. Soon afterwards, she got flame. She yelled in victory, "WAHOO!" Almost losing it from celebrating, but she placed the flame on some more small tinder to fuel it just in time. Not soon after, she had a decent fire to keep her warm and to boil water. Mavis was so happy that she created fire, she started to cry again, just longing to hold and hug her fiancé. She really needed him right now. She knew he would be proud of her.

The next couple nights, Mavis tested her right arm's strength out and her ability to transform and fly as a bat. She was nervous. She certainly didn't want to hurt herself anymore and cause more damage. Taking a deep breath, Mavis transformed in a puff of purple smoke. Quickly flapping both wings wildly almost like she was learning to fly all over again like during her childhood. Mavis was flying and she felt great. Now she would be able to surprise and jump on bigger animals to hunt. With this, she would be more energized and was able to search more of the island. And unfortunately, she did find out that it was indeed an island. There were more times where she caught herself not remembering certain things. Her senses became heightened as if she was a predator. It was harder for herself to shake out of this. She didn't understand what was happening to her. She would just think that it was just being alone on this island and not eating well causing it. Not known to her though was with every hunt of an animal, she was not only draining their blood but their essence into her. And that essence was slowly driving her and taking over her mind. Mavis searched more of the island. She felt she was searching for someone but wasn't sure who. All she knew is there was no trace of them. "What was his name again? Why can't I remember it?"

More nights had past. Mavis sometimes forgot how long she was stranded here. If it wasn't for marking the cave wall every night, she really would have forgotten. So far, about eight or nine nights, or was it ten? Now she was forgetting to mark the cave wall. She was feeling strange all the time. Almost like her mood was changing. She was instinctively becoming more like a… wild animal… a predator. She caught herself sometimes just staring, not being able to think as her mind wandered. She would eventually snap out of the trance but was getting harder for her to remember things. She was forgetting some memories. "Who was this Johnny? What was this… Romania?"

At times when she was in her bat form, she would forget to change back sometimes, thinking this was her normal form. Again she snapped herself back to reality… but it became harder on her. "I'm just tired and stressed. That's all it is. Just being stranded here is… stressful, that's all." Thinking to herself as she was certainly in denial. Then sometimes, it was harder to speak too and remember words.

She continued her search for this person. Johnny was it? Or at least any sign she could find of… him. Already, she combed all around the beach for a third time and most of the jungle. There were parts of the forest on this island, as she found out her fourth night here, were too dense and overgrown. There was no way she could search without something to cut the thick brush around to make a path, like a machete. With nothing like that on the island, Mavis just opted to use her skills as a bat to just fly over the thickest brush to search. Scanning around unexplored and unmanageable thicket, no openings what-so-ever, no paths and certainly no Johnny.

Flying along and looking down at just thick vines and brush, her mind wandered away, remembering a random thought, "With you FOREVER." She wasn't paying attention to below her. She just looked in time to see something jumped out of the cover of the thicket, lunging straight at her. Quickly she reacted at this something that came out of nowhere under her. She tried to dodge whatever attempted to attack her. That attack was partially successful. There was damage. She couldn't fly well anymore. The little bat's left wing hurt. She looked and saw a small tear, like a claw nicked her wing when she was instinctively dodging. Another attempt by what now looked like a large cat was made against her. This time she was ready. As the wild cat jumped, she watched as protruding claws came up to grab at her, she rolled herself to the side, only being missed by a hair. The bat quickly countered the attack and was able to use her small claws on her feet to latch onto the predator's nose. With her strength as a vampire, the claws dug deep into the large black panther's nose. This caused the creature to immediately retract back to the ground and let out a pain stricken roar.

Flying away from her attacker, Mavis was experiencing another battle. This time inside her head. "KILL!" Mavis's eyes started to turn a bright red. "NO! No, no, no, no," as she tried to shake off this feeling. She could smell the panther's blood from the cuts she made in its nose. The smell was sweeter than anything she experienced. She had a yearning for it, a desire. "No! Got to fight this urge!" saying to herself as she quickly flew away. "Daddy… what would you do?" thinking aloud hoping her father would actually be there and answer her. She flew back to the safety of her cave to rest her wound. Mavis now knew to stay away from these thick areas of the jungle.

As time passed, so far it two weeks. Two long weeks since she, Mavis, found herself lying on the beach. She got used to surviving from what little she learned from what's his name. Funny… she couldn't recall his name. And for some reason she so infatuated with him Sitting by her fire, hugging her knees, only thinking on this red haired, hazel eyed man, filling up her mind. Who was he? Why was she so drawn to him?

A crack came from the wilderness in front of her, like a branch snapping in half. The vampiress quickly picked her head up and scanned in front of her. She saw what caused the noise. It was a snake slithering by, just minding its own business in search of some mice no doubt. Mavis paid no attention to it, letting it slither on about its business. Out of instinct, she started to play with the ring on her left hand. She stopped for a moment and looked at it.

"Gold band. Nine diamonds. Blood red ruby…"

"I like rubies," as she smiled at the ring.

"So… pretty…"

"A heart?"

She showed puzzlement in her face as she asked herself this, staring at the stone.

"J… Jo… Johnathan? Jo… Johnny?"

Tears started to drop onto her lap. As memories came flooding back now knowing who the crazy red haired man was. Her fiancé, her love…, her… zing. "Jo… Johnny's H…Hea…Heart," she managed to get out between tears while staring at the beautiful ring, vision going blurry from her crying. She was trying to picture more of him but for some reason, it was hard for her to remember more of him. What was he like? How was his personality?

"Johnny… Johnny… Johnny," she kept repeating while staring deep into the ruby, seeing her eyes reflecting in the smooth, red stone. Repeating his name was all she could do right now, not wanting to forget him. She heard more noises in the thicket but didn't pay much attention. She was too entranced in the beauty of the ruby and saying Johnny's name. This was almost a terrible mistake for her letting her guard down. She looked up just a little from her ring. She was just in time to see a panther running straight for her. Reacting on instinct, she jumped only to feel something rip at her stomach and side. Mavis, in turn let out a scream of pain as she kicked the wild animal away from her. She put her hand over where the pain started and she felt her black dress ripped open, exposing skin and blood. It was a painfully deep scratch from this creature. She then looked up at the large cat as it growled and hissed at her, readying itself for another strike. She noticed some cuts in its nose. Her eyes widened with surprise as she remembered this panther from a week or two ago. It had almost killed her.

Something inside Mavis boiled up. She was angry, upset. She started to growl and hiss under her breath, her eyes turned from her natural deep blue to an evil looking, glowing red. All reasoning and all thought was forgotten in her mind. It was all instinct now controlling her every move and one thought, "KILL!" Animal instinct. She wanted vengeance. The black panther charged first trying to catch Mavis off guard, but this time she was ready. With her vampire speed, she slid to the left as the wild animal jumped off the ground to lunge at her. This caught the panther off his guard. Mavis was able to grab a front paw the moment the panther was in reach. She quickly and with all her strength, flung the once proud predator, now prey, toward a tree.

A loud thud and painful roar was heard. The roar was certainly loud enough to be heard all the way on the other side of the island. The black panther was injured and tried to regain itself on its paws and try to swiftly retreat. Before the panther was able to get to his feet, Mavis was right there on top of the now defenseless creature. The vampiress stared at the beast's eye with her glowing red orbs. And it seemed there was no remorse, no sympathy in her eyes anymore.

As quickly as the fight began, it ended. Mavis pinned the large cat down. With lightning fast speed, her mouth reached around the panther's neck. Viciously, Mavis's fangs tore and ripped at the poor creature's neck, exposing it's sweet smelling and tasting blood. For a few seconds, the large cat yelled in pain, trying to attack back, struggling to break free but Mavis was too strong for the cat. As she sucked the life essence out of her victim, tears started to form in the corners of her deep red eyes. Slowly the panther's movement was becoming weak and lethargic, until the single last drop of blood was siphoned out of its body. The black panther lay motionless.

Mavis released her grasp and her fangs from the body. She just knelt in front of it, arms to her sides and her head raised up and aiming at the sky. Her eyes closed and tears escaping from the corners of her eye lids, a trail of blood running down her small black lips, under her chin and down her throat. She roared as lightning and thunder cracked the sky. And it seemed her roar was louder. Almost like a victory cry when it truly was more like a slaughter. The real Mavis would not have done this at all. She felt very weird now. She couldn't think. Her eyes opened. They were still red. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. Deep down inside her, she felt strange, like she felt the essence of the black panther taking over her conscience and her soul. She felt dizzy and light headed. Soon her eyes started to roll into the back of her head and slowly her eyelids closed as her body began to fall over, tumbling and landing on the once proud black panther. Mavis… unconscious… again, as the heavens opened up a fury.