Chapter Twenty Three

Natalie paced the small motel room, her mind spinning.."why would he hold onto Johns soul like that, why wouldnt he try and put it back and stop all of this" she just didnt understand, it made no sense, why hold onto his soul when they could try and fix this..

"I learned a long time ago not to trust those holy rollers" Victor said dryly..

"but they are angels, they are suppose to be good" she said with confusion. Her entire life she had been raised to believe that the angels/gods were on their side, the good side but this, this just didnt seem right..

"angels can be whatever the hell they want Natalie, especially when they are working on something and Michael, oh he is definitely working on something" he said with a shake of his head..

"so then they are just holding onto his soul, why? It doesnt make sense" she said quickly..

"Im not quite sure but I know this, they are up to something and that something isnt good" he said seriously.."Let me ask around, I have a few friends left who may know a thing or two" he said and before Natalie could question him, he disappeared as she sighed. She hoped he could find something out there cause right now she had absolutely nothing to go on..

By the morning she was absolutely starved as she decided to go and look for somewhere to eat. There had to be a diner or even a small market somewhere and so she ventured out. She wondered what John was doing now, would she be able to save him? How the hell could she get his soul from heaven? The fact that Michael had out right lied to her a year ago made her anger build to combustable levels, she felt stupid for trusting his word..She thought of her daughter, she missed her and if the fate of the world wasnt on her shoulders she would be with her right now but what kind of a world would her daughter have if the apocolypse happened, there wouldnt be a world at all..

There was a small diner about a half mile up the road and she quickly went inside. The place was almost barren but she liked it better that way as she quickly ordered some breakfast and then made her way to a booth as she grabbed a newspaper. She hated that the news stories were always about some kind of death and destruction. She knew however what was really behind it and it wasnt due to some lack of religion in schools or the decline in employment, it was evil pure and simple..

She flipped to the comics quickly, living this lifestyle was depressing as hell.."I find the comics more interesting as well" the sound of his voice made her jump as she put the paper down only to see John standing there as he stared at her.."You dont mind, do you" he said as her eyes got wide and he sat down across from her..She didnt even know what to say, he was there, like for real, in that diner, sitting across from her.."i have to say that Garfield is my favorite" he said quickly..

"ive never been a fan of cats" she said quickly as she swallowed hard..

"oh well then we have a very big problem" he said darkly as she inhaled deep.."Gloria is it?"

"Yeah and um, your John, right" she tried not to sound freaked out but she definitely was..

"I dont think I had the pleasure of giving you my name last night" he began as she silently cursed herself for speaking too quick.."so then we do know each other" he raised an eyebrow, his eyes were so dark, it made her stomach knot up..

"not exactlly" she lied.."youve made quite a name for yourself, everyone knows who you are"

"well ive never been one to keep a low profile" he said dryly.."where is your man?" he asked as he stared at her, studying her, he still couldnt read her mind, which was incredibly odd and frustrating..She shifted uncomfortably..

"out, you know, people have to work" she said quickly as he smiled but it was a dark smile..

"yes they do, is that what you were doing at my club last night, working?" he stared at her and she swallowed hard, before she could answer the waitress came over and Natalie jumped at her presence as she bumped her knee into the table hard..

"Oh good, im starved" she tried to play it off as the waitress looked at her odd and then walked away after placing the food on the table..

"You left before I had a chance to fully introduce myself last night" he continued..

"well it was late" she said quickly, her hands now shaking as she grabbed a fork..

"not a night owl then" he said as he stared at her shaking hand and then at her eyes..."Your boyfriend sure is"

"I um" she began to say nervously and then he reached out and grabbed her wrist as he yanked her forward some so that their faces were merely inches apart and she gasped..

"who are you really" his voice was low but it held a threat..

"i told you already" she said and she tried to pull on her hand but he held onto it hard..

"Your lying" he said deadly serious and she swallowed hard.." I will find out" he said as he let go of her hand and then abruptly stood as she sucked in a deep breath and then he was walking out as she sat there, literally trembling at what had just happened.. There was a moment there where his eyes softened just enough for her to catch a glimpse of the man she knew but it was gone within seconds, but he looked a bit freaked out about it himself. She quickly rubbed her wrist..

"You know you really need to leave a note or something if your going to be taking off" Vince said as she looked up and saw him standing there, he immediately noticed the look of shock on her face.."what happened" he seemed concerned..

"he was here, John..just seconds ago" she said damn near breathless as Victor looked around quick.."he's gone now but" she swallowed hard as Victor looked at her..

"But what, what did he say" he said quickly..

"he wanted to know who I really was, and then...i cant explain it but, It was like part of him remembered me or something" she said with a shake of her head..

"thats not good, if he goes back and tells her, or she reads his mind" Victor began with concern.."we cant stay here, its too dangerous"

She stood now.."but we cant just go, were so close" she said seriously..

"yeah well if he is sniffing around it aint good" he said quickly as he looked around with paranoia..

"He didnt hurt me, he could of but he didnt" she said reassuringly..

"yeah well that could change, we cant risk it" he said with alarming concern..

"why are you all of a sudden so concerned with my well being" she said with confusion..

He looked at her and then cocked his head.."You have a daughter, that changes things" he said seriously and then spun from her as she stood there confused.."were taking the food to go" he said as he walked away and she was actually shocked, how did the fact that she have a daughter change anything..

She hated grabbing her food on the go but Victor was adament about going somewhere safe, some place where John and Evangeline for that matter couldnt just sneak up on them at whim..But where he took her shocked even her as she looked at him and then at all the green eyes staring back at her..

"Oh good you brought us dinner" one guy smiled as his fangs descended and she gasped in shock, too afraid to move, she was in a vampire den and being a slayer in a den full of blood suckers definitely wasnt a good thing..

"Nice one Jacob, but honestly lets not give the girl a heart attack" Victor said with a laugh as Natalie looked at him..

"can we talk" she said nervously as she looked around, there had to be atleast twenty vamps there and they were all looking at her..

"i told you its fine and safe here" he said to her as she swallowed hard..

"i dont feel very safe" she said as she kept looking around nervously..

"were vegans,... slayer" one man said as he came out of the shadows, he looked older than the rest of them and much wiser too as he came over.."Victor told me, well us about the situation at hand and he was right, your safe here" he said as he looked at her and she stared up at him, he was huge, atleast six and a half feet tall, completely white long hair on his head and sprinkled on his face..

"i still dont think this is a good idea to have a slayer here" a girl stepped over, she had very long brown hair and she glared at Natalie..

"she's here to help, I give my word" Victor said and then he looked at her in such a way that basically said dont fuck this up, she swallowed hard..

"since when did we become a homeless shelter" the girl continued.."I dont like this one bit"

"if victor gives his word then that is all I need, any friend of his is welcome here" the older man said as he then out stretched his hand to Natalie. She could remember the day when she would of gladly took off a vamps head but now she was using them for protection, this was crazy.."My name is Benjamin and you are welcome to stay as long as you need Natalie" he said as she shook his cold hand and swallowed hard once more, the girl huffed again as she spun around and began grumbling under her breath as she walked out of the room. Within seconds Victor was rushing after her as Natalie stood there, all vamps staring at her, this could definitely turn out bad, vegans or not.."please make yourself at home and dont mind the mess, Thomas was suppose to be on chore duty today" Benjamin began as he looked at a younger guy who sat on the couch, a xbox remote control in his hand..

"I was getting to it, I was but I just" Thomas began to ramble as Benjamin stared at him hard.."fine, im getting to it now" he huffed as he put down the remote and Benjamin looked at Natalie..

"You look like you could use a drink" he said as he began to walk out of the room and she stood for another moment and then quickly followed him. The house wasnt lavish, it looked like a normal three bedroom two story home, which was odd for vampires and she couldnt get over the fact that they were vegans, she honestly didnt even know that vegan vamps exsisted..

The room that Benjamin led her into was a small office and he proceeded in pouring a drink, she felt her nerves absolutely racing.."it was must be odd for you to be here, considering your a slayer and all" he said as he poured two drinks.

"yeah something like that" she said nervously..

"Yeah well the feeling is mutual and the fact of the matter is we all want the same thing" he turned to her now and handed her a drink, she sipped it quickly as she looked at him..."we all would like to continue to enjoy this world and everything it has to offer" he began as he looked at her.."so maybe for the meantime we can all play nice for a moment"