by Dawn Gray
"Great, so now we're one man's fountain of youth." Jason said and shook his head.
"Well, sort of. You see, while Jacob was experimenting with this stuff, he found that it was easier to trace down members of his own bloodline and kill them off. Louis' line had more of the Victor Syndrome, as he called it, in them because of Louis's third exchange with Victor, that it was easier to change them into vampires, by paying someone to do it. Another words, hiring vampires to change people purposely into them so that they can be used for Jacob's own little monster mash." Isaac replied and stood up.
"So, now we know that Jacob is a vampire about two hundred years old with the power of God only knows how many vampires in him." Quinn said and sighed. "How do you stop a thing like that?"
"Easy." Isaac smiled. Quinn looked at him quickly and I smiled at this reaction. "You see Jacob has all the youth of an immortal, with none of the immortal, how should I say ‘perks’."
"All the weaknesses, none of the advantages." I watched Jason's smile grow as he nodded at the thought of this. "Interesting."
"The sunlight makes him weak, probably because his blood is tainted. He never goes more than a month without drinking some sort of vamp blood." Isaac said and sat back down again, but sat forward and folded his hands together. "He's mortal, just like everyone else, any weapon can kill him, but he has lots of guards and protection. His only advantage to this whole thing is that he gets to keep his own two-hundred-year- old girlish figure."
"So, that takes care of Jacob, now what about you?" Cleo asked. Isaac sat back in the chair and seemed to look a little glum.
"Me, well, I'm just a mistake." He replied and looked at me as he took my hand. He sighed and looked at Jason, Quinn, Julian and Cleo. "After my father put me in the Hunters, Jacob seemed to take a special interest in me, but the only thing I was interested in was keeping Angel safe. He tried to tell me all these lies about her and the family, but I knew different, I felt different. After a while, he thought it would be good to bring me into his little clan and he started to force me to drink the blood, by holding my head back and then holding my nose so I had no choice but to open my mouth.
"It made me sick so many times that I thought I was going to die every time I had to take it, but I was still here. Jacob told me that as long as I didn't take a mortal life, drink their blood, I wouldn't die, I wouldn't grow old, and I wouldn't be a vampire, just and old man who looked twenty." Isaac rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "He warned me, but I didn't really have a say in the matter when it actually transformed me."
"When you became one of us?" Julian asked. Isaac nodded then went on.
"I was out hunting for a deer one afternoon; Jacob's property was full of them, when someone shot me instead of the deer. I was left in the woods to bleed to death and I almost did, but a couple hours later, when I was just about to totally give out, a man walked up to me and asked if I was all right. I could see his blood, his heart beating." Isaac closed his eyes and his hands clinched together so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "When he got close enough, I knocked him unconscious, not sure where I even got the strength to do that, and I cut him a little on the throat and I drank his blood. Before I knew it, he was dead, that's how much I took, that's how much I had lost and I laid down and closed my eyes and when I woke up the next time, I didn't have a heartbeat, but I felt more alive than when I was actually living.
"It's been a few years and it's helped me to protect Angel better, because I can warn her about where people are going to be, when they're going to be there, because I can use my mind to communicate with her." He looked at me, smiled, and then he looked back at the others. "I know that my approach to this situation has been anything but practical, but it's worked and I'm doing everything in my power to keep her safe."
"Now that we know the truth." Quinn said and stood up. "I don't think any of us can say anything about how you went about protecting her."
"I don't understand something." Jason spoke up, stepping closer to the others, with his arms crossed over his chest. "If you've spent so much time trying to protect her, why didn't you just find out why they're after her and put a stop to it."
"It's because she's the last that he's even interested in her. If she was a man, he wouldn't have any second thoughts about killing her, but something about the fact that she's a girl keeps him from really wanting anything permanently damaging done to her." Isaac replied.
"What do you think that might be?" Michael questioned.
"There was one time that I was sitting in Jacob's office, looking into some sort of occult stuff because of a rash of hunter killings on the west coast and I would do anything to follow Angel, so, I volunteered. Anyway, what I found in one of the books was something called Larado's Prophecy."
"Ah, yes." Julian nodded and sat forward. "It's an old vampire prophecy about eternal youth for the mortal that completes it."
"Yeah, well, what does it have to do with me?" I questioned and got up. "Why can't my life just be normal? I mean come on, a prophecy. I'm not prophecy material."
"Angel." Quinn said and stood up as I walked around in a circle. "We're not positive about the prophecy being about you, yet. He was just telling us what he might know."
"Oh, you think so." I said and stopped and looked at Julian. "Tell me that the prophecy has nothing to do with being the last in the bloodline of someone tainted with vampire blood. That the prophecy doesn't tell you about a person with unique abilities, all the advantages, none of the weaknesses?"
"You'll have to let me look it up; it's been a long time since I've even looked at some of Larado's works." Julian replied and stood up. "I think we need a break."
"I'll see if the kitchen has lunch ready." Cleo said and Lauren volunteered to help. Jason walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me as I started to cry a little. He whispered words in my ears that I couldn't quite make out, but they seemed to calm me, nonetheless.
I looked up, watched as Cecilia walked over to Isaac, and smiled at him, and then the two of them hugged each other tightly. I took a deep breath and looked up at Jason.
"It’s all too much." I whispered and stepped away from him, then began to walk down the hallway slowly. He followed, and then came up beside me as we made our way up the stairs. "Too much information in one timeframe. God, Jason, why can't people just leave me alone?"
"You're way to interesting to be left alone." He smiled and stopped me on the stairway. I turned and looked at him as we stood eye level with each other. "Besides, if everyone left you alone, I would have never met you and I would never have been able to do this to you." He leaned closer to me and kissed me softly on the lips. "Hmmm, I could do this all night."
"Don't tempt me, please." I replied and kissed him quickly again. "I'm almost in the mood to say yes to sneaking off to the lair and catching up on some sleep."
“Actually." Julian said coming up the stairway. He looked at Jason and nodded. "I think that would be an excellent idea."
"Isn't an Uncle supposed to discourage his niece from going off with handsome young men to their bedrooms?" I asked him. Julian smiled.
"Well, we all trust Jason, and I think that you need some rest. I know what kind of nightmares that you've been having and the lair is just the sort of place to block them out." Julian looked down the stairs then back up at us. "Besides, I think that Quinn needs to not see the two of you together for a while. He's a bit perturbed about something. I don't know why he doesn't approve and frankly, it's none of my business, but his threats are loud and so is his temper."
"What about Isaac?" I asked.
"Oh, yes, young Mr. Cain will be fine for now. Cecilia is walking around the garden with him. Upstairs in the back hall bedroom there is a staircase that leads down to the lair hidden in the closet wall." Julian said and smiled as Jason looked at him oddly. "Cleo and I worked together on the plans for this house, I know every little passageway and hiding spot."
"Understood." Jason said and nodded.
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"Now go rest and be back before dark." Julian said as he turned around and walked down the stairs.
Jason looked at me, as I got comfortable on his bed. I watched him walk over to the fireplace and begin to start a fire there. He turned and looked at me as he played with the ashes as the blaze began to grow.
"So, who's this Larado guy?" I asked him.
"Some vampire philosopher." Jason shrugged and pulled his knees up to his chest then put his chin on his knees. "Angel, what would you say if I told you that I think this is a bad idea?"
"What, having Isaac in the house?" I asked and looked at the ceiling, then at him. "I'd say that you've made that clear from the beginning."
"No, I mean us, being down here alone like this." He whispered. I rolled over on the bed and looked at him while lying on my stomach. "Do you think that it's a problem?"
"No." I said and watched him get up and walk over to me. I turned over on the bed and looked at him as he sat down and leaned over me. "Why would you think it's a problem?"
"Can I kiss you?" He asked as he leaned closer to me and pushed the hair away from my eyes. I nodded and smiled at him as his lips touched mine. Fire exploded in me and I wrapped my arms around him, bringing his body closer. We kissed for what seemed like hours before he broke away, quickly, sat up, and hid his lips with his hand.
"Jason?" I whispered and he shook his head as I sat up and turned his face towards me. He closed his eyes as I took the hand that covered his mouth, but he looked at me calmly as I noticed his sharp fangs that were visible through his slightly open lips. I touched his lips and his eyes closed as I ran my fingers gently across them. "What are you hiding them for?"
"They just happen when ever I'm near you." He whispered and looked me in the eyes.
He lay down beside me and smiled as I slowly closed my eyes, I began to feel his hands touching my skin, relaxing my body as they glided over it. I know that I smiled with my eyes closed and began to feel a warm feeling grow through my body.
I looked at him with dreary eyes, watched him look me over then touch my face with his hands as he leaned down and kissed me again. Angel. His mind whispered to me. I smiled as his lips closed over mine again. Can I touch you?
You are touching me, silly. I laughed at him and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer. His mouth moved away from mine and he began to kiss me on the neck, the cheek and over my shoulder. Oh, I see. I replied and shivered as he touched sensitive spots. Only if you promise it isn’t going to be one of those one-night things.
You know that it won’t be. He laughed at me and pulled at the buttons on my shirt. Slowly one at a time they were undone and my shirt came down over my shoulder. He smiled as he kissed my skin wherever the shirt had exposed, which included my breast. He slipped the bra down underneath each one of them and began to caress each one with his lips and fingers. He moved so that he was towering over me as he moved his way down wards to my black jeans. Suddenly he stopped and looked up at me. His eyes were glowing a dull red, as he came up and closer to me, I watched them brighten.
He bared his fangs as he held me down with his weight, and came right up to my face. His hand grabbed my hair suddenly and he pulled my head to the side, exposing my neck. Slowly, as his breath blew across my face, he leaned down and slowly sunk his teeth into my neck. I screamed aloud, and pushed at him as he drained me, closing my eyes tightly shut as I tried to get away.
I opened my eyes quickly, felt no weight on me at all and sat up, looked around the lair and then over at Jason who was sitting by the fire. I shook my head and looked away, trying to figure out exactly what had just happened there. I decided, by process of logical thought that it had been nothing but at dream, a very bad dream, but none the less, a dream just the same.
I lay back down; not having disturbed Jason in the least, and closed my eyes, letting the darkness take over me again. I found it easy to slip right back into the dream state that I had been in before, except the scenery had changed.
Cecilia and I were walking through a market place, but didn't seem to find anything to our liking, and decided to leave. The two of us drove back towards where ever our destination was and was suddenly caught in a traffic jam. Up ahead, just off to the right, was a rest stop. We pulled into its large parking lot, got out of the car, and began to walk towards the building up ahead. It was the shape of an old church and seemed to be open to the public. A woman on the side of the road stopped me and handed me a piece of paper.
"Repent, child." She said to me. I looked at her and walked away, actually, Cecilia pulled me away. We walked into the church, following a large tour group and found our way around alone. Bored, we sat down at a table in what looked to be part of a cafeteria and while sitting there, friends of ours from school walked in and pulled up a chair. We got into a conversation about one thing or another and then they decided that it was time to leave.
The first girl to leave was a small petite girl with short bobbed black hair. She hugged me as if she didn't want to let me go. She held on for what seemed like forever when a big, chunky looking fellow decided that it was time for his, and he hugged us both, but he seemed to "freak out" when I touched the back of his scruffy hair. This told me that it was time we left also and made our way down the back staircase to another lower level, the loading docks it looked like. As we stepped by the door, a young man dressed in black, with long, straight, light brown hair, smiled at us. I nodded back at him in response, and then walked on.
"Let's get out of here. This place makes me feel strange." I told her and we disappeared around the corner, and that's when I heard his voice.
"That's a shame." He said. "You won't last very long like that." I walked back into the room and he stepped up to me as we met half way.
"What do you mean I won't last very long like that?" I asked him.
"People of power, people like us. We don't survive very long. The energy is just too much."
"People of power, like us? Who are you?"
"I'm just like you." He whispered to me. He stepped closer. "Look deeper, Angel. If you can't learn to control it, it will kill you."
"Why are you so familiar?" I asked him. He smiled at me as I reached out to touch him. An electric spark seemed to pass between us, and he looked at me in shock. The dream faded and all I saw was blackness.
Slowly, my eyes opened and I looked over at Jason, who was lying on the floor sleeping. The door creaked opened and Julian looked in as I closed my eyes before he spotted me. I heard the door shut and then smiled to myself, but almost screamed when I opened them again and looked right into Julian's green eyes. He covered my mouth and I struggled to catch my breath as my eyes seemed stuck wide open.
"Be calm." He said softly. I nodded and took several deep breaths before he moved his hand and smiled at me. "You look well rested I hope the sleep did you well."
"I had the strangest dream." I replied and shook my head. "No, I think it was a message."
"From whom?" He asked.
"I don't know, but he told me that I had to learn to control it or it was going to kill me."
"Control what?"
"Energy, I think. He said that people like him and I didn't survive long because the energy was too much." I got out of bed and sat next to him. "What do you think that means? What sort of energy could he be talking about?"
"The one that keeps the two of you talking loudly when I'm trying to sleep!" Jason's voice said in a low annoyed voice from the floor. He moved the arm that was covering his eyes and looked at the two of us. Julian smiled, kissed me on the forehead and stood up. He walked over to the door and glanced back before he left.
"Dinner will be ready soon, if you care to join us." He said and shut the door behind him. I got up and walked over to Jason as he lay on the floor and I sat on his stomach. He put his hands on my knees and looked up at me.
"How did you sleep?" He asked.
I shrugged and then leaned down over him. "You know how it goes, a bit of nig
htmare, a spot of prophetic dreaming, a dash of sexual fantasy, stir and POOF, one big happy dream sequence." I said sarcastically and kissed him as I smiled. He wrapped his arms around me and turned us both over so that He was on top. "I'm kind of confused, though."
"Why?" He asked.
"Well, you started out kissing me, and then asked if you could take off my clothes..."
"Really?" He smiled slyly.
"Then, you bared your fangs and ripped through my skin. Not a good way to keep them coming back for more, you know." I smiled at him.
"I wouldn't hurt you like that." He said kissed me on the lips. Unless you wanted it. His kisses became full of life and vigor and it seemed the only thing that could have stopped him, was me, but I was getting into the fire, myself, one kiss at a time, before I knew it, it seemed like we were both in need of a good hosing down. I could feel his wanting, and the obvious signs of it, as he kissed the exposed skin around my neck. Would you like to try it?
Try what? I asked a little confused.
Your dream; a blood exchange. His words made me stop kissing his lips. He moved, without even noticing, to my neck, where he kissed and sucked the skin there gently. If you don’t fight in, like in your dream, it can actually be pretty intense.
My mind thought about this, telling me that I should, in no way shape or form, allow this to happen, but as he caressed the skin of my neck with the tips of his teeth, my body did nothing but scream wants and must haves. I closed my eyes and let my head fall back as I ran my hands through Jason's dark hair, then, when my fingers were tangled in his hair I pushed his face closer to my skin, a none verbal invitation to him to do what he wanted.
He seemed to understand and tenderly began to sink his teeth into my skin, not that there is any real tender way of doing that. It hurt like hell until he reached his point, when my blood began to flow fast and furiously into his mouth. I felt the strong erotic feelings that began to bubble up in my body, as it responded to Jason's advances. I couldn't help the little noises that snuck from my lips, or the grasping that my hands were doing to Jason's shirt, which almost tore it off, but I seemed to be able to control the amount of blood flow that left my body.
