All Is Fair Ch. 06

Helena was slammed into the wall again before she could finish her thoughts.

"If you see yourself as my daughter realize I raised you better than this," Abe said.

He was already seated on the couch. Helena arched her back before picking herself up off the floor again. The tears coming to her eyes were more from the mental anguish than the physical pain.

"But you're my only family," she said. "I will be alone again."

"You should get used to it," Abe said. "But being alone is far better than losing your humanity."

Helena starred at him, she didn't have the words to express how she was feeling.

"Get some sleep," Abe said. "Leave here as soon as the sun rises."

There was another blur and Abe was gone. For the third time in her short existence Helena's life was over as she knew it.

~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~

The motel Helena was holed up in reminded her of her last conversation with Rebecca. But the memory of her sister was replaced by a longing for her mentor. When she drove away from him a week ago she tried not to memorize the directions back, but they were playing over and over in her mind.

Abe had admitted many times before that he knew few vampires over his long life, he said it was because as a species they preferred it that way. Helens wondered if he was wrong, if he was missing her company as much she was missing his guidance. The sun was almost up. She pictured him in the basement of the small house, huddled in his bed on the corner in the windowless space, about to sleep for the day.

Yesterday was her eighteenth birthday. Helena had survived the night without incident. In fact, the whole evening had been anti climatic. She wondered if Abe was wrong. The sun was low in the sky, having just started rising. Per Abe's instructions she knew she needed to keep moving. It was important to him she increase their distance. Helena sighed and went towards her suitcase. The final present from her mentor.

She went to the side compartment and pulled out some of the cash, flipping through the hundred dollar bills. When she was about to put it away something caught her eye. A piece of paper was sticking up from the money. She pulled it out, surprised to see a family photograph. Helena didn't remember seeing this, she flipped it over and saw the inscription "The Long family Rebecca 3, Helena 1". She turned it over again, she was the baby.

Strange. Helena's parents had been dead for eight years, she never remembered seeing this photograph before. How could Abe have had it? Her eyes went wide. Maybe it was more than coincidence she met him at the hotel two years ago, or maybe this was Abe's way of letting her know he did care about her. Either way Helena needed answers, and had an excuse to return to the place she missed the most. She put the picture back and zipped up her suitcase, knowing with certainty her destination.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~

Helena sat on the couch, photograph in hand waiting for

Abe to come up from the basement. She heard him move and knew he would be angry with her decision, but she decided to ignore lesson number one. Regardless of the answers she had to ask her questions. The basement stairs started to creak and Helena stood up.

"What are you doing here?" Abe asked.

He hadn't opened the door yet.

"Come talk to me," Helena said.

"If I come up there I will drain you," Abe said.

"I'm not leaving," Helena said. "And you have to come up eventually."

Silence filled the air, then the door opened. Abe walked out. He came into the room Helena was in. His eyes were going up and down her body. He had never examined her this way before. She had the urge to cover herself, but wanted to stay strong.

"How did you get this?" Helena asked.

She held up the photograph.

"I found it in your car," Abe said. "You really need to leave."

His tongue ran across his lips and he took a step closer towards her.

"I've never seen this before," Helena said. "It wasn't mine or Rebecca's. Tell me the truth and I will leave faster. Did you know my parents?"

"Yes," he said. "And I killed them."

In the back of her mind Helena was expecting that answer. Still her voice came out with a crack. Not wanting to believe someone who meant so much to her the past few years could do something so vile.

"Why?"

"I told them what you were," Abe said. "I told them what they had to do to protect you. We met once a year to verify your progress. They told me they couldn't handle living like that anymore. They would rather see you die than destroy their own lives any longer. The rules I had placed on them were making them violent towards you and your sister. They would rather sacrifice their daughter's humanity and save

their own. I found their answer unacceptable."

He moved closer to her. Helena stayed still. His look was no longer than of a brother. His eyes were wide and his breath was getting deeper.

"You're lying," Helena said. "They would never have even told me what a computer was, but you tried to teach me to master them."

"I had a change of heart," Abe said. "Originally I though keeping you inside would be enough, if you had their protection."

He took another step closer. Helena knew she had to get all her questions answered.

"Did you kill Rebecca?"

"No," Abe said. "She was thirteen at the time. Back when I was human that was a capable age of caring for another. I thought she would protect you."

"I don't believe you," Helena said. "What happened to her?"

"I never lied about that," Abe said. "I watched you, from when you were a baby. I thought that she would keep you out of the dark and that would be enough. But once she vanished I had to step in. I had to save you."

He was only a few feet away now. Helena had never seen him like this, his eyes were wild. He couldn't focus on one point of her body. She suddenly felt like this was a mistake. She started backing away.

"I told you never to come back here," he said.

Abe lunged at her. Helena tried to move, but he grabbed her and spun her around. Her back was pressed against his chest. His hand started to slide up her arm. Once he reached her head he turned it to the side exposing her neck. Even though Abe claimed he had no humanity Helena needed to try something, and appealing to him was all she could think of.

"Don't do this," Helena said. "You know me. You don't want to kill me. You want me to survive."

His grip relaxed. He threw Helena on the floor. She turned to see as he crouched down, pulling his hands towards his ears. Trying to block out whatever was going through his mind. She scooted backwards towards the door.

"Run," he said.

She turned and heard him screaming before she took off into the darkness. She ran towards her car, but realized the keys were sitting on his table. There was corn surrounding her. She ran through the stalks, hoping to put enough distance between the two of them. Helena never believed Abe would actually hurt her, but now realized it was obvious what he was capable of.

A woosh of air came and Helena was knocked the ground. She rolled several times before coming to a stop. She saw Abe standing up again. His eyes glowed in the moonlight.

"I never wanted this for you," he said.

Helena tried to scoot away, but he was coming for her. She reached behind herself and pulled the metal dagger out from her waist. She held it in front of her neck, right as Abe jumped on top of her. The silver dagger went straight through his throat. His face was inches from hers. The craziness faded out of his eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Helena said.

"Do it," he choked out.

With one quick motion she pulled the dagger to the right. As Abe said earlier his head came off with ease. Before Helena had the chance to move away his body crumbled to ashes. She stood up, all alone in the middle of the cornfield. The moonlight guided her back towards the house.

When Helena was back inside she sat on the couch. She was covered in her mentor's ashes. He was gone. He also reviled he had killed her parents. She didn't know whom to mourn for more. Helena realized then and there she didn't have the privilege of mourning, all she could do was try to survive.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I spent the next three years doing what he taught me," Helena said. "Surviving. Until I couldn't take it anymore."

Helena looked around the room. Tears stained Daphne's face. Hugh and Zachary both looked at the floor. Only Brooks kept his eyes on her.

"That night," Brooks said. "Were you going to let him turn you?"

Helena wasn't sure if he was talking about Abe or Victor, but she went with the later.

"I figured, if I woke up a vampire after he was done I would have walked out into the sunlight the next morning."

This was the first time Helena had ever told anyone about her time with Abe. Before last week, she couldn't remember the last time she had said his name out loud. Victor knew him. She was so nervous that night she almost forgot he recognized the name.

"Victor," Helena said. "The vampire who bit me, he knew who Abe was. Do you think that means anything?"

"It might just mean they're a closer knit community than we realize," Zachary said.

Helena felt like she had spent so long speaking with no interruption for any reason. There wasn't a chance any of his story mattered.

"Now it's your turn," Helena said. "Tell me what you know."

"Abe told you the truth about a lot of things," Zachary said. "In fact, based on my research, there are few discrepancies and you have shed some light on some things for me."

"Such as?" Helena asked.

"I always thought the ones with prized blood were a myth," Zachary said. "I thought a wooden stake would work, and I also thought silver would ward them off."

"We don't deal with silver very often," Brooks said.

Helena caught Hugh and Daphne giving him a look.

"What do you know about surviving a bite?" Helena asked.

"I don't know for certain," Zachary said. "You are the only the second documented case I have heard about. If Brooks and his Betas had came upon Victor prior to feeding on you there is a chance the vampire would have killed all of them."

"Why do you say that?" Helena asked.

"They are stronger than us," Zachary said. "But drinking live blood takes some of their power away. He had to focus it on you. It would have taken him about a day to fully recuperate."

Helena would have assumed her blood would have given Victor power, but then she remembered Abe describing it as an aphrodisiac.

"Where does that leave me?" Helena asked.

"You're seeing this vampire? When you're alone? Can he control you?"

Helena remembered her time in the bathtub. She glanced away hoping the question would drop.

"What did he do to you?" Brooks asked.

Helena turned to look at him. His eyes were studying her. There wasn't a hint of anger or judgment in them. She had just told him how she killed one of the few people who showed her kindness and he wasn't fazed. Describing the most intense sexual moment of her life thus far would not be fair.

"Nothing I wanted," Helena said.

Hurt flooded Brooks' face. Helena turned back to Zachary. She didn't know how to handle this situation and would rather avoid it.

"I believe this vampire has a part of your soul," Zachary said.

Daphne let out a gasp. Helena watched her turn to Hugh for comfort. He wrapped his arm around her and started to rub her back. Brooks moved his face to block Helena's view. He lifted his arm and placed it around her shoulders, but Helena didn't need comfort. She looked back to Zachary.

"You lack empathy," Zachary said.

"That's a bit extreme," Helena said.

"No," Brooks said. "It's not. I just listened to you tell a heartbreaking story with little inflection. This is why you won't accept me as your mate."

Helena scooted away from him.

"Maybe I don't want to be your mate because you're a stranger," she said. "Tell me something about myself. What's my favorite food? Favorite color? What sort of movies do I like? Can you answer any of these?"

"We have a very long time to get to know each other," Brooks said. "What we have is deeper than that. I look inside you and see who you really are. What makes you vulnerable, what can give you pleasure, I can see your soul."

"Even if a piece of it is missing?" Helena asked.

Brooks didn't respond. He continued to stare at her. Helena turned back to Zachary.

"Your empathy is slipping away," Zachary said. "It hasn't vanished, but it's obvious you are struggling. Do you disagree?"

Helena knew he was right, but she couldn't force herself to care. Either way, when it came to facts she could focus. She shook her head. The room went quiet again. Helena had a feeling the same question was on everyone's mind. She was grateful when Brooks finally spoke.

"What do we need to do to get her soul back?"