Seeking Eternity Ch. 04

Ross turned to Raine and was surprised to see her standing by the bed. The menacing glare in her eyes as she looked at him was enough warning; Ross barely managed to get away from her as she pounced in attack. Her fist connected with the wall, and the force of the impact was such that Ross feared she would break down the whole house before this was over.

Sensing the danger he was in, Ross bared his fangs. He could feel the blood lust in his gut, and a part of him welcomed the thought of a fight. After centuries of imposed civility, a chance to face someone other than renegades and the occasional slayers was refreshing. However, the prudent part of him that cared about survival was urging him to run.

Raine's movements were quick and precise, giving him no time to think at all. There was nothing to do but move out of her way and avoid the deadly strokes of her claws. Her heritage, compounded by her training as a slayer, made her a rather difficult enemy – perhaps the most difficult he had ever faced.

A well-placed blow to his side sent Ross flying across the room. He hit the wall by the door, completely destroying the hundred-year-old oil painting that was hanging there. With a growl of frustration, he rolled away quickly just in time to avoid Raine's claws. Clutching his side, he moved as far away from her as possible, thinking of a way to get out of this situation alive. The anger that emanated from Raine was unlike anything he had encountered before.

"What have you done to her?" Raine growled.

She moved in with another series of attacks that had Ross on the defensive for longer than he wanted to be. There was no doubt in his mind that she would kill him if given the chance, but before she managed to do that, he had to voice out his confusion.

"To whom?" he asked, grabbing both of the woman's arms the next time she got close.

Raine glared at him. "You dare to ask, vampire? I can smell her on you!"

Realization made Ross flinch. Myles. How could he have forgotten that Raine was Myles' best friend? Then again, he had not expected to find Raine in this state when he agreed to watch over her today.

"I've done nothing to hurt her," Ross said, fighting hard to keep Raine on his grip. She was much too strong – far stronger than he thought, and the anger that fuelled her attacks was adding to that strength.

"Liar."

Gritting his teeth, he shoved the woman away. "I will never do anything to hurt Myles."

At the mention of her friend's name, Raine stopped her attacks, although she still eyed him warily. Ross could tell that she was debating whether or not to believe him. The familiarity with which he mentioned the name was enough to confuse Raine, and before she could wrongly decide that he was not telling the truth, Ross decided to come clean.

"She's my lover, Raine."

"No." Her anger was back, and so was her intent to kill. "She cannot be."

Ross took a deep breath to retract his fangs forcefully. If she would not believe him now, she would never do, and this fight would only end in his demise. It would be better, then, to show her that he was telling the truth.

"Come, then," he said, spreading his arms wide. "Kill me. It will not change the fact."

*****

Raine studied the vampire before her, gauging the truth of what he was saying. Nothing in his stance betrayed a lie, but...Myles? It could not be. Not Myles.

Then again, the vampire now stood defenceless in front of her, practically waiting for her to finish him off. Would he be willing to risk his life if he was truly lying?

Her head began throbbing again, forcing a groan from Raine. Whatever was happening to her was causing too much pain.

"I met her at a charitable function more than four years ago," the vampire was saying. "She was exquisite. I wanted her from the start, but I understood that she was a slayer."

The throbbing was getting worse, making it difficult to concentrate on the vampire's words. Raine closed her eyes and pressed the ball of her palm against her forehead.

"I was resourceful, though." She could feel him walking toward her, even if she could not see. "I knew she would not try to kill me with a crowd around us. So I befriended her."

Four years ago. Raine tried to remember how Myles was four years ago. Happy. Spritely. Alive.

But a vampire?

Yes, a vampire, a voice inside her head seemed to taunt her as an image of Ashford flashed in her mind. Had she ever felt as alive before as she had felt with him?

She opened her eyes to find the vampire just a step away. He was looking at her intently with honey-coloured eyes that seemed to speak the truth. If she so much as reached out, she could do as she wished and end his existence.

"I cannot claim to love your friend, but I cherish her as a woman," he said. "And I believe that she enjoys my company in return."

Raine shook her head even as a cold, hard ball seemed to settle in the pit of her stomach. She could not help but believe what this man was saying, but the implications of his words went beyond her wildest imagination. If Myles had known him for years, why would she say nothing to her?

Would you have said anything to you if you were in her shoes? came that taunting voice again.

No, she would not have. Not when all she had wanted to do was to hunt down vampires and kill them to avenge her parents' deaths. Her old self would have been the last person on earth that she would consider talking to about sleeping with a vampire.

The vampire's hand now gripped her arm, and Raine allowed him to pull her close. What was his name again? Ross.

"I am truly sorry that you have to hear it from me," he said. "I'm sure that Myles would have liked to tell you herself, but..."

"I would have killed you if you hadn't said a thing," she finished for him. Now that her anger has ebbed, she felt the full impact of the tremors that were starting to rock her body again. She felt so weak and deflated, and only Ross's arms were keeping her on her feet.

He led her to the bed and deposited her there with a gentleness that amazed her. A soft chuckle escaped Raine's lips. She would not have been so gentle with a person who tried to kill her just moments ago.

"Relax now," Ross said, stepping away from the bed. "You will feel so much better when you are not upset."

He might have said something more, but Raine could not be sure. She had lost consciousness as soon as she closed her eyes.

*****

Michael Gilford looked at the woman across the room, wondering how much further her resolve would hold. Her wrists and ankles were secured to the wall by iron shackles, more to restrain than to hurt her. Yet, Michael knew that she must be hurting. Her limp form, underscored by a golden head lolling forward, was indicative of exhaustion and agony.

And why not? She had just been through her morning dose of torture.

With a frustrated sigh, Michael turned his eyes to the table on the side of the room. Three times a day, every day, the woman had been dragged to that table to be shackled and subjected to interrogation. Today, though, had been particularly long, Michael thought as he brought his eyes back to the woman's body. The cuts on her arms and legs were from a silver dagger, and considering that the table was also made of pure silver, it must have been quite painful.

At times like this, when he saw firsthand how the woman was made to suffer, Michael could not hold back the admiration that he felt. Her screams had been blood-curdling; her moments of silence, alarming. Michael had been certain that the woman would finally talk or else die, but the doctors reminded him that she had suffered through and survived many forms of torture like this for the past five years.

"Kill me," the woman had said directly to him. "If you have the balls to do it, end this now."

Michael had been livid. Nobody had ever questioned his ability to do anything. Nobody. Not even his own father when Reginald was alive. How dare this woman do it now? So he ordered a longer session, thirty minutes instead of the usual twenty. That should serve her right.

Except that it didn't. The woman had laughed hysterically in between screams of pain. He was so much smaller than his father, she had said; he was much, much smaller.

Looking at her now, Michael felt hollow. She might be exhausted, but definitely not defeated. Bleeding, but not broken. And the thick wall of glass that separated her from the rest of the world did not seem to be much constraining. She was still alive, and despite the shackles and the lock and key, she was still free.

Sitting down, he looked at the woman again. At one point, Reginald had thought that this woman was connected to Raine somehow. Michael still remembered how, one day after a particularly aggravating torture session, an off-hand comment from Reginald regarding Raine evoked the first response that they had gotten from the woman: interest. She was much interested in what happened to Raine. Why that was so remained a mystery to this day, but her interest in the young woman Reginald raised to be one of their society's best slayers never waned.

"She is missing, you know," Michael told her now. When there was no response from the woman, he clarified. "Raine. We don't know where she is."

The woman finally looked at him, and the fire behind her emerald-green eyes was a wonder to behold. She did not speak, but the warning in those eyes could hardly be missed. As if she could do anything behind the thick glass walls that separated her from Michael.

What was it about Raine that made the female wolf react so? Raine was a normal human girl, as all the tests done on her blood had assured them many, many years ago. She was neither a wolf nor a vampire, and her lack of aversion to silver was proof of that. She was not related to this wolf, either; their DNAs did not match. Why, then, was this woman so affected by the mere mention of Raine's name?

Whatever it was, Michael was determined to find out. And find out he would, by whatever means necessary. He was done with all the secrets and all the mysteries surrounding this woman. If that meant bringing Raine down here, then so be it.

As soon as Raine was found, he would know the answers to the questions that had been plaguing him for years.

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I know; it's been years. I thought I would never manage to tell the rest of the story, but these characters are more persistent than most. They seem determined to haunt me day and night until I give in to the demand of finishing this tale.

I won't promise anything, but I will strive to keep up with the nagging voice inside my head urging me to keep on writing.

As always, all feedback are treasured and welcomed. Much love, SF.