Louise Ch. 09

"What can we say?" Louise asked. "We can only let her know that we're here if she needs us."

"Do you think that he raped her?" Kevyn asked.

"I don't think so. Whatever happened, she was for the most part willing but he did hurt her." Louise replied.

"Patrick, you know this guy, what do you think?" Kevyn asked.

"I don't really know him but I agree with Louise. She did agree to go with him and from what I know about Thorne Blackwell, rape isn't his thing but other forms of humiliation are. That's why he dropped her off in the worst part of town and in an area known for prostitution. He was telling her what he thought of her."

After talking about it for several more minutes, they decided to go see Barb and talk with her. Both Kevyn and Louise had to hear from her mouth that she was all right.

*********

Barb looked at the list of dating sites and then began the process of elimination. She started at the top of the list, pulled the website up, read everything that it had to say and then Googled it. As soon as she saw the three star rating, she crossed it off her list and moved on to the next one on the list. This one she crossed off almost immediately. While it was highly rated, it was a site for working class people. She was on the third site when she heard the knock at the door.

She knew who it was and wanted to ignore it but knew that they wouldn't go away or that they would keep coming back. She closed the laptop and went to the door to face her family. As soon as the door was opened, Louise burst in and hugged her.

"Are you sure that you're alright?" she asked scanning Barb's face.

"I'm fine, what are you doing here?" Barb asked not returning the hug and making it clear that she didn't want to see them.

"We wanted to check on you." Kevyn said, "Can we come in?"

Barb hesitated and then stepped back. Her thinking was to get the visit over with so that she could continue her dating service search.

"How are you doing?" Patrick asked.

"Fine."

"Barb... did he hurt you?" Louise asked.

"No, not at all." Barb replied. "We just decided that we really weren't a good match." she added.

"Barb...."

Barb looked at Kevyn and gave her a cool smile.

"Say what you came to say and then leave."

"What do you think that I'm going to say?" Kevyn asked surprised at the hostility in Barb's tone."

"Let's see, you want to tell me how stupid I was for going with a strange man and having sex with him. You also want to tell me how lucky I am that I wasn't raped or killed. But you know what?" Barb asked, "This was your fault."

"What? My fault?" Kevyn asked shocked. "Do you not remember us coming to that club and trying to get you to leave with us? You chose to go with him!"

"If you had done as I asked and introduced me to men that you knew were safe, this wouldn't have happened!" Barb screamed. "Because you were selfish and trying to protect your precious money... I put myself at risk! So what you tried to get me to leave! But that was so you wouldn't feel guilty if anything happened. You could console yourself by saying that you tried."

"Barb..." Louise said.

"And you! You were just pitiful throwing up all over the place! You are nothing! How could he want you over me?"

Before she could begin the next sentence, Nathan was in her face, his blue eyes blazing. He had heard enough.

"Listen to me you self-serving stupid bitch! You've been nothing but trouble since you got here. Are you really so stupid that you would offend a man's wife in front of him?"

"W....Wife? You ..."

"Last night." Nathan snapped. "But the insults aren't even all of it. I have watched you snub good people, which include your sisters who obviously love you although I don't know why. You are a jealous, selfish, money-loving bitch who in my opinion doesn't deserve their concern. You say that this is Kevyn's fault? It's not. It's yours. And do you know why? It's because you don't see what's in front of you! You equate love and happiness with money and possessions. You were lucky this time but the next time you may not be. A word of advice... evaluate what's really important and one more thing, this will be the last time that you will ever say anything negative about my wife, your sister. Is that clear?"

Barb stepped back and looked up at Nathan.

"You can talk about not needing money all you want." she replied. "You have it! You don't have to worry about where the next car payment is coming from or whether you can afford something. You have everything!"

"And without Louise it meant and means nothing! You told her that she was like you, she isn't. Neither is Kevyn for that matter. But I will tell you this, if I had to chose between my money and Louise, it would be Louise hands down. Now, once more, I'll warn you, watch your mouth about Louise. Do you understand me?"

Barb continued to look at Nathan and then looked away.

"I got it." she murmured.

"Good." Nathan said and backed away taking his place next to Louise.

Something that Barb said bothered him and he asked for clarification.

"What did you mean when you said that he wanted her?"

"Nothing, he was just talking..."

"He hurt you emotionally." Louise said softly. "He said things that he knew would hurt you. He used me to hurt you, don't you see that?"

"You weren't there!" Barb snapped, "You didn't hear the things that he said! He meant it! He wanted you!"

"What did he say to you?" Louise asked gently as she approached Barb taking her hand when she reached her. "What did he do to you?"

"I would like for you all to leave." Barb replied pulling away from Louise. "Oh Kev, do you have those keys with you?" she asked as an afterthought.

"Yes but Barb we need to talk about this." Kevyn replied.

"There isn't anything to talk about and I'm sorry about what I said."

No one believed her apology but no one challenged it.

"We're going out to dinner, would you like to come? We can order in if you want." Kevyn offered.

"I already ate, thanks and I really would like for you to leave. I want to be alone." Barb replied.

After they left, Barb sat on the bed not sure of whether to laugh or cry. She couldn't fathom why Nathan Sinclaire would marry her sister and she didn't understand his anger. She had only told the truth as she saw it. In the end, she laughed. It was only a matter of time before she found someone as rich as the Sinclaires.

She opened up her laptop and continued the search for the perfect dating service.

********

Patrick and Nathan stepped away to give Kevyn and Louise a chance to talk for a few minutes.

"What do you think?" Kevyn asked Louise.

"That she hasn't learned her lesson and no matter what, we have to stick by her."

"I know but ... was she right? Was this my fault?" Kevyn asked.

"You already know the answer to that." Louise replied gently. "You also know that Barb doesn't take any responsibility for her actions. It's easier to blame us than to admit that she's wrong."

"I know... I'm just sorry that your mating started out with so much drama."

"It's alright," Louise replied "and from what I hear, all of the matings started out with drama. Some of the drama worse than others. Sometime, when the dust settles, could we talk about it? It had to have been hard for you."

"It was hard for both of us and sometimes it still is. I look at him and I just don't see it. I don't see the person that he says he was. I still struggle with the idea of an entire family doing such a horrible thing but then... Why don't we plan a girl's night so that we can talk?" Kevyn asked.

"I think that's a good idea." Louise replied.

"Who knows? Maybe Barb will come too." Kevyn added as they walked to where Patrick and Nathan were waiting for them.

Nathan hugged Louise and kissed her head.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently probing her.

"I'm fine and stop that. I don't like it." she replied quietly. She knew why he did it. He didn't trust her to tell him if she wasn't all right.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I had to be sure." she heard from within her head.

"Me too." she replied in kind. "I promise to talk to you but please don't probe me."

"As long as you keep your word, I won't probe. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Louise replied aloud.

"Are you hungry?" Nathan asked.

"Starved." Patrick replied. "What sounds good?"

"Kev, Lou, any preferences?" Nathan asked. He didn't care where they went just as long as they had plenty of food.

"Del Taco." Kevyn said and waited for a reaction.

"Sounds good to me." Nathan said taking Louise's hand and heading toward the front door of the hotel.

As they passed the front desk, Hans looked up at them, nodded and then smiled. Louise smiled back relieved that he was all right.

******

Louise was unprepared for the attention that they generated when they walked in to the restaurant. Of the four of them, she seemed to be the only one affected by it. Nathan, sensing her discomfort pulled her close into his side sending out a clear message.

She watched amazed as Nathan and Patrick ordered several of everything on the menu and then asked for the hottest sauce that they had. She almost felt sorry for the poor cashier who barely kept up with the order.

"Is this for here or to go?" he asked obviously relieved that they had reached the end of the order.

"Here." Patrick said as he pulled out his wallet. "And don't forget the hot sauce."

The order consisted of so much food that it took four trays to carry it all with Nathan going back for the drinks. Kevyn and Lou each ate two tacos and then watched Nathan and Patrick devour the rest of the food and then going back for more.

Finally sated, the conversation veered toward plans for the rest of the evening.

"We're going home." Patrick said, "You're welcome to come back with us if you like."

"Thanks but we have someplace to be and then we're going home too." Nathan said. "A question, have you thought about when we're going to formally introduce our mates?"

"No." Patrick replied "but I guess we should before the wedding which doesn't give us much time. Where do you want to have it?"

"Our house." Nathan said. "I've never had a gathering there and I can't think of a better reason to start... how about this Friday?"

"Kev? What do you think?" Patrick asked.

"I'm ok with it if Lou is." she replied.

"I guess... but that's not very long to plan something," she said.

"There's nothing to plan." Nathan said, "We'll have an old-fashioned cookout. All we have to do is put the word out and everyone will come with food in hand."

"Sounds good." Patrick said as he pulled out his phone and called Ethan.

A few minutes later, he hung up.

"It's a go. He and Katrina will take care of calling everyone else."

As nervous as she was, Louise felt a sense of relief. Meeting the family of one's husband was a normal activity and it felt good to have a little normalcy. She would tell Nathan that as he drove them to their house, which was half, built.

"I'm glad but Lou for the most part we are what you call normal. It's just that the differences are more pronounced." Nathan explained. After thinking about it, Louise realized that he was right.

"So where are we going?" she asked.

"It's a surprise." Nathan replied as he took her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it.

"Tell me what it's like to be a vampire." Louise asked out of the blue.

"It's just another lifestyle that if you're born to it you don't know any different." he replied. "I was born a vampire and so was Joseph. Actually, all of the males who are direct descendents of the original Sinclaire are born vampire even if one of the couple is human. There are a few who were turned but there aren't many and if they mate with a vampire, their male children will be vampire."

"What if one of the pair is human?" Louise asked.

"The male child will be vampire. If it is a female, it could go either way. Katrina was human when she conceived the twins. It just so happened that they were born vampire. The same happened with Victoria. No one knows why it's that way and I don't think anyone has given it too much thought since it's always been that way."

"What would have happened if the twins had been born human?" Louise asked.

"They would have been loved, protected and taught how to keep the family secrets as soon as possible." Nathan replied. "The hope would be that their vampire mate would find them and they would become immortal as you now are."

"So the ones who are born human, they die if their mates don't find them?" Louise asked.

"Yes." Nathan replied.

"I don't understand why the woman doesn't change." Louise said. "I mean if it means that you don't have to watch your daughters die..."

"It comes down to what you can live with I guess. Many don't want to give up the option of going out into the sunlight and things like that. For some, it's a necessity. They may not be able to afford security like we can and they may be the only source of protection during the daytime hours for their mate." Nathan explained. He was pleased with the questions; it showed that she was interested in learning about her new life.

"Who would they need protection from?" she asked.

"There are those that we call hunters. I think that we've mentioned them before. They are quite dangerous and their primary goal is to destroy our kind. They see us as evil monsters that live only to rape and kill. We haven't heard of one in a long time but that doesn't mean that they aren't around. Every couple of centuries, their population grows, there's a war, and they die off and go dormant until the next surge. That is the biggest reason that we ask our mates never to go anywhere alone. When you were at Kevyn's apartment, you were being guarded. We would never let you go anywhere without protection."

"Because if caught, we could be used against you." Louise said understanding.

"Exactly." Nathan replied. "We're almost there, close your eyes."

Louise closed her eyes wondering what the secret was. A few minutes later, the car came to a stop. Louise waited for Nathan to come to her side of the car to help her out. When she was outside, she inhaled deeply savoring the smell of the ocean air. The sound of the ocean hitting the shore sounded like a lullaby to her ears. She was about to open her eyes to look when Nathan stopped her.

"Not yet, just a few more minutes." he said as he picked her up.

A few minutes later, Louise felt herself being lowered to the floor. Nathan held her by the waist until she steadied

"Are we home?" she asked.

"Yes at one of them." Nathan replied. "You can open your eyes."

Louise opened her eyes and saw the ocean spread out before her. If she wanted to go put her feet in it, all she had to do was to go out to the patio, walk down a short flight of stairs; walk straight ahead and she would be there in a matter of minutes.

"This is beautiful... where are we?"

"Don't you remember this place?" he asked hugging her into him.

Louise looked for anything that told her that she had been here before. Then she saw the rock formation to her right.

"This is your beach but a house wasn't here." She said.

"No, it wasn't." Nathan confirmed. "I designed it the day I took you back to Kevyn and Patrick's house and started on it the next night. This is our home for as long as you want it to be. Let me show you around."

Louise didn't know what to say and began to feel a little overwhelmed.

"Nathan, you didn't have to build me a house." she said after a few seconds.

"I know," Nathan replied, "but when I saw how you loved the ocean and how it seemed to soothe you I decided to build you a home here. We can live here all of the time or come here when we want and need to be alone. I leave the choice up to you. Would you like to see the rest of it? It won't be done for a couple of weeks but we can start thinking about colors and things like that."

Louise allowed herself to be led from the view of the ocean acknowledging the fact that Nathan was right. The sounds and the smells of the ocean were soothing to her but that didn't mean that he had to build her a house. An occasional trip to the ocean would have sufficed. Somewhere in her thought processes, the question of whether Barb was right about her popped up.

"She's wrong." Nathan said softly. "There's nothing wrong with wanting, appreciating or accepting beautiful things, it's how those things are obtained and in the spirit in which they are accepted. You didn't con me or ask me to do this; you weren't even expecting it. I did this because I love you and I think that its time that you be given beautiful things and that you learn how to accept them."

As Nathan talked, he realized that whatever small amount of empathy he had, it was magnified. He didn't have to go into her head to know what she was thinking; he felt it. He was going to tell her that he hadn't read her when she spoke.

"You knew what I was feeling didn't you?" she asked.

"Yes but I didn't read you, I just knew." he replied becoming aware that he would have to watch himself around other people. He wondered how she had managed all of those years without knowing how to shield but then realized that on some level that she did know. It just hadn't been a conscious thing. Then he thought about Barb and the other Yancy children. What gifts if any did they have and where had they come from? It was something that he planned to investigate at some point. "Shall we continue the tour?" he asked.

"Ok, but please... no more houses or anything like that." Louise said.

"Agreed... unless we talk about it first." Nathan amended.

He took her on a tour of the house that started and ended with the room that they had started in, the bedroom.

"It's beautiful." Louise said at the end of the tour. "Thank you."

"Is there anything that needs to be changed? It isn't too late." Nathan said.

"It's perfect as it is." Louise replied, "Can we go out on the beach?"

A few minutes later, they were walking along the beach hand in hand. Nathan carried a blanket that was in his car over his shoulder wanting one hand to be free just in case he needed to defend Louise. As they walked, he scanned the area for threats and trespassers. About a quarter of a mile down the beach, he heard the sounds of giggling and love making. He looked over at Louise who wasn't really paying attention, her eyes riveted on the ocean and trusting him to keep her safe.

From the sounds that the couple was making, Nathan knew that they were almost through. He stopped walking, looked around and spread the blanket on the sand.

"Sit here, I'll be right back." he told her with a kiss.

He found the couple basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. He made a sound to alert them to his presence.

"Shit!" he heard the man swear.

"What?" the woman asked.

"Someone's here, this is a private beach..."

"We're trespassing?" she asked alarmed, "What if it's the police?"

"Just hurry up and get dressed." the man replied. "Maybe it's the guy who told me about this place giving me a warning."

Nathan looked behind him and could see Louise sitting where he left her. He scanned the area for danger and turned back to the couple curious as to who would have told them about this section of the beach. It had to be one of his people, no one else would be on the beach and it explained the presence of the couple.

When they came from behind the rock that they had been hiding behind, Nathan spoke.

"Hello."

The woman let out a startled yelp and the male to his credit pushed her behind him ready to protect her. He glared at Nathan oblivious to the difference in their height and weight.

"I know that you're aware that this is a private beach so why are you here?" Nathan asked.

"Why are you here?" the man countered.