Chapter Five: Love In Darkness
She had spent the day sleeping in a hollow cave, which she had fashioned into a temporary home for when she would isolate herself from any other person. It kept the sunlight from burning her skin, and it was cooler inside than it ever was outside. All she needed in it were the pelts she'd placed one on top of the other in order to make a small bed; nestled in the wool, she soon fell into a deep sleep; her biological clock woke her up just as the sun was setting. Jennifer stepped out of the cave, walking down a path as she breathed in the fresh air.
"Jennifer..."
Jennifer suddenly turned to see Lydia and Percy, her parents. Percy's voice had caught her attention and seeing them, Jennifer's body tensed, her eyes narrowing at her father. They each held a knife. Her father watched her precariously; Lydia, however, looked the most reluctant. They advanced towards her. Jennifer held up her hands to them, as though they would shield her from whatever they'd set out to do. And a sadness was gripping at her heart as she knew what they had planned to do: the knives were dead giveaway.
"You...stay away." Jennifer warned. "Don't come near me."
"Hordor mentioned you were still alive," Percy said lightly with unusual softness.
Jennifer snarled, "You sound so concerned. Now, I wonder why that is..."
"Please," Lydia begged. "Come back home with us. We...we miss you."
"Yeah?" Jennifer questioned skeptically. She pointed to their knives, which were clenched tightly in their hands. "I think you have only missed your opportunity to kill me."
"Jennifer..." Percy began, stepping towards her.
"Stay there." Jennifer ordered dangerously.
Percy stared at her incredulously. Lydia's face was stricken with worry. They glanced at one another as though reading each other's mind, and this only confirmed Jennifer's suspicions. Betrayal tugged at her heart, and the love she had for them seemed to only spite her further.
"You chased me out of my home," Jennifer told them coldly. "You turned your backs on me when I needed you most. You called me names that no daughter should ever hear a parent say..." She crossed her arms, raising her head proudly: "But say you really did care for me. Let's pretend you found your new love for me. I want to believe it but what I find most contradicting is the coincidence-you arrived just as I have awakened...with daggers in your hands."
They stared at her, frightened. A wicked smile flitted to her face.
"You were going to sneak into my cave and kill me," Jennifer deduced from their drawn weapons and over-eager expressions. "Weren't you?"
"It's not us..." Lydia pleaded. "It's Hordor...he's asked for your body. He wants you dead."
"But the price of my head means a great deal to you, doesn't it? I bet it's quite a hefty amount to my parents who have lived in a small shack all their lives. I think the bounty must be pretty large for you to come out alone-I'm guessing you didn't want to split the shares. I'm not even hurt by the idea of you trying to make a better life for yourselves, for hunting for that bounty. But you were ready to kill me in the worst way possible, a cowardly way too. You can't even do it to my face; you have to wait until I am asleep before you completely betray me. Be quiet!" She had interrupted her mother who had opened her mouth to speak otherwise.
"Hordor wants my head because of what I did to his precious knight. The bounty is a perk—he wants me dead. But you, two, want me dead as well, but for other personal reasons." Jennifer pointed out. "You don't want me as a daughter anymore; you see me only as you want to see me, because the thought of being anything to me now is fate worse than death...apparently. You'd prefer my death, instead."
Lydia and Percy beckoned to her, stepping forward to put these atrocious ideas out of her mind and the moment they did, Jennifer hissed harshly at them, glaring at them angrily. Knowing her eyes had shifted from their beautiful sparking blue orbs to the yellow pair most people feared.
The elderly couple froze in place.
Lydia looked the most pained, her arms reaching out to take her daughter inside them, to comfort Jennifer, who appeared so abandoned. But Jennifer didn't even move an inch. Instead, she pointed at them.
"You will leave now." Jennifer said, her voice breaking slightly. "You leave now, and I won't have to kill you. You haven't done anything to warrant such a fate. So please...for the sake of our past relationship and time having spent together...please...please, leave."
"We're your parents, Jennifer. I'm...your mother, I love you," Lydia begged her to understand.
"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME YOU LOVE ME," Jennifer shouted furiously.
The parents had picked up their knives quickly from where they'd been dropped to convey false security, and stepped back when she took a threatening step towards them. Her eyes glinted with anger; her fangs exposed. Jennifer felt anger rushing through her body.
"Don't you dare tell me you love me. You turned your back on me!" Jennifer hissed. "You abandoned your daughter. You betrayed my trust and my love. You came here to kill—not to comfort."
"Jennifer, listen to me," Percy began.
"SHUT UP!" Jennifer demanded.
The charade was gone. Seizing what appeared to be a moment of opportunity while Jennifer was too angry to react, Percy snatched his knife from the ground, and with impressive strength for such a frail-looking man, he threw the knife. Then, as though by magic, it suddenly slowed down, and hovered in the air directly in front of Jennifer's heart; at the halt of its destination, Jennifer stepped back—her look of disbelief matched that of her parents'.
Another voice called to her, "Jennifer."
A cloud of red smoke appeared before her and from its fog stepped Rumplestiltskin; his hand held up as though he was clenching the air, but Percy, Jennifer, and Lydia realized he had stopped the dagger from making its way to Jennifer's heart. The parents glanced at him, suddenly looking very much afraid—Percy, especially, seemed to lack his former confidence as he placed his arms protectively around his wife. Jennifer glanced at the crooked dagger that was worn on the belt of Rumplestiltskin's clothes, right against his hip, reading his name. He always kept it closest to him.
The Dark One observed the situation, glancing between Jennifer, whose expression held the mixture of disbelief (for she hadn't died), sadness and pain (for she'd just witnessed her father's efforts at killing his one and only daughter), and slighted flattery, for Rumplestiltskin had appeared at the nick of time to save her.
"Jennifer," Rumplestiltskin asked with a steadied tone, "What is going on here?" Although, he seemed to already understand the situation fairly well. The floating dagger in front of Jennifer made a hard case against the two assassins.
"Dark One..." Percy said calmly, (although his eyes betrayed all sorts of fear) "This really doesn't concern you...so...please...if you would leave us to speak to our daughter."
Rumplestiltskin looked at him, and Percy immediately shrank from the gaze. Lydia was shaking with fear, stepping behind her husband who made an obvious effort of shielding her from whatever dark magic would ensue.
"Normally, I would have stepped aside regarding any family business between a mother and father, and their daughter. However, since your business involved killing her, I thought I would just step in." He took a step forward on the aforementioned word as he emphasized it. Twirling his fingers, the dagger seemed to obey him as it now turned in the direction of Lydia and Percy, who stared in horror as the knife began hovering towards them in a slow, threatening pace; joining it was its other half that had originally been grasped by Lydia.
"Jennifer, are you all right?" He asked her, although his eyes never left her parents.
"Fine."
"Care to explain?" Rumplestiltskin questioned, indicating the entire situation at his feet.
"Hordor put a bounty on my head," Jennifer answered lightly. "Evidently."
"He promised..." began Percy.
Rumplestiltskin lifted his other hand, as though he was choking something and that appeared to be Percy's neck for he suddenly couldn't finish his sentence.
"Whatever bounty he promised for her pretty little head, I can assure you it's now null and void," Rumplestiltskin returned pointedly.
"He told us yesterday, said he would pay us if we could find the vampire," Lydia whimpered, staring at her husband worriedly—there was no doubt as to why for Percy was gasping for air, begging for mercy. Lydia looked imploringly past Rumplestiltskin to Jennifer, seemingly asking her to do something about this.
"Well, he was alive yesterday." Rumplestiltskin returned. "Things got a little crazy last night."
Turning to Jennifer, Rumplestiltskin said too happily, "I'm afraid he took a sudden turn for the worst."
"How?" Percy questioned.
"I killed him," the Dark One returned as though it should have been obvious by the context clues he'd given them, "Along with the other knights who rode in with him."
"Why?" gasped Percy.
"They tried taking what belongs to me." Rumplestiltskin said, referring to his son. "So I took something that belongs to them...their lives."
Lydia cried in fear as Rumplestiltskin walked towards them.
"You tried to do the same thing," Rumplestiltskin growled, glaring at them. He no longer held control over the knives; the objects had dropped to the ground; instead, he used the free hand to control Lydia, now—through magic—strangling both parents, lifting them into the air so their feet had begun to kick.
"Jennifer..." Percy choked. "Please..."
"Love is a harsh thing," Rumplestiltskin muttered, tittering. "You came after her to kill her for gold..." His hands tightened so that the dark magic holding at their throats strangled harder as he steadily became angrier: "And now..." he chuckled darkly, "You're begging her, expecting her to help...now... when you need her most." The last words were spoken quietly in a softer tone.
He glanced at Jennifer as said them; she was watching the scene unfold before her with an odd look on her face as though she wanted to save them, but there was something else working on her heart. She understood Rumplestiltskin's meaning. They had turned their back on her when she needed their understanding and their love. And now, they were wishing the same from her, expecting her love and forgiveness. But did they not just try to lure her into a false sense of security so they could rip her heart out in the next moment? Did they just not make an attempt on her life out of hatred and avarice?
These thoughts only made her look fearsome as she frowned at Rumplestiltskin, but the tears in her eyes seemed to be holding back her darkest thoughts, for despite what they had just tried to do to her, she could not deny that she still loved them very deeply.. Despite her lack of response, Rumplestiltskin seemed to read her message loud and clear. After all, he had known her for the better part of his life.
"Jennifer, please. Jennifer—"
"Will. Not. Be. Harmed." Rumplestiltskin ordered dangerously; he lowered his hands so both Lydia and Percy suddenly gasped for air, kneeling down on the earth to recover. "Apparently, she still loves you—but love is a weapon and you've used it once already. If I were you, I would make my way back home and hope you never run into her again. Because then, you will have only me to deal with. And she won't be here to save you."
Percy glared at Jennifer, as though he was planning his next move carefully. Thinking better not to do what he was obviously planning, Percy placed an arm around his wife and they ran from the Dark One, who watched after them, thoughtfully. He turned to look at Jennifer.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"I've been better," Jennifer replied, shrugged. "Hordor's gone, then?"
Rumplestiltskin smiled sheepishly: "Quite."
"How's Baelfire?"
He shrugged, saying, "He's safe."
"And the other villagers?"
"They're afraid," Rumplestiltskin reported, smiling at her. "And they should be."
"Fear is powerful," Jennifer noted. "It, too, is a weapon. Love and fear alike. It can help or hinder you."
"And what does it do for you?" he asked, moving closer to her; he placed a hand along her jaw, touching her face with the back of his hand.
"Hinder," Jennifer returned, thinking of her parents sadly. "But every now and then, it's invigorating to see just how powerful fear can be. Like what I've just seen...I've never seen my father flee from a fight."
Rumplestiltskin walked around her, saying, "In his defense, it wouldn't have been much of a fight."
Jennifer turned to meet his eyes, seeing the honesty of his words; if she had given permission, Rumplestiltskin would have killed her parents without hesitation. He walked up to her, and placed his arms around her waist, pulling her to him; Jennifer wrapped her arms around his neck almost instinctively.
"Maybe," Jennifer uttered, "You should have let him try and fight you."
"It would have been his suicide." Rumplestiltskin told her.
"I would have died as his hand, if you hadn't interfered," Jennifer responded. "I might have killed him myself anyway..."
"Would you have been able to live with that—killing your father?"
Jennifer shrugged.
"I've killed others...I don't always think about it, granted. From what I have seen of him, he'd have no guilt assassinating me." she admitted unhappy. "It is clear to me more than ever—he's no longer my father, not the one I remembered. You saw it in his eyes, the way he looked at me. He was ready to kill me for gold."
"The amount of gold upsets you?" Rumplestiltskin asked.
"It's not the bounty, really," Jennifer uttered. "He would have killed me just to be rid of my existence."
She pulled away from Rumplestiltskin, obviously upset by this, but he didn't permit her withdrawal. Instead, she was only pulled back by the restraint of his arms, which remained linked around her waist. Jennifer searched his eyes for a meaning behind the restraint.
"You've stood by my side for years, Jennifer," Rumplestiltskin told her. "I will now stand by yours."
"You have always stood by my side. You and I have always had each other. The village coward" she caressed his face with both hands, "And the village monster—Hordor was a bastard, but he was right...seems only fitting that in a world that has made us feel unloved and unwanted, we would find what we desperately sought...in one another." Jennifer told him. "Acceptance, love, and the feeling of being wanted."
"And you are comfortable with this?" Rumplestiltskin asked, indicating his current appearance.
Jennifer flashed her vampire features, allowing her eyes to reflect the bright yellow and her fangs to expose as she said, "Look at me, Rumple."
He met her gaze, smiling at her transformation—maybe with a little adoration.
"You accepted me as I am now—a vampire," Jennifer told him. "You've given me friendship and love when everyone else responded with abandonment and bitterness. I can and will give you the same."
"And what of this power?" Rumplestiltskin asked quietly. "Would you rather me not have it?"
Jennifer suspected the feeble tone of his stemmed from however Baelfire had reacted to seeing his father as the Dark One.
Jennifer returned softly, "Your heart is all I desire, Rumple—I know the man you truly are. A man who needs more than just his beloved to make him feel strong and brave, and powerful. If that's what it takes for you to feel fearless, keep it. Everyone needs a little something. Some people have castles. Others have swords. You...you have magic. And me...well, I have the vampire thing to fall back on."
"You've accepted this a lot easier than most," Rumplestiltskin uttered in surprise.
"Love is adaptable." She responded softly. "Personally, I like magic, all sorts. So...if it makes you feel any better about it, I will love the Dark One just as deeply and passionately."
Rumplestiltskin smiled as Jennifer brought her face closer to his so their lips were reunited. When their lips locked, it was as though a fire had consumed them; the soft, gentle kissing became a heated battle of tongues and neither submitted their control. Jennifer moved her hands against the fabric of his tunic, grabbing a handful of the material as he kissed her harder. His hands felt the small of her back, lowering to her legs, pulling her dress up so he could feel the nakedness behind her thighs. Jennifer moaned as his fingernails scratched the flesh lightly; a soft purr echoing from deep inside her throat. Her hands snaked behind his back, moving to his hips to undress his lower half when her excitement began building at an alarming rate. Suddenly he pulled back.
Jennifer was surprised as he looked at her carefully, suspicion suddenly clouding his expression.
"What?" Jennifer asked. "What's wrong?"
"What are you really after?" Rumplestiltskin asked her quietly.
"Well," she said curiously, "I was considering taking you behind that tree there," She pointed to a rather large oak a few feet from them, "But we could wait if you..."
"Is that all?" Rumplestiltskin asked suddenly.
Jennifer furrowed her eyebrows, confused, and a little defensive.
"Well, my long-term goal was to make love to you." She said, pointing to herself. Then pointing to him, she said, "What was yours?"
Rumplestiltskin continued to watch her warily. There was a great deal of mistrust in his eyes, and Jennifer's confusion turned into concern. She stepped towards him carefully.
"What do you think I was doing?" she asked.
Rumplestiltskin pulled back his cloak to reveal the dagger with his name on it.
"Seriously?" Jennifer questioned sardonically. "You thought I was after your dagger?"
"Being the Dark One means I have a lot of power now," he told her. "That also means...someone can use it to control that power—control me.."
"And," Jennifer returned coolly, "You think I am after the dagger so I can...what...control you?"
Rumplestiltskin eyed her, still. But he didn't respond.
She smiled saying, "You must be really daft in the head to allow yourself to think even for a moment that I would want to control you, Rumple. Your power is your own to wield."
She strolled towards him and when he made to withdraw, she snatched past his guarded arm and snatched the dagger within her own vampire agility and speed. She held it so he could see that she clearly had in her possession; the look on his face was extremely defensive, guarded, and on the brink of anger.
"To prove a point," Jennifer mused.
"Give it back," he requested with a great amount of forced calm.
"I will," Jennifer told him softly. "But I am proving a point."
"What point is that?" Rumplestiltskin snapped.
"I have the dagger of the Dark One in my hand as we speak," Jennifer told him softly. "If I wanted to control you, I would be giving you demands and telling you to kill my parents and make their deaths messy...to make them suffer, and beg..." She walked towards him, placing the dagger behind her while Rumplestiltskin remained stiff as bored—probably not by his own accord, but his expression of disdain transformed slowly to one of reluctant interest.
"I would have demanded by now that you make my father kneel before me," Jennifer whispered, her eyes darkening, "And force him to apologize for all the names he'd called me, for making feel the way you have shown me I never have to feel, Rumple."
She placed the dagger in front of her, flipping it so she now held the blade itself, the handle facing him.
"But I haven't," Jennifer stated flatly. "And I won't. If you want to question my motives for loving you, Rumple, I would suggest you do it."
Rumplestiltskin continued to look at her—the expression of his mixed with anger (for she'd taken his dagger after voicing her lack of wanting it), admiration (for her description as to how she'd want her parents killed), and simply her usual aptitude for knowing him. He looked at her for the longest time and her gaze never faltered. When he held no more objections, she tossed him the dagger. He seemed a little set back after accusing her for wanting to control him.
"You have been my love for a long time," Jennifer said. "I love you as the man you are right now, and as the Dark One. Personally, I certainly have no reason for taking away your power because from what I have already seen— I suspect I will like you as the Dark One."
"Really," Rumplestiltskin said, looking at her curiously. "Why is that?"
"Because," Jennifer said, "I have my reasons."
"And what are they?"
Jennifer smirked when he saw a spark of interest light his eyes.
"They're selfish reasons, really," Jennifer warned, turning from him as she shrugged shyly.
"I want to know."
"Do you?"
"Yes," Rumplestiltskin breathed, walking around her so he was facing her.
Jennifer said boldly, leaning her upper body towards him with a bit of a playful tease, "With you as the Dark One, I feel you should know something about me before I tell you my selfish reasons."
"And that is?" questioned Rumplestiltskin, bracing himself for the worst—and a little for the best.
"I was attracted to you before while you were simply spinning at the wheel. Now that you're the Dark One, I can feel my attraction increasing tenfold—might be some dark magic at work, but it is probably with good reason," Jennifer stated factually. "I'm a cold-blooded, thirsty monster with an insatiable amount of blood lust—once I get started, it takes a few days for me to stop."
Jennifer stated as facts: "I drain the life out of one person so I don't have to feed on ten other people; it sounds like the honorable thing to do but it's because I don't like taking the ten trips. I don't mind killing people—I sometimes enjoy it. And watching you kill those knights who tried to hurt me last night, and watching you give command over my parents..."
She grinned wickedly, pressing her body against his.
"Personally,...selfishly...Watching you in action makes me a little...frisky." Jennifer breathed, her eyes darkening with lust.
Rumplestiltskin stared at her incredulously, trying to process this.
"You are extraordinary," Rumplestiltskin uttered as he placed his arms around her waist. "You never cease to amaze me."
"I think you're extraordinary too," Jennifer returned. "You must have a thing for vampires, then?"
"Apparently, I do," Rumplestiltskin said, chuckling. "But maybe that's your natural power of seduction at work."
"I call 'bull'—you were looking at me long before I became a vampire." Jennifer mewed.
"Well, you are right about that." Rumplestiltskin admitted with resolve.
They shared a soft peck on the mouth and with a few tempting second, third, and fourth peck, it only escalated to yet another passionate moment of feverish kissing; Jennifer closed the distance between them, lifting her leg to brush against the back of his; she felt the dagger push against her thigh. Before things escalated any further, Jennifer mumbled, "Don't you have to return to town?"
"Why?" Rumplestiltskin uttered gruffly, his mouth overtaking her neck, relishing her body's responses to him.
"Baelfire," Jennifer reminded. "My parents have shown their true colors—they might hurt him."
"Oh..." Rumplestiltskin mumbled. Jennifer chuckled when he seemed disoriented, and he managed to pull himself together, muttering, "Right, right—I have to check on Bae."
"I'll come with you," Jennifer offered. "I didn't kill them this time because I, unfortunately, still love them but even I refuse to attack children. If they go after Baelfire, I will kill them myself."
Rumplestiltskin smiled at her lovingly.
He waved his hand and a big cloud of red smoke gathered around them, transporting them to the town where they entered his cottage and saw that Baelfire had fallen asleep, not a hair on his little head had been touched.
Rumplestiltskin offered her a cup of freshly brewed tea, and they toasted to their new happy life for Jennifer had agreed to stay with him (the situation had apparently been discussed with Baelfire—he'd approved, considering how plucky she had been towards the knights, Baelfire approved of her wily personality, and apparent love she'd shown for his father).
While Jennifer had become only further seduced by the potential of his power, Rumplestiltskin did, however, notice that the newfound darkness within him had pulled a little for her as well. He felt (what would have originally been unthinkable) even more attracted to Jennifer—maybe it was her blood lust that prompted that whole make-out session to begin. Her description of humiliating the enemy or gutting their entrails seemed to set his insides ablaze—he couldn't have thought of a better scenario for Hordor; it was a shame he'd only broken his neck instead of following Jennifer's extreme idea.