Chapter 19! Enjoy!

Warnings: None

Unebat AF

Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter 19

Family Burdens

Vercingtroix let out a noise of satisfaction as he sat down in the body of hot water that had blue petals floating across the water. He ran a hand through his hair and then lowered his body until only his eyes could be seen. He had been to the city of Roma, a thriving city down south, he had helped sack it. He had taken refuge in some rich person's home and found a private bathing room, where he bathed in it lazily. He had enjoyed it immensely and the man had never experienced pleasure like that until now.

The structure that belonged to the woman he swore to protect was such an odd place. It was small on the outside, but massive on the inside. He had been in awe of the rooms, the food and the riches inside of it. He wore fine clothing and armor, ate the finest food and slept in the finest bed. He enjoyed his life of leisure, with the occasional fight or two that occurred from rouge beasts or people. He got used to his new life fast, like the true warrior king he was.

"This is how it should be," the man muttered and nearly startled, seeing the woman in the doorway of the bathing room, looking at him with sharp eyes of honey, "Creature, what is it you desire?"

"A soak," was all the woman said as she walked over to the side of the massive body of water and then to the man, "Turn your back," she spun her finger and the man turned, hearing the woman's clothing drop to the floor and then she was stepping into the water. When she settled into the water, she said to the man, "You may turn around."

Vercingetroix turned to the woman and saw her lounging in the water, her hair wet, clinging to her head and body. His eyes lingered on her frame and the woman flicked her wet hair from her head and said, looking to the man, "I am sure you've seen a body like this, during your travels, my Wandering Warrior."

"I have, many times," Vercingetroix confessed, slowly, looking for the correct words, "However, I've never seen the body of an Old God…"

"Take a look," The woman said, holding her arms out, a smile on her face as she slowly stood up to her full height, "Emotions are a human thing, I feel no shame."

Vercingetoix freely looked at the woman's frame, taking in her brown, wet skin and her curves. Her legs were short but her thighs were fleshy and led up to a rump that was shapely and nice. He trailed his view up her torso and rested on her belly, her breasts and her large nipples that were a dark color. He ended his profile of the woman by looking at her face, seeing her stare back at him, before she lowered herself into the water, leaning back against the edge of the tub.

"They surely do not build people in the way you are built," Vercingetroix said, his blue eyes intense, on the woman's face, "You are one of a kind, Creature."

The woman gave him a smile and then began to wash herself, Vercingetroix's eyes never leaving her frame, "Nor are human men built like you, Wandering Warrior," She looked over to the man and asked, as she rinsed herself off, "Vercingetroix of the Gario-Celt Clan, what is your secret? What makes you so…strong?"

"Luck," was all the man said, before he reached for the goblet of wine that appeared beside his hand, "Though my life has been filled with cruelty, my body handled it well, you can say."

"I can see that," the woman said, as she finished scrubbing her arms and moved to her torso, "Or is it, perhaps, your mother and father had a strong son?"

"Maybe," Vercingetroix would not deny that, he recalled his mother, before her death, commenting on how strong of a babe he had been, "But life has helped shape my body."

"It sure has," The woman stood up and got out of the tub, dripping wet, "I have chosen well, Wandering Warrior, enjoy your bath, and the view," she turned and gave the man a smirk and then walked off, nude, flicking her hair to the side to expose herself to him.

Vercingetroix did enjoy the view, watching the Creature leave the bathing room, polishing off his wine and leaning back. Just as mysterious as the structure they were in, the woman had Vercingetroix curiosity peaked.

Among other things…

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Pervert," Diesel told the book, a leer on his face, "Have you no shame?"

'The concept of shame goes out the window, boy, when you have a creature such as that walking away from you,' Ver responded and Diesel agreed though, only to himself, 'She certainly had no shame to speak of.'

"Did you and her really fuck?" Diesel asked the book.

'Now who is the lecher?' Ver responded but then added, 'We were lovers, yes, but it took ages for us to get there, we bickered, we argued, fought, butted heads but when we got to the point of lovers…let me tell you, boy, those fights had been worth it. We bonded, forged a bond that went past physical, it's almost like a curse, once you feel her aura, it's all you think of, the desire to fill that ache, I'm still amazed I survived for as long as I did, once things came ahead.'

"How did you live to be over 350 years?" Diesel asked curious, "She is dead, right?"

"No, she is not dead, you can't kill her, something happened, I don't know what happened, but I swore to watch over her, even in the state that she's in now. My love and loyalty to her ensured that I would live on, long enough to sire a child capable of handling the task as well. It was cruel of me to have a child, just for the sole purpose of protecting Gleti, but it was needed. There is a reason why only one male offspring is born in our clan, in each new generation, it's to protect Gleti, from the one that wanted her for evil."

"That isn't true," Diesel frowned, looking down at the papers, "Six times, two males were born in the same generation. I'm included in that number, my cousin, Geuwulf, is the second male born to our family."

"Does he know about her?" Ver asked Diesel, the words on the pages slightly choppy, as if panicked, 'Do not lie to me, boy, does your cousin know about Gelti?"

"No, only my grandfather, my father and I know about her," Diesel said, crinkling his brow, "In fact, during our 10th birthday, grandfather banished him from the property, I think he made Wulf forget about the inside. I remember my aunt being pissed off about it, but Grandfather had said, 'He had a duty, and he would follow it.'"

'Your grandfather is a smart man, boy, listen to me carefully, your cousin, the second male born in the family, is my brother rebirthed, he is dangerous, he will not stop at anything to get to Gleti, if he should catch wind of her, all is lost.'

"How are we even sure that this woman is even around, hiding somewhere? That magic I felt, it could have been a fluke," Diesel huffed, "I haven't felt it since then."

"If a second male has been born in the family, boy, that means the cycle has started, you are not ready to hear that tale, just yet but know, two males born in the Gario clan is just fate at play. A cruel fate at that, I am sorry boy, for what you will go through," Ver words were heavy with remorse, "None of this would have happened if I had been wiser…"

Ver stopped talking after that, and Diesel closed the book and looked out the window of the hotel he was still staying at. He thought about the feeling he had, when he had felt that magic, he wondered, if he felt that ache, that want, did Gleti, have that same pull, how did it affect her?

Diesel rested his head on his hand and sighed, closing his eyes. He wish he could find her, to get an answer to his question.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie loved falling in love. There was something magical about the feeling of butterflies in her stomach, the way her pulse pounded and the way life seemed to be so much better, when her person of interest was around.

She was also finding it difficult to concentrate at her job, when Carlos was resting against her his arm wrapped loosely around her waist, as he went through proposals. They were once again sitting around the coffee table, drinking tea and coffee and working on Stephanie's plan to expand to car security. Carlos had reached around her for something but hadn't moved his hand from around her waist, in fact, he had made himself nice and comfy there.

"I like this idea," Carlos rumbled beside Stephanie, his lips close to her ear as he looked at the drawings, "You and Hector work great together."

"T-thanks," Stephanie's cheeks were hot and she turned to look at Carlos, who her a grin, "Do you mind? I-I'm trying to um, focus here."

"I am too," Carlos said, looking to Stephanie, an easy smile on his face, "I'm really focused on you, right now and how kissable you are."

That was the only warning Stephanie got before Carlos was kissing her, and she was returning the kiss with the same energy. Gods, she loved this! She let out a yelp as she and Carlos fell back on the floor, deep into their kissing.

They were like two silly teenagers, falling into a summer romance, Stephanie thought, thinking about the times, they sat outside kissing, ate midnight snacks together before kissing and all the displays of affection he gave her. Everyday was a wonderful feeling, how could she not fall in love with the man. It was like nothing else mattered!

She didn't feel too guilty, as the more she and Carlos fell into one another, the less time she spent with Brittany. The mute woman had waved her off and told her that go enjoy herself, it was nice to see Stephanie happy.

It was nice to be happy, honestly, Stephanie thought, as she leaned against Carlos, one night, falling asleep, it was nice to not have a thought in the world but for Carlos and her feelings to the man. She didn't even mind the lack of dreams she was starting to have now. She could go to Heidi, when she wanted to, but right now, her thoughts were with Carlos and their budding relationship.

She thought about their long walks together, the dates they went on, just the quality time they had. It was addicting, so addicting. She didn't think she had a partner that invokes so much passion and emotion from her like Carlos did and she loved it.

There was, however, this nagging sense of intense loneliness, or something, from within Stephanie. It lingered in the back of her mind. She didn't know what it was but, sometimes it gnawed at her, stole her breath often and had tears in her eyes. It didn't happen often but when it did, it wasn't good, whatever was causing that feeling, it wasn't something Stephanie wanted to continue to feel. What was causing this feeling?

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Thank you for having us," Aleandro said to the man that greeted him and Brittany, in the waiting area of the NYU School of Arts main building, "Dr. Brittany is mute and she asked me to speak for her."

Brittany nodded her head to the middle age man and the man nodded his head and looked at the two, with an easy smile on his face.

"It's quite alright, though your email peaked my interest, Dr. Brittany, regarding the painting 'Roses of Memories,'" The man said to the woman, who perked up, "Yes, we have the original here, and along with that painting another one from the same artist."

"Can you tell us about the artist?" Alejandro asked as the man led them deeper into the school's building, "Dr. Brittany was very interested in knowing the history behind them."

"From what the records indicate, the artist was from the mid 14th century from Belgium, we don't know if they were a man or woman but, there have been recorded accounts of a Belgian artist going mad and being sent to an estate outside of the city," The man said, as they entered an elevator, "It's old German, hard to read but from what we managed to find the artist said that the inspiration of the paintings were from their dreams."

"Isn't that always the case?" Alejandro asked and Brittany elbowed him in the side, while the man just laughed.

"Here we are, the archives," the man said as they got off on the 3rd basement floor, "This is where we keep the originals."

The archives were a very bland, concrete room that was heavily controlled environment. The air was almost pure down here, dry with no moisture in the air. Security was top notch and they had to go through two sections of security to get to the obscure art section.

Slipping on a pair of gloves, the man walked over to a drawer, took out a set of keys and unlocked it, to reveal a shallow, but wide drawer that had two works of art in it, covered in transparent protective gear. One was the painting of the roses but the other had Brittany freezing beside Aleandro as she looked at it with wonder.

It was a woman of color, dressed in a gown of blue, looking elegant as ever. Her eyes were closed and she sat in a field of dark blue roses, her hands in her lap and her black hair curly and wild around her face. The backdrop was black, with stars dotting the dark skies. It was so….finely detailed, it looked as though the woman would be able to climb out the piece of paper herself.

"It's beautiful," Alejandro commented and the man nodded his head in agreement, "This is a 15th century piece of art?"

"It is, we had it dated and looked for as much information as we could, it was a gift to the school from a woman, back in the mid 1800's. Her name was Ellen Thompson, an escaped slave from the Maryland/Virginia area," Alejandro looked over to Brittany and found her eyes widening at the news, "She travelled abroad, in her youth, with her husband, a freed man by the name of-"

"Samuel Thompson, from New York State, one of the first black men to get an education from NYU," Brittany finished for the man, holding her phone up as she typed, "They lived in Europe for several years, before returning to the US after the birth of their second born child."

"I see you know some detail about Ellen Thompson," The man smiled to Brittany, who just calmly nodded her head and then backed away from the paintings, "Dr. Brittany?"

Brittany looked over to Alejandro, typed something furiously in her phone and had the man read it. Alejandro gave Brittany a look of disbelief and then said, to the man helping the, "She knows a lot about this Thompson family, because it's her family."

'This is bananas,' Brittany thought to Alejandro, as they drove back to their hotel room, 'Alejandro, my great-great-great-great-great grandmother owned those paintings, why'd she give them to the school? How did she even get them?'

"That's a very good question, isn't it, you're the researcher, maybe it's time you spoke to your family about it," Alejandro suggested and Brittany sighed and folded her arms.

'My Father sucks at history and remembering things, I might have to go to the family property to see if I can find something,' Brittany said, tapping her chin, 'I think the Maryland Estate is where most of the family history is at.'

"We can go there soon," Alejandro said to the woman, who nodded her head and looked out the window of the car at the busy city, "Oh yeah, Brittany…"

'Hmm?' The woman was distracted by the busy street filled with people.

"Happy birthday," Brittany turned to look at Alejandro, who smiled at her, "Since we're here, in New York City, let's celebrate your birthday, I got us tickets to see a Broadway show and made reservations to a chop house."

Brittany blinked and then she shook her head, 'I forgot all about my birthday…wow, I really am a ditz….' She smiled at Alejandro who just laughed in return.

They enjoyed their brief stay in New York City, exploring Central Park for a while, before heading to the theatre to watch a live musical. It was very nice and Brittany found herself asking Alejandro if they could come back again, sometime later to watch another show.

The ended their evening at a chop house, enjoying fine cuts of steak and wine, talking to one another about the things they would do in the upcoming months. As their mine dinner plates were removed and replaced with dessert plates that held fluffy lemon sponge cake and mousse that melted on the mouth, another plate was placed on Brittany's side and it housed a short rectangle box made of velvet. Brittany looked up from her dessert and over to Alejandro, who gave her a half smile, motioning to the box.

"Well, open it," Brittany did so and she found herself lifting up a delicate looking bracelet of white gold that had several charms on it. Some were of butterflies, others of roses but each had a precious stone embedded in it.

'Ali, is this from you?' Brittany asked and the man nodded his head, 'Oh, you didn't have to do this, for me, this must have cost you a fortune!'

"It's alright," Alejandro said gently taking the bracelet from Brittany and putting it on her wrist, "It was worth it, you're worth it, Bella."

The woman's cheeks heated up as Alejandro grabbed at her hand, lacing their fingers together. She looked at their joined hands and then to Alejandro's face and was startled as the man leaned forward and asked in a soft voice, "May I kiss you?"

'I've-um, I've never kissed anyone,' Brittany confessed, looking away, 'I don't want to bite your lip or something.'

"Don't worry about it," Alejandro said, moving his chair closer to Brittany's, "I'll take the lead, if you let me."

Brittany bit her lip and then she nodded her head and said, 'Okay, you may kiss me.'

It was a short, kiss, just an almost barely there pressing of lips to one another, before Alejandro pulled away from the woman and tugged at one of her curls, "That was nice."

'One more, please?' Brittany asked, looking up at the man, with her dual colored eyes, 'I have to make sure I know what I'm doing…'

"Of course," Alejandro said, before he leaned down and kissed Brittany again, this time he firmly pressed his lips against hers and lingered for a bit, "How was that?"

"….Amazing," A smile was on Brittany's face and she was biting her lip, "I enjoyed it a lot, thank you, Ali."

"Anything for you, Bella." Alejandro gently flicked Brittany's nose before kissing it, "And I mean that."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"So, how big was that pot again?" Carlos asked Stephanie, the day Brittany and Alejandro arrived back from New York City, "What was it, 750 dollars? I think that pot belongs to me."

When Stephanie caught Alejandro and Brittany in the kitchen of the house, kissing one another briefly, she had let out a squeal and said, "I knew it would be the day after her birthday, they would start kissing!"

"Excuse me, but I kissed her on her birthday," Alejandro said, wrapping an arm around Brittany's frame, as Brittany gave Stephanie the stink eye, her ice grey eye closing as she did, "Last night."

"Last night on her birthday," Carlos said to Stephanie, who groaned and shook her head, "That's right, I won that bet."

"You two were betting on when I would kiss Brittany?" Alejandro asked, looking at the two before him, "Who else was in on this?!"

"Everyone, damn it, Carlos won," Stephanie sighed, rolling her eyes at the grin Carlos sent her way, "Ugh, I can't believ-"

'Check on her,' Brittany's phone went off and everyone looked at the woman, who was staring at Stephanie, with intense eyes, 'Stephanie, check on her, now!'

"Check on who?" Stephanie asked and Brittany continued to press the repeat button, almost madly, "Brittany! I don't know-"

"Check on her, check on her, check on her, check on her before it's too late!' Brittany was breathing harshly, pressing on her phone before Alejandro took it.

"What are you talking about!?" Brittany was almost manic at this point, and the windows began to rattle and she was slapping on the countertop of the kicthen, "Check on who, Brittany."

'HER! CHECK ON HER! IN YOUR HEAD!' Stephanie's eyes widened as she heard Brittany's voice in her head before Alejandro was pulled the woman out the kitchen, 'HER, DO IT, NOW! CHECK ON HER BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!'

"In my h-" Stephanie paled and then it hit her at once; Heidi. She hadn't heard from Heidi in ages! What-how did Brittany know? "Oh my god…" she whimpered and then she was spacing out, almost falling into a day dream instantly, her mind on Heidi. What she saw terrified her.

The endless field of blue roses, they were no longer blue, but grey, a sickly ash grey and when Stephanie touched one of the petals, they seemed to disintegrate under her fingertips. Stephanie's throat worked itself in terror and she looked up into the grey skies. No stars, no clouds, it was just a grey color. What was happening? Where was Heidi?!

Stephanie ran as fast she could through the field, looking for Heidi, calling out her name. Where was she, why were the roses dying?! Stephanie kept running and running and running until her foot caught on something and she fell onto the roses, coughing roughly as they turned to dust under her body weight. She turned to look at what caught her foot and paled, at the sight.

It was Heidi, and she looked dead. Her chest was hardly moving, her eyes were closed and her body deathly still. That elegant blue dress was a dishwater grey now. Stephanie grabbed at the woman and whimpered, "Heidi? Heidi, please wake up!"

The woman hardly stirred but when she did she fought to open one eye and looked to Stephanie, whispering, "S-sorry, St-stephanie…so tired…"

"Why? What's wrong, how can I fix it, how can I help you, please!" Stephanie cried out with tears in her eyes, "Don't leave me, don't die!"

"D-Dies-" Heidi whispered, her head lulling to the side, "Want to see him, touch him, scared, didn't want to hurt you."

"Please, I'll get him here, I don't know how, but I'll get him here, you left me once, I can't lose you again!" Stephanie gripped at Heidi who released a weak smile and looked up at Stephanie.

"Last time…had to leave to save you…to save us…" She whispered, and Stephanie had to strain her hearing as Heidi finally told her why she left, "You-tried to…die, that night after your mother's fight, you took so many pills, had to sacrifice-have to sacrifice now too…" The woman's head tipped to the side once again and her body went slack.

"No-no-no!" Stephanie shook Heidi's frame but there was no response, "Heidi! Please, wake up, please," she let out a sob and held the woman and whispered, "I'll wake you up, I don't care what I have to do, I'll do whatever needs to be done."

"Babe, babe!" Stephanie opened her eyes and let out a weak sob, covering her mouth, "Stephanie, what's wrong?"

"D-diesel, I need Diesel," She whimpered looking to Carlos, "He's the only one who can save her, he's the only one she asked for!"

"Who?" Stephanie shook her head at Carlos question and then grabbed at him ,sobbing "Stephanie, please, tell me what's happening?!"

"I have to save her! I have to save her, get Diesel, get that man!" Stephanie grabbed at Carlos's shirt, "Please, please, please, I can't lose her!"

TBC...

I'm tired of the distance, let's just...bridge the gap now! :D