Flight

***This next chapter gets a little violent. Just thought I'd let you know.

Everything had gone unearthly still around them. Marcus backed up slightly, putting half of his body in front of Adriane. She looked down and saw his hands slowly contract into claws. A tiny figure appeared through the trees, moving cautiously forward. At first Adriane thought it was a child its features appeared so young. Then it stepped into a patch of sunlight and its skin sparkled in the afternoon rays. "Hello Alec", Marcus said tightly.

The name sent a tiny spark of recognition through Adriane's brain. As the figure drew closer, its features became more defined and she suddenly had no question as to who was slowly stalking towards them. Alec, as she now remembered, was the sibling of Jane and one of Caius's own personal guard. Jane's hate-filled face flashed through Adriane's mind and she vaguely wondered if Alec was as easily riled as she. Not, of course, that Adriane would ever do anything as stupid as try to purposely piss off a vampire. She did that often enough now that she didn't even have to try.

Alec continued to move forwards, though he appeared to be less cautious than Marcus. A small smile played at the corners of his mouth, as if he couldn't quite comprehend the situation. "Marcus", he said jovially, "I would have never, in a million years, expected this of you! What's gotten into you? Running off in the dead of night, rescuing the fearless damsel, and a human at that! I must say, you put us all in a bit of shock. And Aro, well he was less than…pleased".

Alec was now mere feet from where Marcus was standing, and seemed to be waiting for some sort of reply. "You know", he prompted, "both Aro and Caius would be delighted to have you back; all you'd need to do is give up the girl".

Marcus started to push Adriane back, always keeping half of his body in front of hers. "I'm sorry to…disappoint my brothers", said Marcus quietly, "but I will not be returning to Voltera. Send them my best".

Alec's face turned first to surprise, then confusion, and settled somewhere along the lines of disbelief. "Marcus, be reasonable! She is nothing to you! And even if she were, she's still a human. They are weak Marcus, nothing better than food. I thought you were the most grounded of us all, surely you realize what you're doing, what you're giving up". He stepped forward and placed a hand on Marcus's arm. He was as still as a statue, so much so that Adriane doubted he was breathing. "Please", he pleaded, "I'm warning you, you'll regret this in the end."

"Never-the-less", Marcus paused, "…I have made my choice."

He stepped back until Alec could not reach him. The other vampire's face clouded over in frustration before settling on a featureless mask. "You see Marcus", he said slowly, "the only problem with that…was I was told to bring you back, both you and the girl. And I unlike you, tend to follow my orders."

Marcus seemed unfazed by Alec's tone. He merely nodded his head and said, "I understand…your loyalty is not with me."

For reasons unknown, Adriane was becoming less and less interested in the two deadly vampires standing in front of her. She looked vaguely around at the trees and couldn't seem to remember why she was in the forest, and quite frankly she didn't care. Adriane looked down at her feet and realized that she couldn't quite make them out from the mass of colors on the ground. Confused, Adriane squinted her eyes. If she concentrated really hard she could just make out her shoes, and around them there seemed to swirl a hazy white mist. This didn't make any sense to her but after a couple seconds of consideration she lost interest in the matter.

Someone seemed to be calling her from far away, but Adriane didn't know who would know her name out in the forest. Maybe, she thought idly, I've been here before and…ADRIANE!

She looked around her for the source of the noise, but it was like trying to look through a really long straw. Hmm, speaking of straws…something suddenly crashed into Adriane's side, knocking her down into the soft earth. She barely felt the impact and wanted to stay lost in the sudden warmth that was spreading through her body. However all good things must come to an end and the next second she had the feeling that she was flying, soaring through the dim whiteness around her.

Cold slowly started to seep into her body and a face swam in and out of focus in front of her. It took Adriane a moment before she realized he was trying to say something to her, but she still couldn't quite make out the words. Pretty, she thought as his face became more focused.

For a second time that day Adriane felt something slam into her side. This time however, it was followed by a searing pain that went straight through her arm and exploded somewhere in the confines of her mind. The fog seamed to dissipate with the pain and Adriane looked to see where the angelic faced man had gone; only now remembering that it was Marcus. He was locked in battle with Alec, who seemed to have the upper hand. Around his small torso swirled what Adriane recognized now as the mist she had seen earlier. Marcus didn't get too close for fear of coming near the hazy substance. Instead he would retreat several feet every time Alec sent the mist towards him. Adriane could see that he was trying to lead Alec away from her, but she doubted the game of cat and mouse would be able to last much longer.

Marcus seemed to be thinking along the same lines as she. He called out, "This will go on forever Alec! Go home; there is no shame in such a defeat."

This seemed to merely enrage the vampire. Snarling, the mist around Alec's body suddenly disappeared. Adriane couldn't understand what he was doing. Why would he just give up, she thought. Suddenly Alec disappeared; moving so fast he barely left a blur behind. The next second Adriane was being dragged backward by her neck. She slammed into Alec's stone chest and could feel his cool breath on her neck, making her shiver. "You're right Marcus; this would have gone on forever, though you seem to of provided me with the perfect bait!"

Marcus was suddenly right in front of them. His lip was turned down into a fierce sneer and a low rumbling was coming from deep inside of his chest. Alec merely chuckled. "Poor Marcus", he said softly, "you're not cut out for this anymore. You used to be the strongest of us all. Now you're too weak, too…arghh!"

Marcus dove forward. He grabbed Alec's arm and twisted it back with a sickening snap. At the same time he grabbed Adriane and hurled her backward. She went flying into a nearby tree, her head reeling back before violently snapping forward onto her chest. She slid down the trunk of the tree, fighting to stay conscious.

A vicious growl ripped through Marcus's lips and for the first time Alec looked truly terrified. The odorless mist started to reach out again but Marcus slammed his fist into Alec's jaw, sending him flying back a good fifty feet and into a tree. Without giving him any time to act Marcus flew forward and stood in front of him. Alec stumbled forwards and Adriane noticed how terrifying Marcus, the quiet man with no expression, suddenly looked before his opponent. Marcus towered over Alec, being almost a whole two feet taller than him. "You should have listened to me", Marcus snarled.

Alec screamed and lunged forward, but turned too slowly as Marcus sidestepped him and slammed his hand into the back of Alec's head. There was a loud crack, followed by an ear-splitting shriek from Alec. Marcus had placed his one hand on the side of Alec's head and the other on his shoulder. With one sharp jerk of his arm he tore the small body completely in half from shoulder to waist. Without pause Marcus started to tear the body apart, starting with the head and moving down. When he was done he set fire to the pieces. Dark, sweet smelling plumes of smoke rolled away from the carcass, and beside it stood Marcus. He was nearly invisible the smoke was so dark.

As he came toward her the Marcus Adriane knew had disappeared. In his place was a powerful killing machine, complete with luminous red eyes and sharp teeth to match. Adriane tried to scramble backwards when he got closer but ended up falling and grabbing the tree for support. Her legs wouldn't hold her weight they were shaking so badly and on top of that her head was pounding in unison with every beat of her heart.

"Adriane", he said gently, "please listen to me." He made to reach for her arm but she jerked backward out of fear. She hissed as pain flared through the base of her skull and down into her spine. Adriane could feel the tears threatening to overspill in her eyes. Marcus moved his arm in her direction very slowly until his hand rested gently on her own. "Adriane, look at me", he whispered.

Adriane felt powerless as her gaze met his own. "I swear to you", Marcus said, "You have nothing to fear from me. I am", pause, "sorry you had to see that."

"A simple close your eyes would have been nice", she grumbled.

"I was slightly…distracted. And you would not have listened anyways", he replied. Marcus's mouth suddenly turned down into a frown, "You smell of blood", he said.

Slowly he reached his hand forward and ran it gently down the nap of her neck. Adriane grimaced slightly in pain but managed not to say anything. When Marcus pulled his hand back it was slick with blood. Adriane thought absently how much worse it looked in comparison to the snow white pallor of his skin.

Marcus hissed when he saw the blood. Adriane drew back slightly, not completely trusting the strength of his willpower. "Don't", he said simply, "I am not in danger of losing control. But I must move you. I must see what damage you have acquired".

Adriane wasn't too keen on the sound of moving, but with help from Marcus she was able to sit up. "Remove your shirt", he said in a neutral voice, "I wish to check your spin."

"What are you a doctor?" she asked sarcastically.

"I have studied many things", he countered. Adriane lifted her arms hesitantly into the air and he removed her shirt. Unbelievably, this made her almost as nervous as when Alec first appeared. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and wished not for the first time that Marcus's hearing wasn't so good.

"Lie down", he murmured.

"Yea, that's easier said than done" Adriane growled. She lowered herself down to the ground, head throbbing in pain. Marcus's fingers parted her hair and she gasped when he brushed against the gash in her skull. His fingers ghosted down her neck and along her spine, occasionally probing here or there at her back.

"Well", he sighed, "luck seems to be with you today. There is nothing broken, though expect there to be severe bruising. I am also…hesitant to move you. However this is problematic seeing as we shouldn't stay long in one place".

"I can move", Adriane insisted, "well, you'll have to carry me, but I'm not staying here." She looked over at the now smoldering pile of ashes that had been Alec. "Please don't make me stay here."

Marcus looked at her for a long time before finally sighing and standing up. Adriane put her shirt back on slowly and pulled herself up with Marcus's help. He gently cradled her in his arms, which was quite a change from the last time she was carried by him. His cool skin felt good on her aching back. "We'll go back and get your things", Marcus said, "and keep heading North. You must also find a place to get clean." Here he indicated the blood that was slowly drying on her neck. Adriane merely nodded, suddenly feeling extremely tired. The gentle rhythm of Marcus's body pulled her quickly into sleep.

"Rest now", Marcus whispered, "there will be little chance in the coming days."

**Sorry it's taking me so long to update guys; I promise I'm working on it! I hope to be able to write faster soon and I promise one of these days the chapters will be longer. Until then you'll just have to put up with my writing style. Send some reviews my way, I love hearing from you! Even if it's a bit of constructive criticism, in the end it'll only help me grow. Next chapter coming soon!!!