Greetings from the Marble and the Violin :D Here is our next chapter. A big thank you to the wonderful reviewers of the last chapter. We hope you enjoy this one! Xxx
Brendan closed his eyes tightly, a scream caught in his throat. Eight times one was eight, eight times two was sixteen. Then all of a sudden everything just stopped. Seamus wasn't touching him anymore, there was no longer an agonising pain on his leg. A loud crash caused his eyes to shoot open. Someone had hit Seamus and sent him flying across the room, straight into the statue of the Virgin Mary. The statue rocked for a moment, before it tottered over and landed right on top of Seamus.
"Hello Granddad." said a female voice.
Brendan looked up and noticed Anne was standing exactly in the spot Seamus had been in moments before. He'd never felt so happy and yet so angry to see his child. Anne continued to advance towards Seamus, her face murderous.
"We didn't get a chance to catch up earlier, did we?" said Anne, she stopped in front of Seamus. "Still up to your old tricks I see." she lifted her foot up, which was wearing a spiky red high heel. Anne brought it straight down onto Seamus's face, viciously stamping again and again. Digging the bright red heel deeper and harder into his face with every stamp.
Seamus let out inarticulate grunts of pain.
"I can't stand bullies." hissed Anne, continuing to stamp the bloodied mess that was now Seamus's face. "I'm going to enjoy staking you. I would have done it years ago, if you hadn't ordered Brendan to order me not to kill you. Funnily enough I don't think Ste's going to have any problem in getting him to release me from that order, not when he hears about what you nearly just did."
Seamus gurgled something through his blood filled lips and his eyes slid closed. Anne stopped, satisfied that the man was unconscious for the time being. She crossed the church in seconds and immediately knelt down in front of Brendan.
"Did he...did he hurt you?" asked Anne, her lip beginning to wobble with emotion. The ruthless vampire façade was beginning to fade from her face and she looked incredibly vulnerable. Anne gently pulled her maker up from the floor and pulled him into a hug. She crushed him to her chest tightly, before letting go and tenderly fixing his clothes.
Brendan needed to style it out. "How do you, Cheryl and Steven find a way to ignore every order I give you?" he asked, quietly, he couldn't ignore how his voice was shaking. "I don't know any other vampires that have this problem. What did I ever do to deserve you all?"
Anne pressed her lips together. "You told me to go to bed, so I went to my bed for about a minute and then I followed you here. It wasn't disobeying you, I did as you asked."
"I didn't ask you to follow me here." said Brendan harshly. He was shaking, were vampires supposed to shake? Seamus had...Seamus had almost...he swallowed, trying to ignore the rush of traumatic memories, human and vampire, that were trying to make their way to the fore front of his mind.
"No. But you needed me to do It." said Anne, softly. "You push us all away and never ask for our help. It's like you think you have to do it all on your own and don't deserve us." She put a soft hand on his face, "But Brendan, we're in this together. All of us are."
Brendan tried to pretend her words weren't pushing tears to his eyes or filling him with warmth
"You're not alone any more, Brendan," she said, her own tears leaking subtly from the edge of her eye, "You're not the little boy who hid under his covers, fearing something much worse than a make believe monster under the bed. The monsters love you, and want to protect you from the man behind the door."
A sound of mock clapping caused Anne to spring away from her maker. Her face darkened and her shoulders became rigid with tension.
"Hiding behind a woman Brenda? I wouldn't expect anything less from you." said Seamus, spitting out blood and a number of teeth. "I always did wonder why you changed that little whore, but now it's obvious: she's just like your pathetic mother. She thought she could keep you from me too, but I own you Brenda."
"I forgot that he never shuts up." said Anne in a bored voice. "I should have ripped his vocal chords out when I had the chance a minute ago. I won't make that mistake again."
"You won't touch me girl." hissed Seamus dangerous.
Anne rolled her eyes. "My ruined pair of Prada shoes say different." she glanced quickly at Brendan. "That's the second pair you owe me."
"How did you get in?" asked Seamus. It seemed as if he was trying to buy more time, as if he was waiting for something or someone. "I ordered the witch to make sure nobody could get in or out of here without my permission."
Anne smirked at him. "The witch is long gone. You attacked a coven, did you really expect them to sit back and let you get on with it? She's safe and so are her children you kidnapped, you slipped up."
Brendan couldn't help but feel oddly proud of his child. It seemed while he'd been busy with Steven, she'd been busy with the witches. Anne never failed to amaze him with how truly perceptive she was.
The expression on Seamus's battered face shifted until his lips settled back into a smirk. "I was done with the witch any way, she talked and cried way too much. A lot like my Brenda over there. You've done me a favour, getting her and her kids out of my way, I think they would have left a bad taste in my mouth."
"You won't be tasting anything after tonight, it's finally over." said Anne calmly, she looked at her maker for confirmation.
Brendan nodded, he couldn't bear to look at his Maker. The monster who often featured in his nightmares. It needed to end here, he had to make sure that Seamus couldn't hurt any more people.
"How do you want to do this?" Anne asked, looking at her maker for guidance. "Shall I hold him down and you stake him?"
"Neither of you have got the guts." hissed Seamus.
Anne scowled at him. "We could draw it out a bit, take his limbs off one by one. I've always fancied his head mounted on our living room wall."
"No, we'll do it now and quickly. I don't want you to have any part in this Anne, I want to do it." said Brendan firmly. His maker deserved to suffer, but Brendan couldn't stand the idea of him existing on the same earth as Steven for any longer. He needed to be gone.
Brendan picked up the stake and limped over to Seamus. He made sure his face showed no emotion, he wouldn't give him the benefit. Seamus looked at the stake then at Brendan's face, his smile never wavered.
"You won't be killing me today, Brenda," sneered Seamus.
Brendan narrowed his eyes, "I can't let you hurt anyone else, old man," he said.
"Really? Not even, once more?" said Seamus, and Brendan stopped moving. The bastard looked confident. Too confident.
"She's very ...vivacious," said Seamus.
"Ignore him." hissed Anne. "He's trying to distract you."
"A real go-er, isn't she? I can understand why he choose her."
Brendan tried to ignore the words, weigh the stake in his hand, take a few steps closer. Seamus didn't look anywhere near discomforted enough. Brendan had to hear him out.
"She's a whore," the bastard continued, "but a very good one. Bit skinny for my taste, but so willing to please. Shame she won't live long enough to see those two little kiddies grow up." said Seamus, never taking his eyes off Brendan's face.
Brendan froze, as something finally clicked into place. "Amy." he said suddenly.
"There we go, you got there eventually." in the voice of a teacher addressing a student. "Not as feckless as you look then, are you boy?"
"What have you done with her?" growled Brendan, but didn't dare step closer. If he couldn't kill Seamus for the moment, he couldn't risk Seamus getting the better of him.
Seamus let out a dark chuckle. "That's for me to know and you to find out, boy."
"He's lying." said Anne. "He's got to be."
Brendan let his teeth spring out in fury. If anything happened to Amy, Steven would never forgive him. The girl was an innocent in this and so were Leah and Lucas. They had already lost a father, they couldn't lose a mother too.
Seamus bared his teeth. "Are you going to risk being wrong? When little Amy's life hangs in the balance? I thought more of you Brenda. Why don't you give that pathetic slayer a call, see what he has to say about it."
Brendan snarled and turned away. "Guard him." he growled at Anne, as he pulled out his mobile. Walker answered on the third ring.
"Brady?" asked Walker.
"Are you with Amy and the kids?" demanded Brendan.
"A hello would have been nice." said Walker sourly. "Yes I'm at the flat. Amy's in the bath and the kids are in bed, safe and sound."
"Check." said Brendan with a growl.
Walker spluttered. "I can't burst in on her while she's in the bath, she'll kick me out!"
"Being kicked out will be the least of your problems if you don't go and check on her right now. Do it Walker!"
Walker sighed, "You better hope your Ste don't hear about this."
Brendan heard the sound of Walker walking through the flat. He let out a sigh of relief, soon he'd find out whether Amy was safe and be able to get rid of Seamus once and for all. From his end of the phone Brendan could hear Walker knocking loudly.
"She's not answering." said Walker, trying to keep his voice calm.
Brendan could hear the sound of the bathroom door being opened. He knew what Walker was going to say before he even said it.
"She's gone." said Walker softly.
Brendan felt his blood run colder than he ever thought was possible.
"Well?" Anne demanded.
He turned to her too late. She was looking at him expectantly, just her head turned in his direction for a fraction of a second.
"Anne!" he shouted, as his father whipped a wooden stake from nowhere. He must have kept it hidden in his clothes. Anne dodged back a fraction of a second too late. The wood pierced her skin. The sound she made pierced Brendan's own heart and he dashed forward, catching her before she could fall.
Seamus didn't stay to gloat this time. He was gone before Brendan could even think about stopping him. And beautiful Anne Minniver was an almost dead weight in his arms.
"Anne?" he said, "Anne?!"
She made a horrible noise of distress, but shook her head, "It's... it's ok."
Maybe it was. She wasn't dust.
"It's OK... he missed... my heart," she mumbled. "I'm just... Ow!"
If it missed her heart it shouldn't hurt this much, should it? He picked up the stake from where it had rolled on the floor and dropped it with a hiss.
"Holy water," he snapped. Seamus was a true monster. A stake soaked in holy water could only be used to torture a vampire. And Seamus could only have planned to use it on Brendan. "I'll take you to the witches, maybe they can help."
"I'm fine!" Mitzeee insisted, but she didn't try to stop him lifting her and carrying her out of the church. He carried through the door, then sniffed the air.
"Where do I find the witches?" he asked Anne, gently.
She whispered a road name, and he was there in seconds. Without a heart, it was the speed of his journey that told him quite how worried he truly was. He was bashing on the door before he could even have repeated the word.
Myra opened the door a tiny crack and looked at him with wide eyes. "You can't come in!" she said.
"Please!" he begged.
"We can't be having with vampires!" she sobbed, "I did you one favour and now my Mercy's dead and Martha's in pieces! She's terrified he's coming back for her family! You can't be here!"
"LOOK AT HER!" Brendan roared, "Look at Anne!"
Myra glanced at the weakened vampire. "I'm sorry, but you've got to go!"
"What's wrong with her?"
It was a new voice, the other witch, the younger one. Brendan thought her name was Nancy. He didn't care who she was if she could help Anne.
"She's been stabbed, but with holy water. Please help her! Please! She's in so much pain!"
He could see it in her eyes. They had gone glassy in pain and shock. If she wasn't already pale, Brendan would be certain he would see how sick she was written all over her face. As it was, he couldn't tell. It terrified him.
"Please!" he begged again, "Look at her! LOOK AT HER!"
"Anne can come in," said Nancy.
"No!" cried Myra, "What if he comes back, looking for her!"
From the way she said "he," Brendan knew who she was talking about. "He won't!" cried Brendan, "I'll stop him! I'll stay away! I'll do anything!"
"Give her to me, Brendan," said Nancy, and Brendan only worried for a moment whether this little girl could hold her. She was a witch, and had Anne comfortably held with the support of magic. "We'll do all we can," she said. "Now go away. You mustn't lead him here!"
Brendan had to wrench himself away. He knew there was nothing he could do to help Anne. There were people he had to help. But leaving his child hurt so much.
He forced himself to return to the flat. He could smell his father, who must have been there earlier, but thankfully the bastard wasn't in there. He still made certain by checking every room. Then he searched for Steven.
Ste had spent a full twenty minutes thinking about what he wanted to shout at Brendan next. When he had decided, he'd gone to find him, but Brendan was nowhere to be found. He thought about following, but by that time the smells had all got confused. Brendan had come and gone from the building so many times that there were trails of his scent going in a hundred directions, and Ste could not figure out which was stronger. Maybe that would come with time and practice.
But that didn't help Ste right now. He had no one to shout at. And no one else seemed to be about, either. But then, it wasn't late. They were probably still at the club. Other people weren't as crazy as Brendan was being recently, and didn't feel the need to fly away from clubs at nearly the speed of sound just because their Dad said "hi".
So Ste flew back there. Brendan had failed to provide him with a good reason not to be at the club, and Ste was still quite hungry. There had been plenty of willing looking people around earlier. One of them was bound to give Ste a bit of a drink.
The press of bodies was getting more desperate in the late evening. A crowd of people, hoping against hope to find someone to help them forget the boredom or stress or tragedy of their lives in a fuck or the thrill of having a vampire play with their lives. Men and women alike were turning to Ste with one thing on their mind.
Ste smiled. He could have his pick for his late night snack. Brendan had barely let him snack on the skinny one called Doug, but Ste could see him still hanging around. He saw Ste and sprang to hopeful attention, eyes wide and his blood acquiring an unattractive whiff of desperation. Ste swayed past him, didn't spare him a look.
He closed his eyes and smelled the air around him. Follow the best smell, he decided. Blood and vampires. Some of the blood had already been taken by the vampires; he could smell their ownership, marking them. He smiled at the thought that all these vampires had been able to smell who he belonged to. Maybe they still could.
A hand landed on his shoulder. He really hadn't got the hang of this smell thing yet. Surely he should have been able to know he was being approached beforehand? He spun, ready to fight.
"Steady there, boy," said Brendan's father in a low and kind voice.
"You took me by surprise," said Ste, reproachfully. Seamus chucked. "Er, are you alright?"
Seamus' face was bruised. The marks were healing before Ste's eyes, but he was sure he could see them.
"Oh, I'm fine lad, some stupid wee ejit saw an old man and thought they could take advantage. They were wrong."
Ste imagined some kid thinking Seamus would be an easy target, attempting to mug him for his pension, little imaging the supernatural being they were attacking. It made him smile.
"Hope you showed them what for!" he said, sharing the grin and Seamus's lips twitched to show his own amusement.
"They'll be feeling it for a few days," he said. "Listen, Steven…"
"Ste," said Ste, "everyone calls me Ste."
Seamus frowned, "I'm sure Brendan called you Steven."
"Yeah, well," said Ste, "Everyone 'cept Brendan." He grinned again. It was like his full name was Brendan's private name for him. He loved that.
Seamus put his head on one side. His expression was unreadable, but Ste assumed he didn't like that. He took too long to answer. "Well, Ste," he said with a sneer, "I'd like to get to know you better, seeing as you're a part of my family now."
"Er, yeah," said Ste, "Sure. Me and Brendan will…"
"No time like the present, lad," Seamus interrupted with confidence. "And I'd like to get to know you without Brendan dripping poison in your ear about me."
"He hasn't…" Ste protested.
"I ain't all bad, lad. And I imagine it's rare to get you alone." Seamus looked at him with steady, penetrating eyes.
"I was about to get something to eat," said Ste, weakly, not sure if he wanted to be alone with that gaze.
"I can share," said Seamus, "I picked up a willing young donor earlier."
"Er…"
"Don't worry, my little friend is young to everyone, not just me." Seamus' tongue darted out to his lips, the thought of his meal clearly tempting in his mind already.
Ste hesitated.
"What, you worried about Brendan? He'll get over it. To be honest, lad, I thought maybe you could help me build some bridges, there."
Ste thought about it. What harm could this man really do? He clearly loved his children and Cheryl clearly adored him back. Maybe he'd explain why Brendan was reacting this way. And he couldn't very well turn down the offer of a willing meal.
"Sure," he said, with a smile. "Lead the way."
Seamus smiled, and put an arm around his shoulder. Ste let himself be led.