Seeking Eternity Ch. 02

Incensed and frustrated, Raine changed the pace of the fight. If another vampire comes, she was doomed to fall; she would take her chances now.

Gripping her daggers—her favourite weapons—with deadly purpose, she launched her attacks, obviously surprising her opponent, who expected her to continue her defensive strategy. Rearing back, the vampire avoided Raine's blows, succeeding to deflect all but two of them.

Raine already felt it—that distinctive sense of victory—when the vampire hissed and began backing away. Still, Raine did not let up. Persistence and hard work. Those were the first two values that Reginald Gilford instilled in her, and this situation called for both. And yet—

And yet—!

Before she could deliver her final series of attacks—the ones that would definitely saw the end of the vampire she faced—Raine felt another vampire behind her. This new one moved fast—so fast that Raine hardly had a second to breathe before he gripped her arms, effectively stilling her efforts in killing the female fiend, who leapt forward and roughly grabbed Raine's neck. The vampire behind her—a male one, by the looks of it—twisted Raine's arms, eliciting a cry of pain, but not twisting them enough to break any bones.

"You are one hell of a slayer, woman," the female vampire hissed, deliberately squeezing Raine's throat. "It shall be fun to know you better."

Just that—and nothing more. For, a few heartbeats later, darkness came and consumed Raine.

*****

Her body... It felt as if on fire. Tried as she might, she could not move her limbs, for the fire seemed to consume even her very bones. But she had to open her eyes; she had to take a look...

She was lying on her side on the cold, hard earth, wrists tightly bound together behind her. But—

There was a leather jacket spread beneath her, somewhat protecting her from the dampness of the forest floor.

Hard-learned discipline kept Raine from groaning aloud in the face of such agony. There was, she realized, a bundle of fabric cushioning her head, a make-shift pillow that she was grateful for. But her head felt as if it were immersed in water, so that Raine did not know whether she dreamed or not.

As of yet, there was no sign of her captors, but Raine could sense their presence nearby. Unbelievably, they had thrown a blanket over her body. Hers, if she had to guess, judging by the smell of pink roses emanating from it.

They had also built a fire to keep her warm, for Raine did not believe that the weather made a difference to vampires. Or, did they leave it to do what they did not? Did they expect the flames to spread and roast her alive?

Yet, at exactly that moment, the female vampire appeared, depositing more firewood next to the fire. Finding a fallen log, she pulled it over and sat upon it as if it were her throne. The woman then grabbed a stick, poking at the fire as if it were an enemy she would like to kill. Her face was grim, and the pursing of her lips told Raine that the vampire was not in a good mood.

"Stop sulking, Melisande," came an authoritative voice from behind Raine. "It will not solve anything."

The male, Raine thought, noting the power that emanated from him as he walked past and continued to where the vampire called Melisande was sitting. Tall and broad-shouldered, the vampire radiated danger adeptly kept under control. His hair, like his mate's, was the colour of burnt gold, and Raine could imagine it sweeping across his shoulders if it were not bound in a ponytail. The woman glanced at him and frowned, although she stopped poking the fire.

"Is her car safely hidden?" she asked him stiffly as the man sat beside her.

Raine could not know for sure, but she man's face—if she were not dreaming, that is—looked as beautiful as the woman's. His skin was alabaster white, his eyes molten gold. Eyes that knew the twinkle of mischief and wit, she would wager.

A golden god, Raine thought, as she watched him take the woman's dainty hand in his strong one.

"It is safely parked two miles from here," he answered. "Come, ma chérie. This frowning woman is not you."

"I am worried, Seth," Melisande admitted, shaking her head. "If he finds out..."

He? Raine wanted to know who they were talking about. Judging by the expression on the woman's face, Raine could tell that she was more than worried: the vampire Melisande was scared. If there was a person that could inspire such fear in a vampire...

But who could?

"He will find out, so it will be better if you tell him about it yourself," the one called Seth told her. "It was a mistake, chérie. You did not know that the slayer had been claimed."

Melisande gave out a bitter laugh. "The truth is, I knew. But it was already too late when I found out."

"It could not have been," Seth said. "You could have walked away."

"Are you mad?" Melisande asked, incredulous. "That woman is a slayer! She would have killed me."

You're wrong, Raine thought groggily. If you had left me, I would not have followed. And it was not because Raine did not want to kill the vampire; quite the contrary. But Raine knew that she had no chance against Melisande at all. She thought the woman so far above her level that it would be folly to fight her.

Melisande ran her fingers through her hair and continued, "If you had not come the moment you did, mon amour, I'm afraid she would have succeeded."

"But I came, as I promise you that I will whenever you need me," Seth told her. "Listen, chérie. There is still a way to fix this. Go to your sire and explain everything to him. Ask for pardon. Tell him that you realized she was claimed, but that you had no idea that the woman does not know."

Does not know what? The couple's conversation was confusing Raine more and more each passing minute. Maybe she was dreaming, after all. Nothing was making sense, and the pain she was suffering through was enough to cause delusions...

"She does not know?" There was disbelief in Melisande's voice.

"We yet live," Seth answered, the hint of a smile on his voice. "That alone proves that she does not know."

Raine tried to focus on the vampires' image, and saw—or at least, thought she saw—a smile on Melisande's face. Raine almost swore that her heart skipped a beat.

What was it that she did not know? Was the information so crucial that the difference between her awareness of it and her complete ignorance would be key to the female vampire's mood? Now that the woman knew that Raine was completely without knowledge of whatever that was, would she want to kill Raine?

Maybe it was the thought of dying helpless and alone, or maybe it was the pain and dizziness that seemed to increase by the second, but before Raine knew it, she had once again lost consciousness.

*****

The vampire sank elongated fangs into her mother's neck... And then a blood-curdling scream.

Who was it? Raine thought, slipping between sleep and wakefulness as a pair of strong arms carried her limp form. Who was screaming then?

Ah, yes. The vampire.

For her mother's hand—with fingernails extremely long and sharp—had reached out to grab the vampire's hair, hauling the monster away. The vampire had screamed then, spitting out the blood that she had sucked.

Raine had been shocked into inaction, staring at her mother, who turned to her while clutching at her bleeding neck. Her eyes—those green eyes that her father always likened to the brightest emeralds—had turned yellow, so yellow that it was already the colour of the citrine ring that her mother favoured.

"Run, Raine," the yellow-eyed woman had said, and Raine got a glimpse of short fangs that was definitely not her mother's.

Raine did not have to be told twice. The horror of what happened to her father and of the transformation of her mother had her getting out of the car as fast as she could. The female vampire tried to stop her, but her mother—or at least, the creature that had taken possession of her mother—dragged the vampire away.

Off into the woods, Raine ran with tears running down her face. Her world was crumbling as fast as a deck of cards, and all she could do was run away from the ruins, heartbroken and so very, very afraid.

She ran until her feet could move no longer—ran until she was completely lost in the woods. Falling onto the leaf-covered ground, Raine wept, distraught and disheartened as she had never been before.

The next time she opened her eyes, she was in a hospital, with memories of what happened to her father still fresh in her mind, but with what happened to her mother completely forgotten.

*****

Raine clutched at the memory that kept slipping from her mind, but the fire consuming her body was holding her back. Unfamiliar voices surrounded her, their conversations a drone that she could not always comprehend. Sometimes, things seemed to have sprung from her memory, but at other times...

"Six vampires in all," said a woman. "A female and five males. The female had been inside the car, but the males... They seemed to have been busy attacking the man."

"The girl's father?" asked Reginald Gilford, his voice matter-of-fact.

This one... Raine tried to smile. It had to be a memory, for Reginald had been dead these past four years.

"It would seem," answered the woman. "What we don't understand was how the vampires died..."

She had been in the hospital then. They were talking about that incident...

Raine opened her eyes to see a brunette in hot argument with the blonde vampire she fought. What was that vampire's name again...?

"—to bring the slayer here?" the brunette asked in her distinctly British accent.

"I did not think—" answered the blonde vampire.

"You never think!" hissed the brunette.

"Both of you!" a familiar voice ordered. "Out—now!"

Was it him?

Raine groaned and tried to sit up, but the blonde vampire stopped her, the look in her eyes both concerned and alarmed.

"Melisande," the man growled.

It was him. Raine tried to look at the direction where his voice was coming from, but the world was spinning faster and faster, spiraling out of her control. She raised her hand to try to stop it—perhaps to cry out for help—and he took it in his, holding it tightly. Suddenly, Raine cried out, as searing pain began to spread to her body from the centre of her chest.

The pain grew more intense—so much so that Raine thought it was definitely her time to die. But the hand holding hers kept her grounded, sharing a bit of her pain as she clutched at it with every ounce of strength she possessed in her body.

"Stop it!" she cried at the top of her lungs as she felt as if her heart was being ripped out of her chest. "No more! Please!"

Even amidst the haze of her agony, she saw the raw alarm in his beautiful violet eyes as he bent over her. As another bout of pain racked her body, Raine clenched her teeth, unsure how to express the torment she was under. He lifted her into his arms, cradling her tightly while tears poured of her almost unseeing eyes.

"Help me," she groaned as she held tight to him, clawing at his back when she felt another spell of torture looming near. "Please, please... Help me. I beg you..."

She did not understand—did not know why she had to be hurt that way. Her body felt as if it would soon get shredded until she was no more. Only the arms around her seemed to hold it fast together as he refused to let her suffer through the ordeal alone.

*****

A cool breeze was coming into the room from an open window, touching her face in the faintest caress. Raine sighed, pulling the blanket closer to her body as a slow smile formed on her lips. This was what life was supposed to be. Full of warmth and comfort, of light breeze and soft caress, of the scent of musk and sandalwood with a hint of cedar.

Raine curled up on her side, inhaling deeply as she buried face on the feather pillow. Yes, definitely. Musk and sandalwood, cedar and spice. So sexy, so masculine—so very, very familiar.

Tilting her head so that she was facing left, Raine opened her eyes, feeling completely content—

—to find herself staring at the most handsome face she had ever known.

Raine blinked—once, twice. Just to make sure that she was not hallucinating. His image remained, making her conclude that this was no hallucination. This was no dream. It was real. He was there—eyes closed, face so serene the very sight of it made her heart ache. Sleeping beside her on a bed that was not her own.

Disbelief made her gape for a moment, before reality sank in and Raine muttered, "What on earth..."

His eyes suddenly opened, and faster than Raine could breathe, he was lying on his side, attention completely upon her. The violet eyes that so fascinated her were quite unreadable as he scrutinized her appearance.

Bolting upright, Raine attempted to get out of the bed before he could say anything—only to shock herself when she found that she was not wearing anything at all. With a horrified gasp, she clutched the silk blanket close to her chest, glaring at the vampire who was now watching her with faint amusement in his eyes.

"You—" she took a deep breath and tried to conceal the blush rising in her cheeks by throwing accusations. "You brute! What have you done?"

"Whatever it was that I have done, I can assure you that I did not resort to force," he answered in a lazy drawl, challenging her with his gaze.

Raine held her breath as she furiously racked her memory. What had she done? Did she actually sleep with the vampire again and then forget about it? Had she really lost her mind, after all?

Licking her suddenly dry lips, Raine wondered why she had no memory of what happened between them. Indeed, unlike like the last time she woke up thoroughly sated by this same vampire, she felt...divine. Exhausted to the bone, but her body still tingled with memory of his touch. But now...

With a slight frown on her face, she looked at him again, only to find him watching her with laughter in his eyes. Then it dawned on her. He was merely teasing her!

"Arrogant pig!" she shrieked, grabbing the pillow that was cushioning her head earlier and hitting his face with it. "How dare you mock me?"

His only response was to laugh, ripping the pillow from Raine's hand so that she could not strike him again with it. Seething with indignation, Raine looked around for something—for anything—to hit him with. There was the beige—and absolutely tasteful—lampshade on the bedside table, but he was unfortunately nearer that side of the bed than she was.

"Trying to find a weapon to use against me?" he mocked her again, still chuckling from the joke that she did not find amusing. "Unfortunately, sweetheart, the maids of the house have already hidden your silver daggers somewhere safe."

"So that I cannot plant them in your chest and rid the world of your insufferable presence," she snapped.

Still casually lounging on the bed as if he had all the time in the world—and perhaps he had, if he could keep Raine's hands off her slaying weapons at this moment—he grinned at her with an arrogance that could only be superseded by that of the whole brood of Adam.

"I do not think you found me so insufferable the last time we were... together," he challenged her, the deliberate pause between 'were' and 'together' blatant enough for her to start grinding her teeth in silent fury.

"You are the most vexatious vampire I have ever met," she spat, gathering the blanket around her body in an effort to appear presentable.

He chuckled, as if by her words she had somehow complimented him. "Then I find it curious that I am still alive considering that you take pains to eradicate more than half of the vampires who unfortunately happen to be your acquaintance."

Raine shot him an irritated look, forcing herself not to notice that muscular span of chest lightly spattered with hair as black as the one on his head. Damn the man, but he had such body! Thankfully, he was decent enough to keep on white cotton pants while she was as naked as the day she was born.

"Don't tempt fate," she answered him, getting out of bed and looking around—vainly—for her clothes.

"Do you mean to say, don't tempt you?" came his taunt from the bed. "But what do you expect me to do, my love, when I have witnessed firsthand just how pleasurable such a pursuit can be? Or, do you mean to tell me that you did not enjoy our dalliance as much as I thought you did?"

Raine rolled her eyes even if she blushed at the crass reminder of the complete gratification she experienced in his arms. "The arrogance of the man!"

"Ah, progress," he said, sitting up on the bed to rest his back on the headboard—to better watch Raine as she ran her eyes over the room in search of clothes to wear. "From an arrogant pig to an arrogant man." When Raine frowned at him, he grinned. "At least, you are honest enough not to deny the truth of what you felt that last time."

That last time. Raine's frown deepened. That last time, if she had any sense at all, she should have killed this vampire and spared herself the trouble of conversing with an overly-conceited beast. But he had been so irresistible then. One touch and she had melted in his arms.

Running her eyes over him now, Raine assessed his current charms haughtily. The light coming from the lampshade on his side of the bed was enough to highlight the sheer masculinity that was so obviously his. Not a good sign, Raine had to admit. If she let him, he would charm his way into her bed once again.

Or his bed, she thought ruefully, with my very wanton self practically begging him to take me.

"Where are my clothes?" she snapped, more annoyed at herself than at him.

"What kind of a host am I if I let my guests sleep in their moss- and earth-covered clothes?" he asked, for the first time talking of what brought her here.

Suddenly, Raine forgot her petty anger and began to think again.

The conversation Melisande and Seth were having... It was not a dream, after all. The implications of what were said and what were left unsaid during that time seemed all the more crucial now. Raine looked at the vampire she was now facing with questions in her eyes.

"You are Melisande's sire," she told him.

A faint light of surprise touched his violet eyes before he answered her question. "Yes."

"They were talking," she said. "Melisande and Seth. While they thought that I was asleep. They were saying something about—"

"Come, my love," he cut her off. "Think nothing of what they said." He stretched a hand toward her. "Here. Go back to bed. I will make sure that something is brought up to you—"

"No!" This time, it was she who cut him off.

The uncertainty was back. The confusion, the fear, the feeling of helplessness. Raine had a vivid vision of a pair of citrine-coloured eyes, and a sharp order for her to run. Her body started to tremble, and her keen sense of being near vampires returned. Without even asking, she knew that there were five vampires in the house. Surprisingly, there was also the same number of humans.

"Raine," his voice cut through the unpleasant fog of confusion. His arm was still outstretched; he was still offering a hand. "Come here, sweetheart. Let me hold you."

Raine stared at his hand—that big, strong hand that had been all over her body once—before staring into his eyes. His expression was unreadable as he held her gaze, but from the firm set of his jaw Raine very much feared that he was trying to hold back a strong emotion—anger, perhaps?

Knowing that she needed what he offered right now, Raine walked back to the bed, placing her hand on his and letting him guide her to his side. His arms wrapped around her as she climbed onto the bed and nestled against him for much-needed comfort and security. She inhaled deeply, savouring the scent emanating from him as she buried her face on his neck.