A/N: I know it's been a while, but normal life doesn't always give you time to write...

Chapter 5 ~ The water flows in me

It was a gentle gliding out of sleep when she awoke – no pain, just warmth around her as she slowly stretched out in the soft bed. It was dark in the room, but she had expected that. Isabel had hinted that the automatic blinds would provide darkness if she woke during the day. Carefully, Ava sat up, but her body was completely painless. Reassured, she swung her legs off the bed and walked the few steps to the light switch Isabel had shown her the previous night. When the room shone in the warm light of the ceiling lamp, she saw on a small table a water bottle and a fruit bowl filled with apples, pears and bananas. With a thankful smile, she went to the table and wanted to take a pear when she noticed a note lying next to the water bottle. A grateful feeling spread through Ava's chest as she read Isabel's words that she should enjoy the fruit. The pears looked so juicy and delicious that Ava couldn't resist, although she had previously felt only a slight tug in the stomach area, which announced no real hunger but a greater appetite. Heartily, she bit into the flesh and closed her eyes with relish, feeling how the sweet juice flowed down her throat.

When she had eaten the pear and put the seeds neatly back in the bowl, Ava felt a different hunger within herself. And this time, it wasn't just a light appetite, but a feeling that spread rapidly. She knew exactly what it was – her hitherto insatiable hunger for knowledge. Would she be able to satisfy it this time? Isabel had told her that she could use the library of this house. What kind of books would she find in it? With an inner ever-growing anticipation, she quickly went to the bathroom and took a shower. The vampiress had no idea how grateful Ava was for the bath she had had the day before. Her skin had badly needed it. Ava had sensed that she had been cleaned several times over the past three weeks and given something to drink. But it was something else to consciously absorb the water... And it was so much better than doing it in a freezing cold lake or river. Other opportunities had, unfortunately, not been available to her as a homeless person.

With her eyes closed, Ava simply stood there for several minutes, enjoying the feel of the water moistening her hair and skin from above. Even though yesterday's bath had already done her good, she took in every last drop of water that touched her and she felt herself getting stronger and her head clearer. After another minute, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower with a smile. She didn't need to dry herself, because the last remaining drops of water on her skin were quickly absorbed from the uppermost layers of her epidermis into the lower ones. So she walked back dry to the main room where her bed stood.

As she passed a mirror, another smile stole onto her lips. She gladly saw that her iris had returned to its original color. Instead of a pale gray, her eyes now shone again in the glowing ice blue with which she was born. But this fact made her melancholy at the same time and she closed her eyes for a moment.

"Mom... I found good souls who helped me. Please make sure they don't send me away when they find out what I am. But I think my chances are good because they're something else as well… they're vampires."

At her last whispered words, Ava felt a tingling within her chest. Of course, she hadn't been living behind the moon for the last few years and it's amazing what you're able to hear when people talk unabashedly about all sorts of topics around you when they don't feel watched. And a skinny girl dressed in rags is 90 % disregarded. And when the vampires had revealed themselves, that had been the number one topic of conversation for weeks and months. Although she hadn't known much about this new species back then, Ava had been able to hear all sorts of opinions from people across all ages and professions. Now, getting to know not just one but two vampires, Ava found it very exciting.

Pulling undergarments, a knee-length jeans and a dark blue blouse out of the closet that Isabel had shown her, she thought about what she could offer Godric and Isabel for their help. But apart from her voice and playing skills, Ava didn't know how to show her gratitude.

With a contented sigh, she stroked the blouse after dressing, which fit her snuggly, and looked at herself in the mirror again. She really liked Isabel's haircut, and after brushing her hair for a few seconds to straighten a strand here and there, she then remembered Isabel's request to play something for her. Feeling nervous, she got her guitar out of the closet where Isabel had put it in. 'Will it sound as good as it did before this winter?' With a numb feeling in her chest, Ava sat cross-legged on the floor and began to slowly tune the individual strings. Already at the first sound she grimaced – as she had suspected, her guitar was completely out of tune. With a sigh, Ava set to work and prepared her instrument to be playable again. Thanks to her fine hearing, she didn't need long for that task, and feeling her self-assurance returning, she immediately began playing a song without interruption and tried to sing along. It was a wonderful feeling…

After playing the final notes, Ava realized she had tears in her eyes, and with a liberated laugh she kissed the back of her instrument like she had always done since her mother had died. The instrument inherited from her mother sounded as wonderful as ever now. However, Ava's voice was a little scratchy, but she would fix it later during the next few hours. Because now that she knew that her guitar had survived the cold on the streets, her curiosity now dragged her out of the room.

After storing her guitar safely back again she opened the door that would take her out into the corridor, like her new friend had explained to her. As expected, the hallway was bathed in a shady half-light and when Ava closed the door behind her, she leaned against it for a moment to look around and listen. But everything was quiet. In addition, the walls were decorated throughout with a kind of dark wood paneling that would swallow any sound. Before this unnatural silence could made Ava nervous, she turned left and followed the instructions of Isabel.

And indeed, just two doors down, she came to a large room, which walls were completely covered with huge bookshelves reaching up to the ceiling. Admiring, Ava stepped into the room and approached a table that stood exactly in the middle of this beautiful library. Ava didn't know what kind of wood the table was made of, but the dark color matched the room, which was all in a sublime dark decor. Carefully, she let her right hand ran over the smooth wood while looking around in wonder. Enjoying the tender feeling on her palm, she looked at the books that filled the bookshelves.

From her position she couldn't read the titles, but standing there alone made her feel as if she just had to reach out and the knowledge would flow straight into her.

"If only you could see me here now, Mom..." With an awesome feeling, she closed her eyes and inhaled the smell of the many books.

That was the moment when another smell also reached her nose. Her eyes flew open in surprise and the books were instantly forgotten. As if in a trance, Ava followed the faint smell while leaving the library again with quick steps. Just from listening to the almost inaudible humming which she now heard because she was concentrating on it, her mind's eye saw the pump humming softly, producing the tiniest waves as it kept exchanging the water. She didn't know where she was going; the wood paneling looked the same everywhere. But the closer she got to her destination, the more details her senses absorbed. Ava knew how big the pool would be even before she saw it; simply from the movements of water, which sloshed rhythmically against the edges of the pool. She knew how warm the water would be, as the water in the air around her had the same temperature the more she got nearer and felt it with her skin.

"I haven't felt such a strong pull for ages..."

Mumbling to herself, Ava finally entered the room deep inside the property after minutes of walking toward the trigger of that powerful pull. Somewhere in her consciousness, she knew that if she wanted to go back to the room she woke up in, she would get totally lost. But she just didn't care at that moment when she saw the glint of the water on the walls and the ceiling of the room, moving in sync with the gentle waves within the pool.

With overwhelming joy, Ava crouched down on the edge of the pool and held her palms flat over the surface of the water. Expectantly she closed her eyes and listened to what the water had to say. After a felt eternity, Ava's lips twisted into a grin. It was lonely – for weeks, if not months, nobody had come here and connected with the water. Ava intended to change this circumstance here and now! And it would feel so much better than just standing in the shower like earlier…

With almost devout movements, she peeled off her blouse and then got up to take off her jeans. Just standing in her underwear, she then briefly examined the elegantly decorated pillars that lined the pool and the white-turquoise tiles of the walls before leaping into the water with a happy laugh...

When Godric opened his eyes, the first thing he did as every evening was listening into every room of his home. But as always everything was quiet. Satisfied, he withdrew his senses again, got up from his bed without further hesitation and took the first sweater and pants out of his closet that he found.

When he left his refugium and walked slowly along the corridor to the kitchen in the private area, he found himself listening once more into the house. However, when he arrived in the kitchen, he frowned. He did not hear the constant palpitations of his new guest, to which he had become accustomed in the last three weeks! As he put a bottle of TruBlood into the microwave, he took a control pad out of its hiding place in the wall and opened the central security log.

With a practiced eye he saw immediately that neither the front door of the estate nor the windows had been opened during the day. Another click also showed him that the security door separating the private from the public area of his property had not been opened either. But that would mean that the young girl still had to be here. But how could that be possible if he could not hear her heartbeat?

When the microwave announced with a gentle ping that the heating process was complete, he thoughtfully took out the bottle and drank the TruBlood all at once. When Isabel had put the girl to bed early in the morning, she was in good health. And both Isabel and Stan were still resting in their respective rooms. That was no problem finding out for him, once again reaching out with his senses and searching for his second and third in command. But where was the girl?

Putting the empty bottle in the sink and the control pad back in its place, he walked to Isabel's room with vampire speed, where Ava resided. He did not bother to knock, but entered immediately. On his way there he had also taken a quick look into the library, but as in this room and bath, the girl had not been there.

Slowly, Godric got a bit nervous, but at the same time it sparked his hunting instinct. He would find her. Physically far away from him, but inwardly so close, he felt Eric's awakening; with a playful grin he had to think of the hunts they had done so long ago in the vast forests of Europe. Before his son could feel his excitement, however, he dampened their bond and eagerly drew Ava's scent into his lungs. Then he left the room again and followed her trail. Whatever the girl was, she definitely could not disguise her scent. He would remember that later.

Tense with all his senses, Godric quickly made his way further into the interior of the estate and continued his search. In this part of the house there were only a few guest rooms and empty rooms but nothing more. He asked himself what she could have found interesting here. But then Godric remembered that a pool was not even two rooms farther, and when the sweet smell of the girl grew stronger, he ran the remaining distance within half a second.

At the edge of the pool he immediately saw the origin of the fragrance – a blouse and jeans lay there. Looking into the water he could not see anything. It was as if the water moved by itself in strange waves to prevent him from looking in it. Growling, Godric had a bad foreboding and a moment later he was in the pool looking around underwater. His eyes widened when he saw Ava. She floated in the middle of the pool, her hair gently hugging her head and torso and her closed eyes giving her face a peaceful look.

She almost looked like an angel, but Godric had no time to enjoy her beautiful sight. Several minutes had passed since he had searched for her because of her missing heartbeat, and he did not know how long Ava had been in the water. Maybe it was already too late...

Nonetheless, he was at her side with only two strong strokes, embracing her delicate body with his arms and breaking the surface of the water a second later. Floating, he reached the edge of the pool and carefully laid the girl down. At once he put his hands in the middle of Ava's chest and started the resuscitation without hesitation. Thirty times, he carefully compressed her chest due to his strength, just as he had learned at the beginning of his short medical career. Mentally strongly calling for Isabel so that she woke up at once, he briefly paused his chest compression. Godric then opened Ava's airway by gently tilting her head back and lifting her chin forward. Putting his palm on the girl's forehead he pinched her nostrils shut and gave her one rescue breath.

He was pleased to see that Ava's chest rose. But when he wanted to continue with the second rescue breath, Godric saw to his surprise that her eyes were open and that she was looking directly at him.

"Ava?"

When he straightened slightly to examine her better, he heard the characteristic sound of a contracting heart. Only once, but with his hand still resting on her forehead, he suddenly felt a… movement in her, as if a wave were sliding through her body. When this wave passed through her lungs and her heart, Ava audibly breathed and her heart began beating strong and healthy again.

Meanwhile, her eyes followed his every movement and looked at him questioningly when he leaned back. He had never seen such a thing. In addition to the mystery he had just experienced, he also had to wonder why and how her eye color had changed. Taking his hand from her forehead he slowly traced the contours of her cheek with his hand and looked her constantly into her now beautiful ice-blue eyes.

"Who are you…" he asked her softly. But instead of answering, Ava raised both her hands and gently cupped his face. Without breaking their eye contact, he felt a faint pull when she began to lead his head back down to her.

"Do you want to kiss me, little mermaid?"

Amused, he realized that nothing had remained of the shyness Ava had displayed yesterday. He was also suddenly aware of the fact that she was lying in nothing but her wet underwear before him. Even his clothes stuck to him. When she smiled slightly, a desire suddenly awoke in him, one that he had not felt for a long time. He was aware that his behavior was not correct; after all, she was a young girl! Moreover, she was a mystery that he had to solve to make sure that she was not a threat for his area. But when she continued to pull his face toward her, he did not find the strength to resist. Because apart from her physical delicacy and crystal clear beauty of her eyes, her scent had immensely intensified after leaving the water. It beguiled his senses as he had never experienced before.

He was unable to take his eyes off hers, and when his lips were only inches away from hers, he was looking forward to tasting them again. He would-

"What happened, Godric?"