Into the Vampire's Lair Ch. 06

On another occasion, Draven might have been thrilled to be escorted out with a woman in such a short time but at the moment, his head was buzzing with annoyance. Just how the hell did this petite woman manage to heft his weight up like that?

"Where's your car?" she asked impatiently, sounding annoyed. What was she annoyed at him for? Draven wanted to curse her but the words stopped in his throat and instead he began to vomit uncontrollably on the ground.

"Fuck! Culzean, you arse. Now look at the mess you've made," she snapped, pulling him up and literally dragging him across towards his car. "Keys!" she barked. Draven wasn't even registering her question anymore but he felt her digging in his pocket... and the next thing he knew he was belted up in the passenger seat and on the road.

"Oww..." he groaned, clutching his head in his hands. "Am I dead..."

"Yeah, you would have killed yourself at the rate you're drinking!" the woman chided. Draven winced at the sound of her voice. She sounded so familiar and yet so...

"Who are you?" he croaked. "Where are we going?"

"To my house," she said stiffly. "You need to feed."

Draven rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "I don't eat... food."

"I said feed, not food. Good god Culzean, you're such a mess!"

"How do you know my..." he trailed before blanking out.

***

Draven groggily opened his eyes at the sound of hushed whispers and stomping feet. His head hurt and his body ached.

"How're you feeling mate?"

"Like shit..." groaned Draven. "Where am I?"

"You're at my house!" he exclaimed and clapped his hands in excitement. "Can't believe you're here in the flesh!"

Draven growled. If he was having a hangover, this pest was making a hell of a racket.

"Where's the woman..." he said suddenly, remembering the woman from last night. His first instinct was to sit up and look at his pants. "Phew..."

"Aye, you mean she? My missus?" laughed the man, slapping Draven's back teasingly. "Natasha my love, come here!"

Natasha? She'd better not be Natasha Semenov...

"Oh yes, that's the one mate!" he heard the man chime. "Although she's Natasha Kelly now... or ó Ceallaigh depending on where you're at!"

"Good god... Kelly as in Patrick Kelly? You two got married? Oww..." Draven groaned as his head burst into a series of mini headaches, throbbing all at once.

"Aye. Now, lie back... Natasha'll give you something to drink to sober ye up!"

Okay... in the meantime can you please shut up Patrick? My head's going to burst.

He heard a soft feminine laughter and then felt his head tipping back before a warm liquid was sloshed down his throat. He sputtered slightly but managed to swallow the liquid down. It was bitter.

"Urgh..." Draven wiped his mouth with the back of his hands and opened his eyes again slowly, making out two faces staring intently at him. The male was as white as can be; his blue eyes staring curiously at Draven while the other, a warm cocoa-toned female with brown eyes looking down with amusement at him.

"Black Russian..." Draven croaked slightly then smiled. "Thanks."

Natasha smiled back before getting up and smacking Draven's head. He heard her cursing him in her native tongue as she sashayed away from the two men.

"She wasn't too happy to drag you home last night," said Patrick, shaking his head. "She's a screamer that one and having guests around makes it less enjoyable."

Draven rolled his eyes. "Some things never change I see," he said dryly then burst out laughing. "What's she doing in a bar anyway?"

"She had an assignment."

"Ah I see." Draven didn't want to push. "So how did you two end up together anyway?"

"Ah well you know... we got paired during one of those crime fighting days. Then we really paired up if you know what I mean!" he laughed, winking at Draven.

"Right... can you please stop thinking with your dick Patrick! Anyway, thank you for uh, bringing me here... I guess I'd better leave now."

"You're not going anywhere Culzean," reprimanded Natasha as she came out of the kitchen, holding two cold blood bags. At the doubtful look on Draven's face, she rolled her eyes. "B plus, yes I know. I remembered..."

Draven took the blood bag a little too eagerly. The alcohol in his system was making his body work overtime and it needed replenishing.

"So... do you want to talk about it?" she asked, settling herself beside Patrick and watching Draven's eyes intently.

He shook his head. But I'm sure you're going to read my mind anyway. Go ahead.

"Oh please, I'm not that rude," she replied, earning a laugh from Patrick.

"Oh yeah, she is that rude. We're just being the gracious host and letting you tell us the problem. It's just a formality. So tell us, who's the lucky babe?" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"It seems Natasha's mind reading is not as good as it used to be," teased Draven. "Obviously she only picked out the juicy bits..."

"Oh, sorry... that was me," laughed Patrick. "Oh the details!" When Natasha sent him a cold look, he immediately stopped laughing and gave her a sobered grin.

"Culzean, we're not going to pry and force anything out of you... but we just want you to know that you still have your friends... you needn't isolate yourself all the time."

Draven kept quiet. If both Patrick and Natasha could read him so easily, that must mean that his mind was in a very vulnerable state for he was much older and stronger than the both of them. So, with as much strength as he could muster, he tried to put his guard up, thinking of nothing but an empty room.

"There's no need for that," said Natasha with a sigh. "I already know everything... so why don't you just talk to us?"

"Yeah Drav... come on," urged Patrick. Draven lifted his eyes slowly to meet their gazes.

"Are you both still with the DRU?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah we are," said Patrick with a shrug. "Unlike you, we don't have much of a brain... okay, I don't have much of a brain," he grinned at his wife's annoyed look. "Plus, we're not from a rich family and us commoners have to work for a living too you know?"

Draven's grim expression softened a little. Patrick was always touchy on the subject of his heritage; a common level Vampire was at the bottom of the hierarchy but because of his rare ability to read minds, he was accepted into the Council forces, working alongside the other Nobles and Purebloods. It was always a struggle for him.

"It had always been a great pleasure of mine to have worked with you Patrick... I have never met anyone from the Damage Reversal Unit who's more funny, down-to-earth and meticulous in his work."

"That's right my twinkle-toes," said Natasha, rubbing her nose lovingly on Patrick's nose.

Right... twinkle toes. Very creative Natasha...

Natasha simply rolled her eyes and laughed.

"So when are you going to return to work? I mean... you're not going to do all those science gizmo experiments anymore are you?" asked Patrick. "Girls don't dig that Drav... and honestly, it's too Einstein for me."

"Honey, I'm sure his Doctor companion loves that about him," said Natasha. "Am I right Culzean?"

Draven narrowed his eyes at her. Obviously she wanted to dig more about Amber. "You play dirty Natasha..." She smiled and shrugged casually. "Maybe getting drunk was a blessing in disguise," he said carefully. "Meeting you both reminds me how much I miss being on the force..."

"You're going to come back?" asked Patrick in excitement, his curiosity about Draven's problems forgetten. "Wow... this is great. They'll probably put up posters 'The Legend returns' or something!"

"Huh, I bet," replied Draven dryly as he got to his feet. "I uh, I want to go out to get some fresh air. Be right back." Truth was, he wanted to think without having either of those two reading him at every opportunity.

Draven leaned against the balcony railing and stared out into the night. So, he's going back to join the Council force huh? He smiled slowly and shook his head in disbelief. For the first four hundred years of his life, he had dedicated his time and energies in erasing memories of humans and Vampires alike for the preservation of his species.

Accidental sightings of Vampires by humans always caused an uproar, often ending with a witch hunt in the past. At times, he couldn't contain the exposure so instead of blanking out the entire village's memory, he erased the Vampire's instead, in hopes that he or she will not disclose their secrets. Oh he remembered all the ridiculous garlic chains and silver crosses. Once or twice, he had feigned fear and pretended to kneel in pain at the sight of those anti-Vampire charms.

Oh the days of youth, he mused. He was relentless back then. As his powers grew stronger, so was the desire for more minds to read and erase. It was like a drug to him. He liked knowing other people's secrets and knowing that he was the last one to ever know them before he wiped their memories to a clean slate... yes, not even a single strand left. It didn't matter to him if they had precious memories of their family or loved ones. They were just his job and he was damn good at it.

In fact, it was only during the last century when blood banking started to take fore that he took more interest in the scientific field; considering a permanent switch to the Engineer positions. Despite his dabbling in the scientific and medical field, his main passion still lie in his position as an enforcer.

But then Father got married to his human stepmother... and they had Alaron. For centuries he was alone and neglected and suddenly there was a child, always touching him, following him around, asking him this and that...

He began gaining a conscience; leaving memories of loved ones untouched in the humans and Vampire's on his assignment lists. He had seen it as a weakness and resigned immediately. Initially he had buried himself within the Engineer labs but later installed one in the Castle and lived a reclusive life accompanied only by his family.

Love was a weakness, he knew... and now, the only way to make himself strong again is to return to that cold, heartless Council enforcer that he used to be... right?

"No Draven... It isn't right."

"How long have you been standing there reading me Natasha?"

She shrugged, "Long enough."

"I know why you're here... but I'm not going to talk about it." He heard her sigh and move beside him.

"I can erase her memory for you..."

"No!" exclaimed Draven, a little too forcefully for Natasha stepped back in alarm. Slapping a hand down his face, he cursed and apologized. "I'm sorry Sasha... really."

What exactly he was apologizing for she wasn't sure but she didn't reply him but looked at his face sadly instead. "For a very long time, I couldn't forget you... but now I can because I found him," she said, gesturing to Patrick who was seated inside. "So I know what you're feeling now and I guess it's worst 'coz she's your real life mate."

"How'd you end up with Sir. Sexalot over there?" Draven asked, smiling a little.

"Sex a lot?" she replied, laughing. "Well, secondly, we can't read each other... isn't that just so funny? I mean it's not unusual if he can't read me but when I realized that I couldn't read him at will, I was stunned!" Draven nodded in understanding. Vampires were ranked by the percentage of Vampire blood that they had; the lesser they had, the less powerful they usually were and thus more susceptible to attacks by both humans and their own kind.

Natasha being of Noble descent usually meant that she could read all Common levels and humans so Patrick must have been really special if she couldn't read him.

"Yes he is," she replied almost automatically to his thought. "He's so ridiculously funny and annoying at the same time. Kind of the opposite of you," she added as an afterthought.

"Oh that's nice," he replied bitterly. "Does he know about us?"

"Of course not. That happened way before he was born." Draven raised an eyebrow at her. "Patrick's only two hundred years old. You know that."

"So?"

"So, there's nothing to tell because there's nothing going on between us for the last three hundred and ninety-nine years!" she replied angrily.

"Right, always the calculative one," laughed Draven. "Okay, I get your point. So when are you two planning to have children already?"

"Soon I guess. I've got to plan it right since we can only have one child per century. I mean at the rate Sir. Sexalot is going, I'm going to get pregnant every 9 months!"

Draven rolled his eyes at her as he laughed.

"It's really nice to hear you laugh Draven... It's almost like you're not the same person I knew anymore. You seem... like a person worth loving. It must be really hard for her to let you go..." her voice somber. Then looking up, she spoke, "So, do you want me to take a look at this... Amber?"

Draven's laughter died immediately as he understood the implication of Natasha's question. Letting out a deep sigh, he nodded slowly. "Just take a look at her and see what she remembers and what she doesn't... then let me know. But not now."

"Huh? You want to drag this on?"

"I want to be back in the Council first before you see her."

Shaking her head at him, Natasha walked back towards the living room, leaving him alone to his thoughts.

***

Draven ended up staying with the Kellys for over a week. He usually kept to himself and went out to do his business without getting in their way.

So when Natasha woke up the one morning, she wasn't surprise that Draven was no longer in her house. Rolling over, she curled closer to her husband and thought about her plan to visit Amber. Sure, Draven had forbade it but he's not going to know anyway. She was just going to watch the woman.

Truth was, she didn't manage to read everything in his memories. Even in his drunk and vulnerable state, his mind was still strongly guarded and took her quite some time to penetrate. Draven was an experienced enforcer and a very strong one at that because of his Pureblood status. Therefore, it made her even more curious to know about this Amber... just who was she? And how did she manage to break his heart until he was willing to return to the Council?

Oh yes, she knew he was just joining back to try and forget Amber but the question was why...

She had sat up immediately and went to her computer. It shouldn't be hard to find Dr. Amber on the Google directories. Natasha knew that Amber was an OB/GYN and that she was working in London... or somewhere south from here. So it shouldn't be difficult.

However, it turned out that there was no such doctor listed with the name Amber. It was frustrating for Natasha had searched every medical database and even made a few calls to her friends for help but to no avail.

Either this woman gave Draven a fake name or he made her up. Natasha was leaning more towards the first option. A woman with a fake name was sending up red flags immediately in her head. If this woman was really Draven's life mate then she was going to make sure that she was the not out to hurt him.

***

Draven was walking back to the Kelly's apartment when he saw Natasha exiting the building and going inside her car. He had simply gone to get breakfast- odd as it sounded; he was actually hungry for real food. However, the croissant that he was holding in his hand immediately fell to the ground when he read Natasha's thoughts.

"No..." he muttered under his breath and began to run towards her but the car was already speeding off. "Damn it Sasha! I told you to wait!" he was fuming as he got into his own car, slamming the door hard. As soon as the engine geared to life, he was accelerating southwards towards London.

Once again, breaking the speed limit to see the sexy doctor, he mused. She must be worth a lot of fines by now. The sudden awareness that he was pleased to be driving to see her startled him. Then slowly the ache of needing her started gnawing at his insides.

"Maybe I shouldn't..." he said out loud. "Draven Elias Culzean you are to take the next exit and make a turn. You will not cave in to your desires!"

Of course that self-ordered instruction was useless. Not only did he not take the next exit, he also failed to take the next one and all the rest that did not point towards London. With a resigned sigh, he drove on, partly cursing himself for losing sight of Natasha's car and partly also cursing himself for missing Amber so much.

***

Natasha wasn't sure where to start. If this Amber was a doctor then she should at least be well known in the medical circle in the city. But doctors are always so secretive when discussing their field. They'd give her the whole 'It's confidential' routine and she'd just get bored as she'd have to pick their brains instead of having a decent conversation. So the next best thing she could do was to visit the best medical faculty in the city. Somehow students like to talk a lot, always so informative.

She would have stopped at Cambridge and Oxford but decided to go straight to London for she had scented something on Draven that reminded her of the musky streets and human infested roads of London. A few centuries ago, it had been musky and crowded with humans... and now, even more so, she mused.

UCL was such a big university that when she finally found the medicine faculty, she was tired and somewhat relieved. Her long legs stretched out of the car, one high heeled before the other. Natasha prided herself with her legs for they were long, lean and toned. Over the centuries, they have been useful in helping her entice her meals... and of course to elicit information from their enemies or lure targets into dark corners to have their memories wiped.

Natasha was walking around aimlessly, trying to see what she could find out just by observing the place. She had never made it to university; never found the need to so her curious eyes wandered over the bulletin boards as well as the young men and women walking around the campus.

She spent about an hour walking around, peeking into classes and lecture theatres now and then and was about to head back to her car when she bumped into a group of chattering girls. They excused themselves politely and continued walking talking excitedly among themselves.

"I heard there's a guest lecturer today."

"Really? You mean for our class?"

"Yeah! I think it's a Dr. MacFarlane or something. She's supposed to be a really experienced obstetrician so I'm quite excited."

Natasha froze amidst her steps. MacFarlane? Yes... she picked that up in Draven's memories but as the pieces were so disjointed she had no idea of its significance... until now. Turning around, she shadowed the girls and entered with them into a large auditorium.

Not wanting to be noticeable, she went right to the back and settled herself at the corner of the room. The auditorium was slowly filling in but no sign of the lecturer yet. Natasha didn't mind. Crossing her legs, she folded her arms and leaned back and waited.

***

Draven was confused. He had followed Natasha to London and by scent alone, tracked her down to a school. Why did she stop here when she already knew where Amber was? Unless she did not manage to read all the information clearly from his memories. That was possible, seeing that he is much older and experienced than her.

With a sigh, he followed her scent and continued walking. He had no idea what Natasha was up to, skulking around in a place like this? Since when was she into sciences anyway?

He must have been distracted with his own thoughts for he walked right into another person as he turned a corner.

"I apologize most sincerely," he said, clambering to his feet. That felt more like an asteroid collision than just a bump! As he looked down, he noticed that the redhead was bent over, hastily picking up her books and scattered papers. "Here, let me help," he offered, squatting down to help her.