Chapter 34 - Unexpected

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The silence accompanying the pictures at the bottom is intentional. I did have writer's block, but that's not the reason for it. The last scene will be addressed in the next chapter.

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(Other side of the world)

Greenwich

19.45 pm

Chadd walked over to the house clad in the dark orange hue of the disappearing sun. This was the 3^rd time he came here; reliving the memories of when he lived there with his family. Those were the simple times when they didn't have a care in the world; just his parents and him and later the joy of a baby sister. His face lit up at the thought of her. He remembered her little round face that made you love her at first sight. The golden threads that made up her hair as it caressed the side of her face… He could still see the high noon sun reflect upon those beautiful curls. What he wouldn't give to see her bathed in the warm sun again…

A little girl's voice made Chadd look up. For a minute there he thought he had imagined it, but it sounded again and drew him closer to the house. There were two of them running around in the yard and he frowned. The last time he was here was over 4 months ago, but it was still empty then. Chadd quickly moved out of view and watched them play.

'Nikki, not so fast!', the little one yelled at what Chadd assumed was her sister. It brought a smile on his face when he remembered  playing with his sister in that same yard.

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Greenwich

25 years ago

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'Horsey', the little girl in pink giggled at a younger version of Chadd.

'Yes, horse. Mommy bought it for you; Wanna ride?'

She hurriedly shook her head. 'Horsey bad!'

'No, horsey not bad. I'll be here with you, okay? Don't be afraid', Chadd soothed the toddler. She still looked at it with fear in her eyes, but allowed her brother to put her on the horse. The minute she realized the horse moved when she did, she pulled on the handles and swung back and forth.

'Horsey! Horsey! Horsey!'. Chadd watched his baby sister as she grew  more comfortable on the spring horse. It made a squeaky noise with every move she made and he made a mental note to oil it later. He stepped back to take a picture of her as she played, but it was as if she felt that he wasn't at her side anymore. She became unsure again and looking behind her, lost her balance and fell on the ground.

Chadd was at her side immediately. 'Are you alright?', She brushed the dirt off her dress and looked as if she was getting ready to cry. With her hands balled up into little fists, she rubbed her eyes. 'Lotte, are you hurt?', Chadd turned her arms around checking for bruises, when she smiled a big, four toothed smile.

'Why you little--', Chadd picked her up and tickled her silly. 'No, Chadd', she managed in between giggles as she threw her little arms around her brother's neck. 'I love you, little Lottie'. Their mother's voice sounded from the house telling them to come in for lunch. The sound of his mother's voice made Chadd so emotional it was becoming unpleasant. It had been a long time since he last heard it. He waited for the second call. She always had to call them a second time before they would go inside and sure enough, she did. 'Chadd, Lottie! Inside now or you won't get to play outside tomorrow!'

'Yes mom!', they answered as young Chadd carried his sister inside; her arms still around his neck.

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Greenwich

Present

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'Nicole, Tiffany! Dinner's ready! Come wash your hands'

The sound of the unfamiliar voice brought Chadd back to the present. The girls were on the swings now; the one he helped his father build. Chadd couldn't believe they were still intact. 'Alright mommy!', the little one yelled as she jumped off the still swaying swing and went inside. The teenager lingered a bit longer before joining her sister.

'Excellent choice Chadd! I bet they must be tender and sweet! Which one were you after- the teenager or the little one?'.The raw predator voice behind him and the things he suggested made Chadd's stomach turn. Deveraux nudged Chadd's shoulder when he didn't answer.

'What do you want Deveraux?'

'I'm never too busy to steal your next meal. And by the looks of it I hit the jackpot!', he glanced towards the house again. Chadd noticed a dangerous gleam in his eyes and he feared for the girls the longer he stood there. 'Let's get out of here'

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Warehouse Hideout

Alex was out for little over half an hour. Her head was throbbing and so was her neck. She rubbed her sore neck and tried to recognize her surroundings. 'The warehouse… how did I get here?' Flashes of a confrontation with Kat and Charlotte came to mind; along with an alley and Chase or more importantly Chase's hands on her throat. Anger and hurt merged together in her mind and she searched the room for the cause, but it was as empty as she felt. She couldn't go back to HQ; Chase had left. In just one night she had lost everything. Alex felt tears well up behind her eyes. She knew she was playing a dangerous game the moment she got involved with a vampire and knew this would happen eventually, but now that it had, it was still a bitter pill to swallow.

She got off the bed and for the first time, albeit through misty eyes, really acknowledged the room she was in. It had a bed, a cramped up bath and an emergency fridge. It wasn't ideal, but it beat living in her car. With this she would at least have a roof above her head until she found better accommodations. It was a guess from the beginning that that was a bathroom since she'd never been in there; but hoping to find a sink to splash some water on her heated face, Alex walked to the door. No sooner had she put her hand on the door knob, a loud growl shivered her flesh. It came from outside.

Leaning against the wall next to the front door; her hunter instincts kicking in, temporarily removing the fear. Alex heard some heavy footsteps on the other side of the door; moving back and forth. They were inconsistent and fast moving. Then something slammed into the wall she was leaning against and Alex saw bits and pieces of brick crumble from the force of it. A vicious snarl sounded, followed by a pained groan before something once again was slammed into the wall. Alex closed her eyes and send up a quick prayer to help her survive this. Whatever was out there wasn't taking any prisoners. She looked around the room trying to form an escape plan, but the only exit was the door next to her. Alex searched her clothes for her firearm, but it was gone. She felt inside her boot and thankfully her knife was still there. Gripping it tight, she listened to the commotion outside.

After what seemed like a long time, the fight ceased. Alex heard voices, but because of the snarling, she couldn't make out what they were saying. She moved away from the wall and listened against the door, hoping to hear better. The door suddenly swung open, knocking her backwards. She stumbled a little before throwing her knife at whoever came through.

'Again with the knife', she heard that oh so familiar voice when he flung the knife in the other direction. A wave of relieve and happiness swept through her at the sound of Chase's voice, but it didn't last very long. Everything Charlotte and Kat said came back full throttle along with her anger.

Alex swung her leg up making Chase duck. 'You fucking used me!', Alex screamed in between kicks. Her voice was laced with as much disgust and loathing she could muster up. 'All those times I've been second-guessing why those vampires were in the basement. Considering letting them out... That was you, wasn't it? WASN'T?!'

'… and you've JUST noticed that? How?', he mocked, 'Been talking to one of your hunter friends, hmm! You knew that I was capable of entering your mind the minute I sent you those images of you writhing beneath me. Did you think it was all I could do? That my sole purpose was to make you feel good?', Chase grabbed her swinging leg and twisted it enough to make her drop to the floor before pulling her to him. 'I am the right hand man of an elite vampire. You are a hunter... Didn't it ever cross your mind that maybe I'd received orders to get you to release our men? Calum thinks you're weak, now tell me Alex... if you're that weak, wouldn't you have done it already?'

All those unexplained headaches she'd been having; all along it had been Chase trying to manipulate her. She was in danger all this time when she thought she had something good. Only now did Alex realize how careless she was following him into that alley earlier. He could've killed her and no one would know; buried her in some wilderness never to be found… yet he didn't. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't had any headaches for a while now too. 'Why did you stop?'

'What?'

'Probing my mind. I haven't had a headache in a week, so you stopped. Why? If it was an order from your boss, why aren't you carrying it through?' Chase smiled at her little brain putting 2 and 2 together, 'And in the alley. If you thought that I had set you up with my friends, why didn't you kill me?'

'Because I love you'

'Is that what you want to hear Alex? That I'm in love with you? Will it make it all better for you?', Chase mocked letting her go. 'That's not what I…', Alex voice faltered, not yet over the shock he just gave her.

'Sure it is!', Chase scoffed, 'Those words have crossed your mind because you can't make out what to call 'this' that we have. Let me help you with that. I stopped probing your mind because I don't always do what Calum asks of me. I already have a master and he's not it. Secondly, I didn't kill you in that alley, because I don't want your little hunter friends to hunt me down. I'd be the first they came after, after they saw us together earlier. But most importantly, I didn't want to lose a good meal source; that's you!! So there you have it'

'A meal source you have feelings for', Alex got a bit brave and stood up from the ground.

'You're really gonna run that 'feelings' thing into the ground aren't you?', Chase chuckled, giving Alex a good view of his protruding fangs.

'It's all I have right now', Alex quietly admitted. 'So you don't have feelings for me?', she asked a little louder, speaking directly to him although he had heard the previous too.

'I have feelings alright', Chase said flashing his fangs again, 'Feelings of a base and animalistic nature. But you can't explain those feelings… oh no, they need to be experienced' He blinked to where she stood and without much effort lifted her and dropped her on the bed. '…and I have worked up quite an appetite'

Alex didn't even flinch when he moved on top of her and sank his fangs into her neck. There wasn't any sexual pre-bite foreplay this time, just raw predator-like feeding; just like the night they first met… when all of this started. If she had been strong then, none of this would've happened and she'd still be a hunter. Alex thought back on every time they met. She had developed feelings for him… feelings he didn't return...Yet - She sighed. His actions told her there was more to this than just blood and sex. Those two were ever present whenever they met, but she refused to believe that that was all this was. No, he feels something. He's just too damn proud to admit it… The thought warmed her inside.

Her life as a hunter was over. No more hiding, no more sneaking around. She could be with Chase now and one way or another she would get him to admit that he cares for her… Maybe not tonight, maybe not tomorrow, but someday. Alex sighed again and listened to the low grunts coming from Chase as he feasted on her blood. For a moment she wondered how it tasted. Sure, she cut her finger more than once and tasted her own blood, but what was it like to him? What was so appealing? Thinking about it, she got a sudden urge to bite him and turned her face to his, capturing his earlobe between her teeth.

Biting on it hard she broke through the skin and felt a warm liquid fill her mouth and then slide down her throat. She didn't know why she expected it to be different and was disappointed it had the same metallic taste as her own blood. So vampire blood was pretty much the same as huma… Alex gagged. Chase who had looked up immediately after feeling his ear rip watched as she made a series of gag reflexes before clutching her throat. 'What have you done?!', he whispered.

'What is happening? It burns! My throat, it burns', Alex panicked.

'Shit! Breathe Alex, just breathe!', Chase started to panic as well. She drank his blood, while he was draining hers. That would be sufficient enough to count as an exchange. 'Shit, Alex!', Chase shoved one of his fingers down her throat. It was no use. She was already gagging with nothing coming up. It was too late… she was in transition…

'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!', Chase bellowed and started pacing the room. This isn't happening… this can't be happening. He touched his ear, the place she bit. It was already healing, but he could make out the size of the bite. That wouldn't give enough blood… He looked at Alex now writhing on the bed. She got enough blood to start the transition, but more would be needed to finish it. Hoping the little bit she had would pass out of her system, he got back to the bed and held her down. Just pass through… Just fucking pass through… he silently prayed. 'Come on Alex, you can do this! Just breathe' …Pass through…

'She can do what exactly?', Calum growled at Chase.

'Master Ca…'

'I told you to get rid of her a long time ago. And here she is – Alive and becoming a vampire. What a glorious day'. The sarcasm was dripping from his words like venom. Alex screamed as the burning went from her throat to her stomach. She could literally feel every drop of Chase' blood burning a path through her insides. The scream was for the pain, but the fear in her eyes was for the the Elite vampire. The moment the sound escaped from her lips Calum turned his head and stalked towards her; making Chase jump off the bed. Scraping his bare back against the wall, Chase slowly moved away from the scene in front of him.

The sound of her screaming was hurting his ears like nails scraping on a blackboard. Criiiiiiiiiiiiii. Calum didn't waste any time in snapping her neck. The cracking sound echoed in the room and then… silence… He let go of her and watched as her lifeless body fell back on the bed in an unnatural way. Due to the intensity of the transition her green eyes had turned hazy, showing almost no color at all. They made her corpse seem even creepier. Not that the sight of it would have any effect on an Elite vampire. Calum growled and turned towards Chase once more. 'Do you have any idea—'

Chase was no fool. He knew that female vampires were prohibited and here he almost created one. As soon as Calum was 'taking care' of the situation, he bolted from the place. No one he knew had ever slipped up with a female before, so he didn't know what would happen to him. Calum snarled at the fact that he didn't even sense that Chase was planning to make a run for it. Taking Alex' cell phone off the table he made a quick call. 'We have a situation and I need you to clean it up'. He gave the coordinates of the place and the job that needed to be done. 'Do I sound like I care about any of that? Just get it done!', Calum sighed at the string of questions that kept on coming.

'She's a hunter. Make it look like an accident. I will NOT tell you again!'. With that he crushed the phone between his fingers; taking care to destroy the sim-card as well. He opened the lid to the fireplace and threw the pieces into the fire. Tracing her cell would be impossible for the other hunters now, so the chance that they'd show up before the clean up were reduced to zero.

Calum was about ready to leave the area when a sudden gust of wind blew against the window. He could hear it just as clear as if he was standing outside. Another violent gust of wind and then nothing. The pressure in the air dropped and the wind ceased to blow. 'Shit!', his voice no louder than a whisper. He walked to the window and looked up into the night sky with its stars covered by heavy clouds promising nothing good. The highest trees two streets away from where he was, were suddenly bend over by the force of the wind as it did a complete turn-around and started blowing in the other direction. The hairs on the back of Calum's neck stood up immediately. He knew this wind-change… He had experienced it once before— way back in time.

'Shit!'

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For the none-believers:

...it did happen!