“What does this mean?” Paul asked.
“It means we have to have a family meeting,” Gavin said and rang the gong.
It didn’t take long for everyone to congregate in the dining room and Gavin got straight to the point.
“I may be wrong, but I think we are all now living with a vampire who can’t drink human blood.”
I really hope you are joking
“Are you sure?” Brian asked.
“No, and I hope I am wrong, but so far Anna hasn’t been able to ingest any human blood.”
“So what do we do?” Paul asked. He looked across at his sister. She looked scared.
“There are enough of us living here to keep her alive, if you are all willing,” Gavin said.
“Of course we are all willing,” Cassy said. “It’s not exactly going to be a great hardship. After a few weeks she will only need to feed every few days.”
Nobody disagreed with her. They would all do whatever it took to keep Anna alive.
“You don’t have to do this,” Anna said.
Brian, who was sitting next to her, took her hand. “Yes, we do. If you need vampire blood, then you will get it.”
“Thank you.”
“Give it a few weeks,” Gavin said, “then try again. It might be a temporary thing. In the meantime, we will take it in turns to feed you.” He looked at Luke, then Gabriel. “You two will not try to do this on your own. No more than once a week each. Got it?”
Luke opened his mouth, but Gavin stopped him from speaking. “This is not negotiable Luke. It’s for your own good.”
“He agrees,” Anna said before Luke could say otherwise. Luke raised his eyebrows at her, but remained silent.
“Gabriel?” Gavin asked. Gabriel nodded. He would not disobey Gavin. Not without good cause anyway. “Good. Now I do need you to do me one favour. Speak to JD. See if he will let Anna drink his blood. I want to know if it’s only greater vampire blood she can digest or all.”
Luke took out his phone and dialled JD’s number. He quickly summarised the situation and JD invited him and Anna over the following evening.
“Don’t worry about this Anna,” Gavin said. “It’s a problem we can work around and, as I have already stated, it may not be permanent.”
The family meeting broke up and Luke took Anna up to their room. He could tell she wanted to get away from everyone.
“Have you ever heard of this happening before?” Gabriel asked Gavin once they had gone.
“No, I haven’t, but I have a few contacts around the world. I’ll ask around.”
When Luke and Anna went to Sanctuary 14, Gabriel went with them. Everyone had a lot of questions for Anna, all of which she answered as best she could. They made her feel welcome, despite the fact that she was now different, and she temporarily forgot the reason for the visit.
“Do you mind me doing this?” Anna asked Sarah when JD brought the subject up.
“Of course not. Just don’t expect me to watch.”
JD took Anna and Luke to his office. JD sat Anna down then held out his wrist to her. She bit into it, dreading the moment when the pain would start. It didn’t. She drank and drank, pulling away only when she knew she should not take any more.
“How do you feel?” JD asked.
“Surprisingly good.”
“Luke said he wants you to try human blood again in a few weeks. When you’re ready, come here. Or one of the hunters will go to you.”
“Thank you,” Luke said. “That is more than I could have asked for.”
“You and your family have done a lot for us. It’s the least we can do for you. I’ve already discussed it with the others and everyone is willing.”
A few weeks later, Anna was ready to try again. Jonathon took her into the bedroom he shared with Katie. They needed to be close to a bathroom, just in case.
Anna took one mouthful of his blood then rushed away. She vomited into the sink and continued retching until her stomach was completely empty.
She cried out as the pain started once more and Luke was instantly by her side. She sank her teeth into his neck and gulped down his life fluid.
“Well that answers that question,” he said when she had recovered.
“So what do you plan on doing now?” Jonathon asked. “How do you feel about coming on hunts with us so that Anna can drink from the vampires before we kill them?”
“I really hope you are joking,” Anna said.
He wasn’t, but the look on Anna’s face made him lie to her and say he was.
————————————-∞————————————-
One evening, Craig approached JD. “It’s coming up to Alex’s birthday so Sarah and I will be going out. Do you want to come with us this year, given the condition that Sarah is in?”
“No, you two go off and have a good time. This is something between the two of you. I should not be part of it.”
“That’s exactly what Natalie said.”
Later that night, while in bed together, JD asked Sarah a question he had been thinking about for a while.
“Do you ever think about how different your life would be had Alex not died?”
“No,” Sarah said. “I know I would have married him and maybe started a family by now. I would never have known anything about vampires, nor become so close to Craig, and I definitely wouldn’t have met you. But it’s not something I ever give much thought to.”
“Are you really sure about all of that? Given how close Craig and Alex were, I’m sure that he would have told him, and therefore you, eventually. Then he would have brought you to meet us.”
“Maybe. But I wouldn’t have looked at you twice. Well I might have looked, but that would be all. I would have been happy with Alex. I wouldn’t have ever considered cheating on him, or leaving him. Not even for you.”
JD kissed the top of her head. “I know. I often think about what my life would be like now, had I not met you. I don’t think I would have fallen in love. I could never get involved with anyone outside of the hunter society and no hunter I have ever met has caught my attention.”
“I’m sure you would have found someone.”
“You might be right, except for the fact that I would probably be dead. Without you around to talk him out of it, Jonathon would have done his duty and killed me the minute he knew I had turned. And I would have let him.”
Sarah shivered. “Can we talk about something else please?”
“No. You need to get to sleep. It’s going to be a big day for you tomorrow.”
It was only a few weeks till the baby was due, so the next day would be Sarah’s last day at work for a while. She was planning on taking six months off, after which Silvia had volunteered to be the nanny. Part of Sarah wanted to give up work completely so she could stay at home with her child, but she would miss it too much and not having the mental challenge that her job gave her would drive her insane.
Her last day in the office went well. Monday arrived and she found it hard watching everyone go to work while she stayed at home. It was something she was going to have to get used to.
Knowing that she would be bored, Silvia and Linda took her shopping for baby things. She and JD already had most of what they needed, but there were still a few things on the list.
They dragged a reluctant Shawn with them. They needed someone to do the carrying.
“I’m just a pack horse, aren’t I?” he complained as he carried numerous bags to the car.
His wife stopped and looked at him. “Yes,” she said simply, then carried on walking.
————————————-∞————————————-
Alex’s birthday soon arrived. “Don’t wait up,” Sarah said and kissed JD goodbye.
“You know I will. I can’t sleep when you’re not with me.”
“In that case, I’ll try not to be late.”
“Just go and enjoy yourself.” He turned her around and pushed her toward the
door, smacking her playfully on the bum as she moved forward.
A few hours later, Craig opened the front door. It was late, so the house was quiet. He tried to make no noise as he crept up the stairs.
Natalie was still awake, reading in bed. “Did you have a good time?” she asked.
“Yes. Though I wish you had been with me.”
“Maybe next year,” she said. “Now get your clothes off and get into bed. You can show me how much you missed me.”
Things were getting very interesting when they were disturbed by a knock on the door. “I’m going to kill whoever that is,” Craig said and rolled off Natalie. He got out of bed, put on his dressing gown and opened the door.
JD was standing on the other side, looking confused. “Where’s Sarah?” he asked.
Craig frowned at him. “How should I know? Isn’t she with you?”
“You’re the one who brought her home.”
Craig’s frown deepened. “No I didn’t. I went out alone. You wouldn’t let her come out tonight.”
JD’s eyes widened and he took a sharp, deep breath as shock hit him. Craig wasn’t trying to be funny. He genuinely believed he was telling the truth.
JD grabbed Craig’s hair and yanked his head to one side, not caring if he hurt him. “Oh God, no,” he said as his eyes fell on two tiny puncture wounds on Craig’s neck. He ran to his room and grabbed his phone.
“What’s going on?” Craig asked Natalie. She looked as white as a sheet.
“Sarah went out with you tonight.”
Those words told Craig exactly what had happened. He ran out of the door after JD.
————————————-∞————————————-
Luke had just drifted off to sleep when the ringing of his phone woke him.
“This had better be good,” he said without bothering to see who was calling him.
“I need you here, now,” JD said. The panic in his voice made Luke sit up.
“What’s happened?”
“Sarah has been taken by a greater vampire.”
Luke didn’t need to hear more. “I’m on my way.”
Anna had woken and was looking at him in concern. “Get dressed,” he said. “We’re going to Sanctuary 14. Sarah’s missing and JD thinks a greater vampire is involved.”
Anna didn’t ask any questions. She quickly got dressed then went to wake Gabriel while Luke went to see Gavin. He needed to be told what had happened.
The four greater vampires drove to Sanctuary 14 as fast as they could. They were in Luke’s car, with Gabriel driving. He was used to driving fast and knew the back roads to Sanctuary 14 well.
“Why would a vampire take Sarah?” Anna asked.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Gavin said. “We don’t yet know what has happened. Vampires might not even be involved.”
“If JD said a greater vampire took Sarah, then that is what happened,” Luke said. “JD does not make mistakes or assumptions.”
“I agree,” Gabriel said. “We don’t know the facts yet, but I am willing to bet my life that they will back up what JD is saying.”
“Let’s just wait and see,” Gavin said, but they could tell he was concerned, very concerned.
————————————-∞————————————-
“Tell us everything,” Gavin said when he and the others were shown into the lounge. Everyone from 14 was there, other than JD’s parents, who had gone away for a couple of days. Craig was sitting on one of the sofas. He was shaking. Natalie was holding his hand and talking quietly to him, trying to calm him down. JD was pacing.
“Craig and Sarah went out tonight. Craig came home alone with no memory of Sarah ever having been with him. There are tiny bite marks on his neck, the same as on the other hunters who have been attacked.”
“Let me look,” Gavin said and Craig moved his head to one side. JD was right; they were identical.
“Look at me,” Gavin said to Craig. “You need to calm down and tell me everything you think you remember.”
“Calm down,” Craig shouted. “Sarah is missing and it’s my fault. How the hell am I supposed to calm down?”
JD placed a hand on his shoulder. “This is not your fault.”
“He hasn’t been claimed,” Luke said, “so there might be something we can do.”
“How do you know?” Jonathon asked.
“We can sense when someone has been claimed. I can’t explain why. It’s like an internal warning mechanism. Something tells us to keep away from a claimed human, to not touch them or take their blood. Maybe it’s a smell that we don’t realise that we can detect. I don’t know. All I know is that Craig has been bitten, but not claimed. Watch.”
Luke reached out and touched Craig, making sure he made contact with his skin. Had Craig been claimed, he would have received what felt like an electric shock.
“How can you help?” Katie asked.
“Put enough venom into him and we should be able to break what has been done to him.”
“No,” JD said. “It’s too dangerous. I won’t allow it, not even to save Sarah.” He remembered what Gavin had said when he ruled it out as an option for the hunters who were attacked a few months previous.
“Do it,” Craig said.
“You don’t understand what you are saying,” Luke said. “You might be turned.”
“I don’t care,” Craig said angrily. “Do it anyway.”
“Craig, this isn’t your decision to make,” JD said.
“Yes it is,” Craig snapped at him. He was being given a chance to help Sarah and he could not believe that JD was arguing against it.
“No, it’s not. Natalie has to have a say in this.”
“I don’t understand,” Natalie said. “What does Craig want Luke to do?”
It was Gabriel who answered and he was surprisingly gentle.
“Craig has been bitten. Whoever did it has put some venom into him. Not enough to harm him, just enough to be able to alter his memory. We can counteract that, bring his real memory back. However, it will take a lot of venom. We’ll have to put more and more into him until we succeed. We may have to use so much that he is turned into a vampire.”
Natalie began to tremble. Then she took some deep breaths and got herself under control. She looked at Craig and the despair she saw in his eyes told her all she needed to know.
“Do it,” she said. Craig gripped her hand tight. He knew how hard those words had been for her to say and he could not voice his gratitude.
Luke looked at Gavin, silently asking permission. Gavin nodded. Out of the four greater vampires present, Luke would be the one to do it. Craig trusted him more than Gabriel and Gavin. Also his experience with curing Anna would be useful.
“Have you ever done this before?” Scott asked.
“No,” Luke said. “I have cured Anna and managed to get the volume of venom right, but I have never tried to do this. Gavin has, with mixed results.”
Gavin grimaced. He wished that Luke hadn’t mentioned anything, but he understood why he did. Craig needed to know what he was volunteering for.
“I have done it twice before,” he said. “Both times at the request of the person who was bitten. Both times were successful, in regard to breaking the memory block, but only one time the person remained human.”
“What happened to the other one?” Jane asked. “The one you turned into a vampire.”
“I married her.”
Craig didn’t want to hear any more. “Let’s get this over and done with.”
“We can’t,” Luke said. “Not yet. We need to let the venom leave your system before we try. It’s far too dangerous otherwise. Firstly, we can’t accurately judge how much has been put into you. Secondly, mixing venom could kill you.”
“How long?” JD asked.
“I recommend around fifteen, maybe sixteen hours after he was first bitten, to be on the safe side.”
“No,” Craig cried out.
“I won’t wait. Do it now.”
He sprang from the sofa and JD grabbed hold of him.
“I will not let you kill yourself,” he said. “Sarah would never forgive me.”
JD’s words struck Craig like a physical blow and he sank down onto the sofa once more.
JD looked around him. “We will give Luke the time he needs. It’s going to be a long night and day for us all. Try to get some sleep. All we can do right now is wait and pray that Sarah is being well looked after.”
He then left the lounge and walked to his bedroom. As soon as he shut the door behind him, he cried out in anguish.
Are you seriously trying to kill me
Nobody slept that night. The four greater vampires returned home, but nothing could take their minds off Sarah and what could be happening to her.
JD was surprised to find all of the hunters in the arena when he entered it just before 5 o’clock the next morning. He had expected everyone to be so tired they slept through their alarms.
One look at them told him why they were there. They needed him to tire them out so they would sleep, at least for a few hours. Nothing could happen until later that evening, so anything that would help them sleep would be gratefully received.
Even Natalie was there, though she had never taken part in a morning training session before.
“Grab your Bo,” he said. He was aware that Natalie didn’t know how to use one, but that wouldn’t stop him making her try. “Natalie, just copy what everyone else does and try to keep up. It doesn’t matter if you do it right or not.”
Nobody cared that JD made the one hour session extend for nearly two hours. Everyone was planning on phoning in sick that day.
As soon as it was done, they all sent the relevant text messages to their bosses then went to bed. Everyone was too tired to do anything other than collapse on their beds. Some didn’t even bother to get undressed.
Midday came and went. Those who were awake forced themselves to eat lunch, more for something to do than because they wanted the food.
Jonathon put a game in the console and Katie, Scott and Jane joined him, but none of them were really concentrating on it. Craig shut himself in his room; he was too distraught to see anyone. He blamed himself for Sarah being kidnapped and nothing anyone could say would change his mind. Natalie stayed with him; she was the only person he could bear to be near.
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