Replacement

by Wojciech Cram

  "Tell Mary Lynette that I hope to meet her some day, okay? And," Quinn didn't know where to begin. He wanted to say the right words in case the two friends never saw each other

  again.

  Ash was sharing the same thoughts. "You take care of yourself when you get to that island. I don't want to come back to the mansion minus one best friend. And tell Rashel to take

  care of you out there. I know what a candy ass you are."

  "You've been looking at my ass?" he asked. They laughed and Ash buckled himself into the driver's seat. "I'll see you later, Quinn." He meant it. Ash wanted to come back and see

  that everybody was fine, nobody was killed. But that would be impossible. All he could do was hope Quinn would survive. Quinn, Rashel, Iliana, Delos, Morgead, Jez…everybody. He

  wanted every body to live.

  "You will," Quinn said again in a somber voice to match his face. There was no need for hugs or good byes. Ash nodded and left Quinn standing as he backed out of the garage.

  November 30, 1999

  Boston, Massachusetts

  "I spent a week trying to find him. Where is he?" Mari didn't need to fight or threaten anybody. Under the men's calm expressions, they were probably quaking in fear of the wild

  power. Mari felt she had more control when men three times her height were afraid of her.

  Nobody gave her trouble any more. And there was no need for worrying about the vampires who were supposed to be keeping her out of trouble. She gave them the day off after

  she fed last night on an alcoholic man who was beating his step son. Well, they didn't exactly want the day off, Mari just made them leave. Not one of them dared to protest.

  The man snapped her out of her thoughts. "We have our orders, Mar" Mari cut the man off before he could finish.

  "It's ma'am, you idiot. Did I or did I not ask you where he was? My patience is running thin, boys." Mari knew for a fact they were afraid of her by the way they weren't attacking

  her. She knew every single of one of them, maybe not their names, but she knew they were her guards before she left the castle.

  "He's on an enclave." The man who said it attempted an authoritative tone but squeaked when she looked straight at him.

  "Doing what? Who's going to stay here and order you around?" Mari loved hearing her voice in chillingly imperious tones.

  "I'm the leader while he's gone," a tall man answered in a humble tone. Then Mari realized that he wasn't tall, he was just tall to her. Most people I've described as tall probably

  really aren't tall, she thought with realization. Wait, focus. You have a job to do, she told herself.

  "Valdis is rather ashamed of this, but seeing as his father was killed and his mother insist upon it, he's getting married. It was arranged in a hurry, he's marrying a nice girl from

  another lamia family." Mari stopped listening and walked out the door with the minion in mid sentence.

  As soon as she stepped out of the ugly ware house, the winter winds blasted her with their chills. By the brightness of the hum drum gray clouds, Mari guessed it was two o'clock. Mari wished she could feel the cold and shiver, but that would be human. Something she could never be again. And she had Valdis to thank for that.

  Even if she didn't feel the cold winds, she dressed for it. With a lovely light yellow sweater and jeans, plus a light blue thick winter jacket, she was determined to look like a normal

  teenager. Mari climbed in the black Ferrari Hunter gave her and sped towards the coast. Hunter was bound to have a yacht some where.

  To comfort herself, she shifted her thoughts to her mother. She didn't feel like talking to a forced image of her, just the true memories she had of her. As a quest to kill time, Mari

  always tried to remember the song that she would sing to her.

  But some how her thoughts always drifted to Valdis. Her soul mate. Not hers for long. It was ludicrous for her to see him again. After all her parting words to him were deliberate

  threats. What was also ludicrous was that she was happy to learn was marrying some other girl, probably far more gorgeous than she could ever hope to be. And Mari would be

  alone for the rest of her life, which would be longer than she thought proper.

  Valdis would be happy without Mari, with a girl who wasn't ungrateful for her vampire powers and wouldn't yell at him and challenge him at every conversation. She would love him

  and he would love her and every body would live happily ever after. Except for Mari Tybal.

  With a firm hand on the wheel, she dialed the only number she knew. "Hunter?"

  "I thought you wouldn't call me that any more." What was it with this man and being a father figure?

  "Father," she said sweetly, despising the word. "I need to get to an enclave." Mari realized he probably needed an explanation before lending an eighteen year old a yacht. "I've

  been getting sick of being surrounded by so much vermin. I need to get to an enclave, where there are people worthy talking to. I'm tired of being on the mainland so…I need a

  yacht." At least she wasn't lying at the last part.

  After a pause, Hunter sighed. "That is understandable. But do you really expect me to loan you a yacht? You can barely handle the Ferrari." Too true. The only reason she had no

  trouble talking to him and driving was because the high way was going straight and there was a very high speed limit. Other wise she terrified fellow drivers on smaller roads that

  curved.

  Mari also knew that Hunter was testing her for something. Hunter was plainly a spoiled child to be amused so she had to play along. "Father, I need comfortable means of sea

  worthy transportation and you have it. Are you going to supply it or shall I hijack some fishing boat and show the world a vampire island?" Mari could almost see a smile spread

  over Hunter's ugly face.

  "Of course I'll supply it." He quickly told her the directions to a port. Mari absorbed everything and almost hung up the phone when he asked, "By the way, which enclave?"

  "Oh whatever I see first. It couldn't be too hard to find one, right?" Hunter agreed. She waited until she heard him hang up before tossing the phone in the passenger seat.

  When she finally arrived at the port, she ordered the captain to teach her the basics and then sent him away. Then she was out on the Atlantic Ocean watching the sun's colors

  shrink from the waves as it sunk below the horizon. She turned the wheel when she felt like it, not totally sure if she knew where she was going. Something was drawing her to

  him, faint, but steady. It was the soul mate link, an unwanted stream that ran through both of them. Since it meant nothing to Valdis, Mari was also bent on paying it no attention.

  All she was going to do was talk to him. There were no feelings to cut off because that would need feelings to be there in the first place. She never cared about Valdis, he never

  cared about her, so the conversation she planned to have with him was going to be stilted, if he didn't send her away or kill her first.

  Denial rambles on and on, doesn't it, her subconscious taunted viciously. Dammit, stay subconscious; as in I don't hear you!

  But she would have to come up with an excuse other than closure to talk to him. There was always that small chance he would listen to her on what should be the happiest day of

  his life. Her mind went blank. Then came the memory of talking to herself or mother of killing him. Killing Valdis would solve many problems, but Mari knew if she showed up with

  a wooden stake she wouldn't get very far.

  Absently, she began to hum the tune of the song that she tried to remember earlier. It was slow and was sure to be something about love. Mari liked to think her mother was a

  daydreamer and often thought about meeting her true love. Strange that a hooker would be thinking that, but Mari could always hope. Gwendolyn must have thought of finding "the

  one" at some point of her life. If she was alive, Mar
i would have told her finding the one wasn't what most women expected it to be. It wasn't all about having each other with never

  ending love, staying up all night talking to him, waking up wanting to see him, or going to sleep to dream about him.

  Finding "the one" was hell.

  For the first time, Mari saw the island that must have been in view for fifteen minutes. In the cloudy night, it was invisible to the human eye. Only Night People and nocturnal

  animals could have seen the specks of light that came from the stone mansions that were buried deep in a dense forest. To her it was unreasonable for vampires to live in a forest.

  Remembering the captain's instructions, she parked, if that was the right term, the yacht at the end of the long dock and stepped onto the fore deck into the cool crisp night.

  She wasn't dressed for a wedding reception, that was for sure. Even if she was in a dress no doubt it would be far too modern on a time warped island. And she had yet to make up

  a reason for seeing him. But deep down inside her, in the depths of her mind that she never knew existed or only existed just for him, she knew the true reason.

  Mari wanted to see him before he went off to the Final Battle and some how got himself killed. She wanted to argue over something stupid with him one last time.

  "Getting a little bit cheesy there," she told her self and leaned away from the railing.

  "I don't recall seeing you on the guest list," a voice cut in through the serenity of the waves' soft lapping. Inhaling a deep breath and turned to see Valdis.

  It made her knees weak just too look at him. Normally she would have laughed at his fifteenth century clothes but the solemnity in his voice and the anger clearly written on his

  breath taking face stopped her.

  "Although I am sure that my mother would be thrilled to have a wild power at our wedding reception. She's a bit of a social climber." To her surprise her offered a gloved hand as

  she stepped off the yacht. She took it lightly and then snatched her hand back as soon as she steadied herself on the dock. He raised an eyebrow at that and faced her squarely.

  "I had to talk to you. I felt this would be my last chance," she explained quietly, looking past him to the water. It would be easier for her to talk if she didn't look at his eyes.

  "Really? By your parting words the last time we met, I was hoping you would come with a stake with my name written on it." Valdis was either terribly unhappy or drunk and making jokes.

  "I wasn't thinking clearly at the time."

  "Of course, you changing species and all, who wouldn't be nonplused? I must say, Mari dear, you haven't changed at all since we last met. Have you noticed?" The stranger she

  thought was Valdis sat down on the dock, where his feet almost touched the water.

  "Chicken pox marks are no longer in existence," she contradicted him cautiously and sat a few inches from where he invited her to sit.

  "Ah, yes I remember seeing those. There's one right under your…"

  "Shut up," she snapped, furious at herself for blushing. Mari had no clue why they were sitting and teasing each other like old buddies. It made her feel better to hear Valdis when

  he wasn't angry about her existence.

  "Yes, I guess that one disappeared. It was kind of shaped like a heart. Well, let's get this over with, this last meeting between soul mates. I don't want it to become too dramatic,

  do you?"

  Mari felt the tiny hope that was building inside her collapse. She learned that Valdis could sound friendly and congenial yet still be cruel and insensitive. She made a vague agreeing motion with her head.

  "Small talk, so it could be pleasant. Like 'The Way We Were' when they meet on the street and they have to be cordial to each other. Have you ever seen that movie?"

  "No," she answered half heartedly. "Um, won't they miss you? After all there is a reception going on without you." Valdis dismissed that with a wave of his hand.

  "Probably won't even notice I'm gone. They're better off actually, I would just ruin the wedding portraits with my dreary frown. It's all about politics you see. My family is just a bit

  higher up on the social ladder. Pearl Laurel will move up in the Night World society. She's already pregnant, you know." Valdis was strangely serene as he spoke, as if every thing

  was as is in the world.

  His last words made her sick. "So you knew her before you were married?"

  He gave a little laugh at that, as if recalling a prank gone wrong. "No. Pearl's a sweet girl really, almost perfect. But I can't overlook her nonexistent resistance to the sexual

  temptation that surrounded her. I'm sure by now every one who's worked for her has gotten a ride." He stopped smiling now, just staring down at the water. "My innocent little slut.

  Harlot. Tramp. Wench. Wanton." Valdis went on, but Mari couldn't recognize a few words. The other insulting names would have been understood in Shakespeare's time, but Mari

  couldn't even spell them.

  "What is another word?" he asked miserably. Now this was a Valdis she could talk to. She hoped he would stay in his misery for the rest of the night. "I feel like it is terribly

  obvious."

  For once, Mari could understand it. He was held back by these chains that he could break, but because doing so would mean losing his whole world. She had read enough paperback

  romances from the Renaissance to understand. Mr. Shakespeare also showed how a simple rejection of one's proposed fate would destroy a life. Here Valdis was experiencing it. He

  was probably thinking, Who am I to object? Could it be so bad to have an arranged marriage? Mari knew the answer and she knew that he knew too. Of course it was bad; it was

  humiliating. To have a wife that didn't respect him and have his peers laughing at him because he didn't satisfy her. Mari hurt for him.

  Valdis was still awaiting an answer. Instead Mari did the only thing that she could think of. Slowly, she unfolded her hands and reached out and held his. Through the thin leather

  she could feel warmth from his hand. Strange how she couldn't feel the cold but she could feel his warmth. After a moment, she felt Valdis' fingers close over her own.

  Both were glad he had his gloves on. The last thing they needed was the soul mate link to ruin the first peaceful moment they shared together. Mari's fingers were pinched as he

  tightened his fingers. It was as if Mari was the only thing to keep him from drowning. What he didn't know was that Mari needed him the same way.

  The pair were staring at their feet, Mari's much smaller and farther away from the ocean than his. Out of the corner of eye, Mari so his face and smiled. There was something about

  seeing a man's face in complete darkness. For most women, that would be difficult unless they had the unnatural powers the Night Women had.

  Valdis was not in the least obscured. With her eyes, Mari could see his well muscled, but not so muscled so that it was sickening, body and his stunning face. Before when she

  thought his looks were not as exotic as the other vampires. By being in a world so used to strange and dazzling colors, having his cruelly beautiful, and some would say "normal"

  coloring made him a rare prize.

  His proud, usually frowning lips were still frowning but seemed to soften a bit. His eyes, which switched from electric blue to pale green with whatever was around him, were

  hooded and the ever rolling storm in them seemed to quiet down.

  Lost in her thoughts, Mari smiled, just a little. She couldn't help it, having these mushy thoughts about the man she planned to kill days earlier. Mari didn't have to worry about

  hearing his thoughts, or him hearing hers. Shields took care of that.

  Despite the tiny bit of annoyance at the thought of soulmates having shields with each other, Mari never lost herheadintheclouds smile. Valdis looked at her out of the corner of

  his eye and caught it. He turned his head so that he could see her be
tter. After several heart beats, he returned the smile, slowly and maybe amusedly.

  But then he noticed something. Mari had no clue what, but she knew his expression darkened the moment he met her eyes. Violently, he let go and threw her hand at her and stood

  up, making her feel vulnerably small.

  "Whore," he growled through clenched teeth. Mari sat, staring up at him. She shook herself free of the strange trance he caused and stood up to meet his eyes better. Before she

  could speak, he continued harshly.

  "That's the word, what my wife is. It seems that now we are both accustomed to them." Valdis was being utterly baneful. Mari stopped her unnecessary breathing. At a sluggish

  rate, his words and their meanings sunk in, making her visibly shake with fiery anger.

  "What gives you the right?" Mari asked, her voice trembling with barely leashed rage. It was fighting its way out, only to find her skin as its barrier, making her whole body quake

  uncontrollably. "What gives you the right to be this way?"

  Valdis laughed. He had the audacity to laugh at her, his velvety, scornful chuckles filling the stiff silence. "Right? I don't need a right to be the way I am, Mari."

  "That's not what I meant. This," she said, pulling off his gloves and holding his hands in the blink of an eye, "is what I meant."

  Mari was plunged head first into his thoughts. She didn't bother to feel them, she let them swim over and around her as she forced him to meet her. "How did you become to be like

  this?" she asked, letting her appalled feelings for him crash into him. "You've had two loving parents, three older kind and protective brothers, and yet you end up being so evil. Too

  weak a word, I know, but I'd rather not fill this hell hole with more profane thoughts." Mari no longer cared about his chiseled features or the pitiful problem he was in. She threw a

  cursory glance at the memories as they floated past her. "How can people put up with you? How could have a person as sweet and caring as you mother bore such a malevolent

  damnation such as you? She should have killed you at birth, it would have been a kind thing to do for the world."