Thorne Ch. 01

"Sure." Noel replied and let it drop.

*******

Barb looked at the pale green dress and decided that while she liked the style; she wasn't so keen on the color. She had two options. Take the dress back and exchange it for another color or keep it. It was already Friday evening and she was comfortable in her pajamas.

"I'll just keep it." She muttered and walked away.

She turned on the television and then her laptop and went over her notes for dealing with Thorne. If all went as planned; before the week was out she would be packing her bags. As a show of faith, she took out her suitcase and began packing the things that she wouldn't need. She was almost tempted to call the complex manager and tell him that she was moving; but held off. She was beginning to get carried away.

When she satisfied her urge to pack, she sat back at her laptop and planned her wedding and reception. It would be bigger than some cheap beach wedding she decided. She would have the best of everything. She worked until early morning before she finally lay down. As soon as she closed her eyes; she began dreaming about vampires.

She woke up late afternoon and began to prepare for the confrontation with Thorne. She looked at the dress again and thought about taking it back. She had time; she wasn't going to the club until nine or ten.

Once again; she decided to keep it. As she lined up the products to give herself a facial, she wondered if Leon and the others had arrived yet. Her curiosity grew until she just had to know. She decided to call Gene.

"Gene? This is Barb."

"Hey sis! How are you?" Gene asked.

"I'm good... how are you?" Barb asked only to be polite. She only called for one piece of information.

"I'm good! I haven't had a drink since I got back! I still have my job and the house is empty; I'm staying at Leon's until it's done."

Barb hesitated and then spoke.

"Why don't you just tear it down? It was a piece of junk!"

"We were born there." Gene replied. "Nathan is going to use as much of the original material as possible... it's going to be the way that mom and dad would have wanted it."

"What's wrong with you people?" Barb snapped. "They're dead! It's not like they'll live in the house!"

"That isn't the point." Gene replied. "It's to pay honor to them... they worked hard..."

"Worked hard at what?" Barb interrupted. "They could have made things better for us! Mom could have gotten a job or something so that we could have had one new outfit for school!"

Gene was shocked. Until now he hadn't realized how angry Barb was. He amended that. He knew but he was so involved with his own issues that he ignored it.

"Wow..." he said softly.

"Wow what?" Barb asked.

"Do you really think that they didn't try?" Gene asked. "I mean dad worked two or three jobs with no days off to make ends meet. Mom never bought anything for herself; the money always went to us. If anyone went without; she did."

Barb didn't say anything. There was an element of truth to what Gene was saying although it wasn't quite the way that she remembered it. She was also struck by something else. Gene sounded different. There was no hint of the jealousy and insecurity that he had come to California with.

"Have you seen Kev and Louise?" he asked changing the subject.

"No." Barb replied and offered no further explanation.

"They call here a couple of times a day." Gene said. "Don't they call you?"

"We haven't talked." Barb replied. "We've been busy."

"Oh... getting ready for Leon and the rest of them I guess." Gene said. "They're landing sometime this evening. You know, part of me wishes that I was out there with all of you."

"Are you thinking about moving?" Barb asked.

Even though Gene had changed or was changing; he was still the one most like her and he was the one easiest one for her to talk to. But judging from the way he sounded, the similarities were disappearing on a daily basis.

"Not right now. I have to get my shit together before I can even begin to think about moving anywhere." Gene replied. "And if I move anywhere it'll be to Florida. I want to get back with Dana."

Barb felt a twinge of anger that she didn't understand. Of all of her siblings; Gene was the one that she had never been angry with.

"Look Gene, I've gotta go. Do me a favor and don't tell the others that we've talked."

"Okay... but why?" Gene asked.

"I... I'll talk to them later... so don't say anything."

Barb could tell that Gene didn't understand; but all that mattered was that he agreed.

*****

As they waited for the jet to arrive; Louise thought about Barb and wished that she would have at least come to the airport. She thought about her older sister with a mixture of anger, love and sadness. But it was as Nathan kept reminding her; Barb made her choices and there was nothing that could be done about it.

On a positive note; there had been no more visions or feelings of disquiet. Gretchen was giving her a clean bill of health and the nurseries had been designed. As soon as Leon was through with the change and was recovered, she and the other women would go shopping for baby furniture and other things.

When Nathan started to make arrangements at one of the high end baby stores; Louise stopped him.

"Wal-Mart is fine." She told him. "He or she won't know the difference."

"Alright fine." He said grinning at her. "But we use our joint accounts. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Louise.

The shopping trip was scheduled for two weeks after Leon's change. Unless something changed; Barb wouldn't be there for that either.

"Here it comes!" Kevyn said excitedly.

A short while later, Hans, Juliette, the children along with Leon and Nadine were getting off the plane. After hugs and kisses were exchanged, Leon asked about Barb.

Kevyn gave the agreed upon response.

"She couldn't make it... she's a little under the weather."

Leon seemed to buy it, but Juliette didn't. Both Louise and Kevyn could see that Juliette didn't believe them; but they weren't at a place where they could talk. They would tell her and Leon about Barb's anger, but not about the baby. That had to come from Barb."

"We'll talk later at the house." Kevyn said.

Two hours later, they were at the house. Wanda and Victoria were already in one of the bedrooms giggling and talking. Victor was in the basement watching movies and Celeste was asleep in one of the other spare rooms.

"Alright, spill." Juliette said. "Why isn't Barb here?"

Louise and Kevyn looked at each other but it was Kevyn who spoke. She gave the condensed version of events leaving out the pregnancy.

"Hold up." Leon said. "Let me make sure that I've got this straight. Barb came here uninvited under the guise of wanting to spend time with you and Louise. What she really came for was to find a rich man and hoped that you would introduce her to one. She goes to a party at Nathan's house, tried to pick up a mated vampire and almost got her ass kicked."

"Yes." Kevyn said.

"So then she goes to a club that she was told wasn't a good place. You all go after her and she refuses to leave, but not only that; she denies Hans as a mate...."

"I have to be honest." Hans said, "I didn't want her either. I prayed that the fates take her even if it meant that I had to be alone for eternity. By the time that night happened, I was going to accept her and try to find a way to live with her as mates. But she denied me several times in front of the male vampire who she went home with."

"Why did she deny you?" Leon asked.

"She saw me as a poor hotel manager." Hans replied. "She didn't know my true worth."

"Who was the vampire that she went with?" Leon asked.

He passed no judgment on Hans; he knew his sister. In fact, nothing that he heard came as a big surprise. He had seen the way Barb looked at Patrick when she found out who he was. That she had distanced herself from everyone didn't surprise him either. It was the same back east. She showed up when it was convenient for her and only when she had to or if she wanted something. Months could go by without anyone hearing from her. But that was neither here nor there. She was still his sister and he had to know that she hadn't been hurt.

"Tell me the truth." Leon said. "Did he hurt her?"

"If you're asking if he raped her." Louise said. "We don't think so. I think that he hurt her pride..."

"And the bastard left her in the red-light district? Where does he live?" Leon asked angrily.

"Hold on Leon." Nathan said. "We can't just go bursting in on him. Your sister willingly went with him even after we tried to get her to leave with us."

"Fine, then I want to talk to her and don't hand me that shit about her not wanting to see us." Leon said. "If she says that he hurt her, I'm kicking his vampire ass."

"Leon you're no match for him as you are." Hans said.

"Umm Leon, there's something that you should know." Louise said. "Thorne Blackwell, that's the name of the vampire that Barb went with; is her mate."

"Her mate? Does she know?" Leon asked surprised.

"We don't know." Kevyn replied. "As you know, the mating thing is between the mates is private so we have no way of knowing unless she tells us."

"Do you know this guy?" Leon asked Nathan.

"I know of him, but Patrick knows him." Nathan replied.

"I don't know him that well." Patrick replied. "There is some history between our families..."

"So what you're telling me is that he used her just to fuck with you." Leon said quickly grasping the situation when Patrick was through.

"That's it in a nutshell." Patrick replied.

"I don't understand how he became her mate." Leon said. "And even if he is, if he lays a hand on her; his ass is mine."

By four am, Leon and Nadine were gone. They wanted to spend the night in their own home. The three sisters cleaned up the dishes while the men joined Victor in the basement.

"So how do you feel?" Louise asked Juliette when the men were gone.

"I feel amazing!" Juliette replied. "Sometime when we have more time, I want to talk to you about the vampire thing."

"Yeah me too." Kevyn said. "I've been kind of thinking about it too."

The men listened to the soft voices coming from the kitchen.

"Has anyone else realized that the Sinclaires' and the Blackwell's have been tied together because of Barb?" Nathan asked.

The three men looked at each other; but no one spoke.

"We'd better let Ethan know." Patrick said. "Damn!" he added.

********

Thorne was at the club early as was his habit on the weekends. He looked around the club with a practiced eye. Satisfied that everything was in place, he went to his office disturbed and shut the door. There were plenty of beautiful women in the club and his cock hadn't so much as stirred when he saw them.

'Why didn't I let her go?" he growled as he once again he remembered the reason for his inability to perform. He sat at his desk and wondered how he could get rid of her. There was no point in trying to appeal to the fates. They had already passed her off once. That was rare enough, but a second time would be unheard of. Then there was the fact that they didn't care if he died or not.

He picked up the closest object on his desk and threw it as hard as he could watching as it made a huge hole in the wall. It was only a matter of time before he had to face her. The question was what was he going to do? He really didn't see as he had any choice but to accept her and she him for that matter. There was nothing that said that mates had to love each other. In fact, he knew of mates who barely tolerated each other. The only reason that they were in the same room was for sexual release.

It was far from ideal, but then again; he had never cared if he ever found his mate. He also decided that he wasn't going to seek Barb out. He wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as he could.

By nine, the club was three quarters full and within the hour, it would be jammed packed with standing room only. Every weekend Thorne thought about expanding and this weekend was no exception. He promised himself to start looking for another location and then had an idea.

He wouldn't expand, he would build a new club, but it would be the polar opposite of the current one. It would be very upscale with strict guidelines. In his mind he began writing the guidelines. It was a pleasant diversion from thinking about the mate that he didn't want. In his planning, he wondered if Noel would agree to hang some of his paintings. They would be for sale, not that he needed the money; Noel was as wealthy as he was if not more so.

By eleven, Thorne was feeling relaxed. He had worked out the basics for the new club in his head including the name.

Black Diamonds.

He liked it, but wanted to ask Noel about it since he was going to make him a partner. Thorne sipped on a glass of blood laced with Scotch and relaxed. Things were going to be fine.

******

Barb took her time getting ready. As she showered, she wondered what excuse Kevyn and Louise gave for her not showing up at the airport. After the shower, she applied a generous amount of body oil to her dark skin. She paid special attention to her elbows, knees, freshly shaved legs and feet.

The closer she came to being ready, the more nervous she became. She still questioned the choice of dress color, but it was too late to change her mind; it would have to do. She was so nervous that she almost changed her mind. She finished dressing and called a cab. While she waited, she daydreamed about the big house that she would be moving to.

The cab was at the complex forty-five minutes and a very anxious barb climbed in.

"Where to?" The cabby asked.

Barb gave him the address and leaned back in the seat. In a matter of hours, her life would be changed. The cab dropped her off in the front of the building. Barb stood in front of the club for several minutes before she began to head toward the back of the line. Suddenly, she froze. There was a distinctive chill in the air that hadn't been there before. She rubbed her arms to ease the goose bumps that prickled. She experienced a moment of déjà vu.

She experienced the same feeling the last time she was at the club and like then; she didn't heed the warning. Just as she was about to head to the back of the line; she turned around and went to the security guard who was taking the vouchers to get in.

"The line's around the corner." He said barely glancing at her.

"I want to see Mr. Blackwell."

"Do you have an appointment?" He asked still not looking at her.

"No but..."

"Get to the back of the line." The guard repeated.

"Look jerk! Take me to Mr. Blackwell right now or..."

The guard turned away and began murmuring. Barb strained to hear what was being said and the feeling that she should leave returned.

"Well, it seems that Mr. Blackwell would like to see you." The guard said. "Go in and someone will take you to him."

"What the fuck?" Someone called out. "Why does she get in?"

The guard and Barb ignored the question as he undid the bungee cord so that she could go in.

Barb glanced up just in time to see the drapes of a second floor window move. She didn't know how she knew it, but she knew that Thorne was aware that she was there. She also knew that he was very, very angry.