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Derek's,
an hour before sunset.
Derek was lost in the moment,
his building could be on fire and he wouldn't
have noticed. He stood before the canvas, paint drying on his
fingers and
hands, he dabbed the brush into deep blue on the pallete. Adding
the last few
final touches, he stepped back to admire his work. He had captured
his subject
perfectly, not an easy task since he was doing it completely from photographs.
He had been painting for
several centuries now. Not that anyone outside his
circle of friends would know. The idea of the sensitive artist
didn't quite fit
into the model for your typical Enforcer. It didn't bother him
though, the
sheer enjoyment of his work more that made up for any outside recognition
he
could recieve.
He had a particular knack
for capturing the female form. So much so that many
of his female friends asked to sit for him. His portrait of Mariah
was still
hanging in her loft and has become one of her most treasured posessions.
Terry
sat for him as well, her portrait was stolen shortly after it was completed
however by Aris, a madman who had become obsessed with her. Thankfully
it was
recovered undamaged and was returned to her. There were several
others
including Michelle, the Enforcer leader of Toronto and a very dear
friend and a
young vamp named Urs. Janette DuCharme was one of his favorite
subjects, doing
no less than five separate portraits of her over the years. One
of them was
hanging on the wall over his shoulder.
He had spent nearly the
entire night finishing his latest piece. He left
instructions with Mariah's assisstant Traci to have it delivered should
something happen to him tonight. Not that he expected anything
to go wrong, but
when dealing with someone as unstable as this Zed clearly was, it's
a good idea
to make such plans just in case.
They were all ready, Aaron
and Terry, Robin would be with Emily until he
arrived, and Mariah of course was watching over Melissa. Mariah
could take of
herself and anyone who came after her. Aaron and Terry would
watch each others
backs as they have for neary 1000 years. The only one who troubled
Derek was
Robin. She possessd an inner strength that Derek had seen in
only a few others
and she would protect Emily with her life, but Robin was still very
young.
Terry sat peacefully on
the couch trying to finish the latest chapter of her
new book, while Aaron paced around her with his sword resting on his
shoudler.
"You're going strip the wax of the floor if you keep it up."
She said to him
not looking up from her laptop computer.
"I hate the waiting."
Araon replied still circling her.
"You always did."
Terry retorted, finally looking up. "Derek is sure this Zed
person will try something tonight?"
Aaron stopped behind her.
"Yes. Since one of his crew turned on him, he has
to either strike immediately or back off and wait. And according
to what this
girl Melissa told Mariah about Zed, backing off is the last thing he'd
do."
"Poor child." Terry
said. "What amazes me is how this man has managed to
survive acting way."
Terry felt Aaron's hands
grasp her shoulders. "Well when we get this bozo you
can ask him." He said as he kissed the top of his wife's head.
He looked over
at the clock and noted the time. "You'd better dressed for the
party."
Terry titled her head up
and pecked him on the lips. Ten minutes later she
walked out their bedroom wearing what her husband affectionately calls
her
"party clothes". She is dressed in a black leather jacket covering
what looks
like a black tank top shirt that is clearly too small, looking almost
like a
sports bra rather than a shirt, a pair of tight black jeans that appear
to be
painted on whose legs disappeared into a pair of silvertipped boots
with three
inch heels.
"Love..." Terry says
to him her eyes shifting gold. "Let's have some fun."
V quietly opened the door
to her apartment. She saw Jax lying on the couch
with his arm draped over his eyes. V smiled at him, then slammed
the door
closed hard. "Hi Jax!" She said loudly. Jax shot
up and grabbed his head.
"Did you have a nice nap?" She asked him trying not laugh.
"Yeah, thanks." Jax
was still wearing the robe V had laid out for him earlier
and as he placed his feet on the floor it fell open and exposed his
muscular
chest.
V caught herself staring
at him and handed him his clothes that she had
drycleaned. "Here ya go. All cleaned and pressed."
"Thanks." He said
taking them.
Jax walked to the bathroom
to get dressed and V watched him as he went. As she
heard the door close she exhaled sharply. "Wow."
Ned and Lois embraced each
other in front of the ELQ jet. They spent the
entire day together talking. Ned found out that when Lois returns
with baby
Brooke, she won't be moving into the gatehouse right away. They
both agreed
that they needed to take their reconciliation slow so as not to take
the chance
of them falling back into the old patterns that destroyed their relationship
the
first time.
To that end Lois would be
moving into Brenda's house. Brenda suggested to Lois
that she stay there because Brenda was pretty much living at the loft
now and it
seemed a shame for such a beautiful house go unoccupied.
One of the ground crew approached
the couple and told Ned that the jet was
fueled up and ready to go. Ned reluctantly let go of his wife
and walked with
her to the plane.
"Call me as soon as you
land, okay?" He said kissing her temple.
Lois squeezed his waist
a little tighter. "I will."
They reached the plane and
Ned kissed Lois passionately. "I should be back in
a week or so." Lois said before Ned kissed her again.
Ned finally let Lois go
so she could board. "I love you!" He cried out to her
as she entered the plane.
Lois stuck her head out
of the door and shouted back. "I love you too Nedly!"
Ned stood back and waved
to Lois as the jet slowly taxied down the runway. He
watched as the aircraft slowly lifted off the ground and soared into
the air, he
watched as it grew smaller and smaller until disappeared from sight
altogether.
He turned and walked back into the airport counting the very seconds
until his
wife and daughter returned.
The penthouse.
Robin sat on the couch by
herself while Brenda paced around the holding the
silver flask Aaron had given her earlier. He had filled Brenda
in on what was
probably going to happen tonight and thought it might be a good idea
for her to
stay with Robin and watch her back until Derek arrived.
Brenda could see the logic
of his suggestion and agreed. The one thing she
didn't agree with was using Emily like some kind of judas goat, a victim
left
out in the open to lure would be predators into a trap.
Emily had no idea this was
going on of course, but as the sun sank lower and
lower in the sky, and the tension level of her two friends rose accordingly,
she
began to suspect that all was not as peaceful as they tried to pretend.
She
decided not to push the matter, confident that they would tell her
what was
going on eventually.
During her conversation
with Aaron at the loft earlier Brenda had asked that if
the situation was as dangerous as he said, why didn't they just gather
up
everyone who was targeted and take them to the club.
Terry smiled at the suggestion.
Brenda had come to learn the rules of the
Community quite well. She was thinking about the rule of refuge.
It was a rule
that stated quite plainly that in a place designated as a refuge there
could be
no act of deliberate violence committed by a vampire. Anyone
found breaking
that rule was sentenced to death, their names would spread to every
city in
every country that vampires dwelt. There would be no place for
them to hide and
because of that, in the last five hundred years that rule has been
broken only
once.
The reason the rule of refuge
was so highly regarded among all the members of
the Community was that in a rapidly shrinking world there were increasing
fewer
places for them to hide. A thousand years ago it was a different
story, but as
the humans progressed they moved into every corner of the world, thus
refuges
became a necessary and vital part of survival.
Aaron commented to her that
he didn't fancy the idea of spending his time holed
up safe and sound at Nightshade while this renegade crew ran amok around
Port
Charles. Why not just take Emily there she asked. Aaron
replied that wasn't
what Derek wanted. He didn't like putting her in danger like
this but he has to
draw them out. If he took Emily, or any of them, to Nightshade
there was a risk
that they could go underground and disappear for awhile only to turn
up a week
or a month later to strike. At least this way, Aaron finished,
we're ready for
them.
The sun has been down for
nearly an hour and the tension was starting to eat at
Brenda and Robin. Derek would be arriving soon Robin thought.
That thought
made Robin relax a little because where Derek went, his Enforcers followed.
Outside the penthouse windows
two vague shapes floated past unnoticed by Brenda
or Robin.
Robin had gotten up and
started for the kitchen just as Emily came down the
stairs. As she moved in front of the windows, two figures smashed
through them
showering them all with glass.
Emily screamed as she tried
to run away but the one called Tane grabbed her by
the hair and pulled her back. Seeing this Robin went into full
vampire mode and
flew across the room and attacked the man holding Emily. Emily
screamed again
only this time at Robin.
Tane released his hold on
Emily and she fell to the floor, paralysed with fear
she was unable to move. The large black man, Marcus, grabbed
the small vampire
grappling with his friend and picked her up over his head, then bodyslammed
her
to the floor hard. Brenda ran over next but she was backhanded
by Marcus and
sent flying across the room.
The evening bodyguard who
had just taken up his post heard the commotion inside
the penthouse and entered with his weapon drawn. Seeing Miss
Barrett sent
flying the man raised his weapon and fired at the two intruders.
Instead of
stopping them they just smiled and the asian man advanced on him.
He fired his
gun at him until his clip was empty, he was trying to reload when Tane
grabbed
him and quickly snapped his neck.
Emily screamed as she watched
the man's lifeless body fall to the floor. Tane
turned his attention to her once again, but Robin was already back
on her feet
and was soon wrestling with him again.
Brenda slowly shook the
cobwebs from her brain as she crawled along the floor
to her gymbag that was near the couch. Just as she was about
to reach out and
touch it, Marcus grabbed her ankle in a vicelike grip. Brenda
cried out as she
felt the bones crack and break. Fighting hard not to pass out
from the pain,
she remembered the flask Aaron gave her, reaching into her pocket she
pulled it
out, opening it she tossed the liquid contents directly into the black
vampire's
face.
Marcus howled in pain as
his face began to catch fire and burn. "Holy water
asshole!" Brenda shouted at him. Reaching inside her bag
she pulled out the
crossbow Aaron prepared for her. She placed the wooden bolt into
position and
took aim. Marcus, now completely blind, was stumbling around
the room, finally
Brenda found her shot and fired. There was an inhuman scream
as the bolt struck
him directly in the heart. Marcus stumbled backwards and fell
to the floor
dead.
While this was going on,
Robin had her hands full with Tane. Emily watched in
silent terror, not believing what was going on. There was Robin,
her brother's
girlfriend, her friend only she now had glowing red eyes and fangs
and she was
fighting with a man who had glowing eyes and fangs as well.
A scream from his comrade,
caused by Brenda tossing the holy water into his
face, distracted Tane enough so that Robin was able to pick him up
and toss him
toward the kitchen.
Robin reached down and grabbed
the unmoving Emily. "Get up!" She growled at
her. Emily complied and Robin moved her behind the couch and
told her to crouch
down on the floor. "Stay there!"
Tane watched as Brenda killed
his friend and lept on her as she tried to reload
her crossbow. Knocking the weapon from her hands he picked up
the bolt. "You
little bitch!" He shrieked at her while he drove the wooded stake
into her
chest.
Emily screamed Brenda's
name as she dropped to the floor dead. Robin came at
Tane again. She backhanded him across the face and kicked him
in the groin. He
stumbled backward and Robin continued to hit him. Seeing his
chance he punched
Robin in the stomach and struck her in the face, knocking her down
to one knee.
Picking up a broken wooden
chair leg he grabbed Robin by the hair and
forcefully pushed her back against the couch. Emily saw him about
to drive the
makeshift stake into her heart when a several blurred bodies entered
the
penthouse the same way the two intruders did.
It was Derek and two of
his comrades. Emily's eyes widened as she saw his eyes
too were red like Robin's. For a brief second or two the men
struggled, but
Derek wrested the stake from Tane's hand and quick as a flash drove
it deep into
the man's heart.
Derek tossed the body of
Tane over next to the body of Marcus, then gave his
friends some orders. They nodded and then picked up the dead
vampires and
disappeared out the window.
He walked over to Robin.
"What the hell took you so long?" She shouted at
him.
Derek eyed her and almost
smiled at the way she spoke to him. No other vampire
in the city, with two notable exceptions, would dare speak to him that
way.
"I'm sorry, I stopped for help. But except for that little bit
at the end there
you two didn't really need it."
Robin laughed even though
there was nothing funny. She walked over to Brenda
and pulled the bolt from her chest. Emily hesitantly picked herself
up and
moved next to Robin. Robin paid little attention to her apart
from squeezing
her hand when it touched her shoulder, she was busy staring at Brenda's
body.
Emily tried to say something
but couldn't find the words. She kneeled down
next to Robin and put her arm around her. After a few moments
she looked up at
Derek, his face had returned to normal like Robin's. Emily wanted
to shout at
them, "what's going on?", but whatever was didn't seem as important
as Brenda
being dead.
Emily saw a smile appear
on Robin's face, then all of a sudden Brenda was alive
again. She was coughing and gagging, but she was alive.
How? How is this
possible? Emily thought to herself.
"Guys." Emily said.
Tears were starting to run down her face and her voice was
edgy, almost panicing. "Would one of you mind telling me what
the hell's going
on around here?"
CHAPTER 14
In a limo traveling back
to Port Charles sat Jason and Sonny. Sonny poured
himself a drink and offered one to Jason who waved no.
"Sonny you didn't have to
come with me." Jason said to Sonny as he eased back
into his seat.
"Yes I did. It's my
fault you had problems with our friends in New York."
"Are you sure you want to
do this?"
"Yes."
"I don't understand why
you would go back after all the trouble you took to
leave."
Sonny considered is friend
for a moment. "I did for you and Robin. Jason you
and Robin deserve to have a life together free from the kind of danger
I put you
in."
"Robin knows about the risks
and she's alright with them."
"But I'm not. The
kind of risks I take comes from the fact that I know they
can't kill me. I'm Immortal Jason and so is Robin. She
fell in love with you
knowing that it ws only a matter of time before her HIV became full
blown AIDS.
Now she has a second chance at life, but at the cost of knowing that
you're the
one who's going to die." Sonny placed a hand on his best friends
arm. "And I'm
going to do everything in my power to see to it that you two have a
very long
and relativly peaceful life together, and if that means putting the
heat back on
myself for another thirty years or so.... so be it."
Back at the penthouse Emily
in muted silence as Robin explained what was
happening around her, occasionally Brenda would pipe in with a comment
or two,
but Robin did most of the talking. As she continued Emily couldn't
help but
focus her eyes on Brenda's bloodstained shirt with the hole where one
of those
lunatics stabbed her in chest.
Derek stood respectfully
off to the side and would catch Emily glancing at him
from time to time. Finally Robin finished. "That's the
whole story."
Emily exhaled sharpely and
ran her hands through her hair mumbling to herself.
"vampires.... immortals.... swordfights.... vampires...."
Derek came up behind Brenda.
"I'm leaving for the club. Mariah should be told
that it's started." He gazed over at Emily. "Besides I
think it might help
Emily sort through this better if I weren't here."
"What about Aaron and Terry?"
Brenda turned around to ask, but he was gone.
"Man I hate that."
Emily didn't see him go,
she still held her face in her hands. Robin reached
over to hug her and tried not to notice how Em flinched when she touched
her.
Outside on the roof of the
loft Aaron and Terry waited for the hammer to fall.
They come up because waiting inside was starting to drive them both
a little
batty. Terry looked up at the clear night sky.
"Maybe they won't come after
all." Terry said to her husband, who didn't
answer. "Aaron?.... Love?"
She turned at a sound behind
her and saw a woman with platinum blond hair
holding Aaron by the neck.
"Sorry love. She snuck
up on me." Aaron said more embarassed than anything
else.
Terry just shook her head
at him. "I'm going to give you about five seconds to
let my husband go."
"Are you really?"
Shannon replied. "And what if I don't?"
Shannon was startled to
see Terry's eyes turn gold. "I'll make you."
She quickly tried to cover
her surprise. She hadn't even thought of the
possibility that this man she was supposed to kill would be married
to one of
her kind.
"You can try." Shannon
started to walk toward Terry pushing Aaron along. "Do
yourself a favor lady and stay out of this. There's a new order
in this city
and if you get in the way, we'll be forced to make an example out of
you as
well."
Terry surprised again her
by laughing. "An example? My God, your leader is
mad isn't he? He has no idea what he's done." Terry turned
back to the younger
woman. "It's always the young ones who get swelled heads and
inflated egos.
How old are you, how old is he? How long has he been one of us?
Ten years? If
that."
Terry turned back around
the picture of confidence. "It's quite clear to me
that neither of you have encountered many others before. If you
had you surely
wouldn't have tried this ridiculous plan to take over an entire city
and you
certainly wouldn't be so foolish as to challenge vampires centuries
older than
you. So child, why don't you do everyone a favor and take your
master and crawl
back into whatever sewer you came out of."
Shannon's grip around Aaron's
neck tightened. "Darlin' I think you made her
mad."
"When we take over I'm going
to have you staked out for the sun. My lord Zed
told us about ones like you. About how all of you refuse to follow
our destiny,
we have the power, we deserve to rule. But you, you people have
hidden in the
shadows so long you've lost your courage... you've lost the right to
rule with
us."
"No offense, but Zed is
full of shit and he'll be dead by sunrise." Aaron
retorted.
"I'm going to count to five
and you're going to release him." Terry gazed
intently at the younger vampire. "One.... Two.... Three.... Four...."
"Five!" Shannon said
then broke Aaron's neck. "Oops."
"Lady you just made a big
mistake."
Shannon just smiled then
launched herself at Terry, who made no attempt to move
or get away. As Shannon came down Terry held her arm out, palm
up, and drove it
into her stomach sending her gasping to the ground.
Shannon landed hard on her
rear and picked herself up. She had never seen
anyone do that before, but she wasn't about to let a lucky shot stop
her. She
growled and snarled and attacked again. This time Terry just
sidestepped her
and brought Shannon to her knees witht two quick shots to her kidneys.
Terry watched as Shannon
picked herself up again. "If I were you, I'd give up
now. Because you know that mistake I said you made, you know
what it was?"
"What?" Shannon asked.
No sooner had the word left
her lips than the blade of a sword poked through
her chest. She stared down at the blade protruding from her and
heard a voice
in her ear. "You had to go and piss me off."
Aaron pulled the sword from
her and Shannon fell to her knees for the final
time. "You?.... But.... But I.... I killed you."
"Yeah, but I'm back now."
Aaron swung his sword around and the last thing
Shannon saw the blade heading toward her head.
Shannon's lifeless body
hit the roof with a thud. Terry walked over and stared
at the headless corpse. "Well that was hardly worth getting dressed
for."
Aaron chuckled as he kissed
his wife's lips. "Don't worry. Next time I swear
there will be plenty of people for you to beat up."
"Promises, promises."
Terry said teasingly.
They quickly left the roof
and headed for the club to stand watch with Mariah,
leaving the body of Shannon on the roof for the sun to dispose of.
A short while later at the
penthouse Brenda was in the bathroom. She took of
her shirt and tossed into the waste basket next to the sink, she then
unhooked
her bra and put the bloodsoaked garment in the soapy water. Taking
a washcloth
that was soaking in the warm water she proceeded to wipe the dried
blood off her
chest.
Robin walked in just as
she finished cleaning herself off and tossed her a
shirt. "This might fit you."
Brenda smiled at her then
put the shirt on. She looked at herself in the
mirror, the shirt fit.... just barely. "Is it cold in here or
is it just me?"
Brenda asked turning around and Robin could clearly see her nipples
poking
through.
"You could poke an eye out
with those." She said with a straight face. After
a few seconds though both women laughed. "Em's asleep."
"That's good." Brenda
said as she sat down on Robin's bed. "How do you think
she's doing?"
"I don't know." Robin
said sitting down next to Brenda. "This is a lot for
her to take in."
In the guest room Emily
tossed and turned in her sleep. Images of the evenings
events flashed through her mind. Brenda dying and coming back
to life in front.
Robin becoming some kind of monster and Derek.... She couldn't stop
thinking
about him. She jerked awake, her face covered with sweat.
She sat back against
the headboard and brought her kness up to her chest and began to cry.
Mariah paced around her room.
The club below was closed for the night and she
was becoming increasingly worried. It has started, she could
feel it.
Melissa was sitting in a
chair by a raging fire, when she stood up a figure
crashed through the skylight above. "Zed!!" Melissa screamed
as he grabbed her
by the throat.
Mariah was on the man in
an instant. She picked him up and threw him into the
far wall. Zed was surprised by the strength of her, but was on
his feet and
advancing again.
"You've been naughty little
girl and now it's time for a spanking." He was
about to launch himself again when a hand grabbed him from behind.
It was Derek and he easily
tossed Zed several feet into the air and watched as
he hit the floor again hard. Melissa had now retreated behind
Mariah while she
watched her former master fight what she knew was going to be a losing
battle.
"Stay down." Derek
said to him.
Zed was lying in front of
the fireplace when he reached in and grabbed a piece
of burning wood. "Go to hell!" He shouted waving it at
Derek.
Derek dodged and weaved
as the firey torch moved past his head. Zed stepped
forward and caught him off guard. He managed to stab Derek in
the shoudler,
setting his coat and shirt on fire. Derek screamed in pain and
grabbed the
cocky vampire who had neglected to retreat back after his attack.
As Derek held him by the
throat Mariah came and poured some water over Derek's
burning shoulder. The pain in his shoudler was growing and Derek's
grip on Zed
weakened slightly. Taking his chance Zed kicked him in the groin
and
disappeared through the skylight.
Derek was about to chase
after him when Mariah stopped him. "No!"
"He's getting away!"
"Where can he hide now?"
Mariah as she help her old friend to his feet.
Lucky and Liz were at Kelly's
eating. Liz had just swallowed a spoonful of
chili when she sensed someone approach. Looking toward the door
she saw a man
and woman enter.
Methos stopped as soon as
he came through the door and looked over at Liz's
table. Seated there he saw an attractive young couple having
dinner. Although
he had yet to actually meet her, he suspected that this was Aaron's
other
student Elizabeth. Aaron described her to him and for once he
wasn't
exaggerating, she was very beautiful.
Liz studied the new arrival
with intrest, so much so Lucky turned around to
look as well. Methos just smiled at them and lead Eve over to
the counter where
they sat.
Eve was on her way to the
hospital. She had agreeded to fill for Julie Devlin
and had to break her date with Methos tonight.
"I'm really sorry about
this Adam." Eve said again.
"Forget it." Methos
told her. "I understand, and besides didn't you say she
agreed to take your shift Friday." He touched her chin.
"So that means we can
have a long weekend together." He said then kissed her.
Back at their table Liz
finished her meal and she and Lucky got up to leave.
Walking along the docks Liz felt Lucky's arm slide around her waist.
"My mom called." He
said. "She wants me to come down for a few days."
"Yeah? Are you going?"
"I haven't decided yet."
Liz stopped walking.
"I want you to go. Lucky things are a lot better between
you and your parents than they were before, but you've barely spent
any time
with them and that's partly my fault."
"I love you and want spend
time with you, but don't go thinking you're
responsible for my family not acting like the Cleavers anymore."
"That is not what I mean.
You've been using me as a reason to avoid going home
and I've let you." Liz steered him over to a vacant bench.
"Now when does
your mom want to see you?"
"This weekend."
Liz sat down on his lap
and put an arm around his shoulder. "So that gives us
two whole days together." She said while kissing him. "Let's
go back to the
apartment."
"Okay." Lucky said
then picked her up in his arms and carried her away to the
stares and smiles of people around.
Zed stumbled and fell as
he ran through the dank catacombs. How? He thought.
How could it all have gone so wrong? He finally reached his detination,
he was
finally safe.
Dozens of candles illuminated
the dark cave, casting distorted shadows on the
walls. It was severl seconds before the smell hit him.
It was scent that was
hard to ignore, it was the stench of rotting flesh. He looked
over and in the
corner, sitting in an elegant chair was a rotting corpse.
"What are you doing here?"
The voice seemed to echo
around him. "I need your help Master, they're after
me."
A dark shape shrouded in
shadow appeared behind him. "Amazing. I gave you
rather inplicit instructions and not only have you disobeyed them,
you've
managed to condemn yourself to death."
"Master, please I didn't...."
Zed started to plead but was silenced by a hand
around his throat.
"I have planned for this
for a very long time and in less than three days you
and your pathetic minions have managed to place everything in danger
by your
insistance on playing these foolish power games with the locals."
"You have to help me, they're
going to kill me."
The dark man released his
grip on Zed and turned his back to him. "No they're
not." He said as he unnoticed by Zed picked something up.
"You've served me
faithfully since I made you one of the chosen and I will not allow
them to kill
you."
Zed almost smiled, but it
never quite made it to his lips because he felt a
sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and saw that his master
had driven a
stake into his heart.
"That particular pleasure
is mine." He moved with Zed as he slumped to the
ground. "I put up with your aarogance and incompitence long enough.
I will not
allow you to jeopardize my revenge on my enemies." He straightened
up and
turned as if someone had spoke to him. "Thank you." He
said as walked over to
the body in the corner. "I'm so glad you approve." He said
before kissing the
corpse's forhead.