Justine Ch. 06

The queen walked out of the room content that Zoë had things under control. She went to her chambers to choose the outfit that she would wear when she rejoined Edward.

"Soon, I shall be with you again." she said as she looked at the photograph of a handsome dark haired man who looked to be in his late thirties. "I have missed you." she said softly to the picture of the man who had been her mate for centuries before he was so severely injured by a hunter that he had to be put into a deep sleep and placed to ground.

She remembered that day as if it had just happened. Edward had gone out to get her a surprise for her birthday even though she begged him not to go.

"I'll be fine," he told her, "I won't be but a few moments."

Those few moments turned in several minutes, which in turn became an hour and then hours. One of the servants who knew where he was going found him with an arrow made from an ash tree buried almost to the quivers in his chest. Instead of removing the arrow, the servant called for help to get Edward home where a physician was waiting.

"It's a good thing that he didn't remove that arrow." The physician said, "It would have killed him when he pulled it out, the sides of the tip are barbed and it would have punctured the heart on the way out."

Violet remembered the helplessness and anger that she felt as the physician spoke.

"Are you saying that it has to stay there?" she asked.

"For a while yes." he replied, "You must put him to ground and wait for the wood to soften and disintegrate but I must warn you, that could take centuries."

Violet was about to reply when several of her guards burst in dragging not one but two men into the room.

"My queen," One of the guards said bowing, "These are the ones responsible for the king's injuries."

She looked at the men, one of them was quite young and was a younger version of the other man and felt nothing but anger and hatred. For centuries, she had done nothing but try to keep the peace between the vampire and now this. Her king almost lost his life to hunters. She had to remind herself that not all humans were like the ones on their knees before her and that some of them were allies.

"Why did you do this?" she asked quietly.

"Because you aren't human! You and your kind are an abomination to god and the church!" the older man exclaimed.

"And because you are frightened of us, you seek to kill us?" Violet asked.

"I'm not afraid!" the older man protested.

"If that is so, why did you hide? Why did you not stand and shout, look what I have done?" Violet asked, her anger rising.

She looked at the younger man who as of yet hadn't spoken.

"And what of you? Why did you accompany him?" she asked.

The younger man looked at the older man and then back at Violet.

"I.... I didn't want to do it... he made me, he said that you were all evil...."

"Silence!" Violet commanded.

"You say that we are evil?" She asked the older man, "you are the evil one; you are the one who is responsible for what's going to happen here this night!"

"Please, my son, he's just a boy doing what I told him to do. Let him go and I swear that he'll never bother you again."

"It isn't that simple." Violet replied, "You tried to murder my husband and my king."

The man fell silent, he knew that there was nothing that he could do or say to change his fate. He was warned by fellow hunters not to go near the queen but he hadn't listened, he wanted to make a name for him and his son. He stole a look up at Violet and knew that his death would be painful but he made a plea for his son.

"Please, spare my son..."

"Why should I?" Violet asked, "So that he can bring others to try to kill us?"

"He won't! I'll tell him not to, please!"

"Which of you shot the arrow that almost killed my king?"

"I... I did ma'am." the young man replied.

"Why? What have we done to you to deserve such hatred?" Violet asked, "Have you been harmed by any of mine?"

"No ma'am and I don't know how to answer your question."

"Honesty, how refreshing." Violet commented to herself.

She looked at the father and then at the son.

"You," she said to the father "are going to die but your son will live."

"Than...."

"As one of us." she interrupted

A horrified expression crossed the man's face but interestingly enough, not the son's, he almost looked... pleased. He looked up at Violet and whispered a heart-felt thank you.

"What? Why are you thanking her?" the father demanded forgetting where he was and before whom he knelt. "She and her kind are nothing but murderers!"

"Take him away." Violet said softly.

Two of the guards dragged the screaming man away, moments later. There was silence.

That night had been almost four hundred years ago and the young man was still with her and had actually found his mate. Violet lay the picture on her pillow on the bed as she whispered a prayer that Justine come soon, she was tired of this world and of the humans in it.

********

After Buddy took off, Mikhail went back to the penthouse to think. He sipped on a goblet of blood as he paced length of the living room several times before he stopped in front of the window to look out. From the very beginning, something about this woman nagged at him. Jeremiah's insistence that she be found within the forty-eight hour time limit triggered something in the back of Mikhail's memory. The dog was another thing; he was her familiar, the instinctive use of her gifts...a queen!

"I'll be damned!' Mikhail exclaimed now understanding everything. He believed that initially, Jeremiah didn't know who Justine was but was now convinced that he did, that's why the push to find her. Time must be getting short because everywhere Mikhail looked; he saw vampires and humans who worked for vampires searching for her. She had to be running out of places to stay and she was restricted because of the human male. It was only a matter of hours until they were found and the male killed. Jeremiah would try to mate with her thus becoming her king for a short time at least.

The question was where would they go? He was certain that they wouldn't risk another hotel, vacant buildings were out which left only one place... the human male's home. Mikhail pulled out a map and looked at it, like Jeremiah he had people working for him but none of them human. As far as he was concerned, humans were too fickle and not to be trusted.

He was receiving the same intel as Jeremiah including the crank calls that were overheard via Jeremiah's tapped phone lines. He took his time placing pushpins at every area where Justine was supposedly seen. He didn't believe for a minute that she had been in all of those areas, it didn't make sense and she wouldn't have left the male alone for that long. A bright red pushpin marked the area in where his people had actually spotted her before she disappeared.

An hour later, the map was covered with stickpins where she was reportedly sighted by his and Jeremiah's people. He noted with interest that there was one area where there were no pushpins... the twenty block areas surrounding center city. That's where she was, somewhere in that twenty-block area lying low but not necessarily hiding until she figured out her next move of which there weren't many left.

Mikhail picked up his phone and called several numbers giving strict instructions, "Do not approach her or else you'll lose her. As soon as you spot her call me and keep an eye on her."

He finished his goblet of now cold blood and vanished to center city. He stood in front of city hall and tried to imagine where he would live if he were a single man. "Somewhere where I could walk to a restaurant if I didn't have a car or bike." he muttered.

He made a complete circle and then picked a direction and started walking.

*******

"I asked just what in the hell you're doing?" Quinn repeated, "And how did we get here so fast?"

Justine stopped mid swallow and looked at Quinn, really seeing him for the first time. She liked his height, his red hair and green/hazel eyes; overall, she liked the way that he looked. She had been serious when she told him that if things had been different that she would have gone out with him. She pushed the thoughts aside; it was time for full disclosure.

"I think that you need to sit down." she said.

"I don't need to sit, I need to know just what in the hell is happening here! Why are you drinking blood from a chicken liver container?"

"I really think that you need to ...."

"Look lady, ever since that first night I saw you weird shit has been happening, first I'm chasing you around like a love sick puppy and then I can't get through the day without thinking about you! Next, when we finally do meet some people who you won't or can't tell me about chase us. Then there's your dog that looks like he doesn't weigh more than seventy pounds tops and we can't move him. In addition, let's not forget how we got from downtown to here in no time flat and now you're drinking blood? Excuse my French but what the fuck is going on?"

"First of all, my name is Justine Graves; I was an attorney at the Law offices of Jeremiah Mathers and his nephew Malcolm."

"Was?"

"Yes was, do you to hear this or not?" she asked impatiently.

"Sorry." Quinn said as she decided that maybe he'd better sit down.

"Do you mind if I finish dinner?" Justine asked.

Quinn started to object but nodded his head yes instead.

A few minutes later, she was finished and Buddy was eating the raw chicken livers from what turned out to be Quinn's favorite cereal bowl.

"Alright," Justine said as she pulled up a chair to sit in front of Quinn.

Two hours later, a shell shocked Quinn had the entire story and was speechless. The frightening thing for him was that he believed her. The thought that she might be crazy or that she was making it up never crossed his mind, he saw her drinking the blood and had been a witness to the speed in which she could move. The transporting thing he just found plain fascinating except for the extreme nausea afterwards.

As she talked, more knowledge flowed into Justine's brain. Somewhere along the line, she realized that meeting Quinn had been no accident, he was meant to be with her as her.... Mate. The thought didn't disturb her in the least but she decided to withhold that bit of information for later, he needed time to adjust to what she had just told him.

"So let me make sure I've got this." Quinn said, "You went out to dinner human and when you woke up you were a vampire?"

"That's the gist of it." Justine said seeing Quinn in a completely different light.

"And you've been living on animal blood?"

"Yes."

"Why? I mean there are millions of people living here, you could have taken blood from any of them."

"That's true but I didn't want to accidentally hurt anyone." Justine replied. Somehow, she felt relieved to be able to talk to someone about what happened to her. That the person she was telling it to didn't freak out or judge her but seemed to accept what she was saying as truth was a plus.

"I grant you that I don't know much about vampires but isn't human blood supposed to be better for you?" Quinn asked feeling protective as well as curious.

"It is." Justine agreed "but I won't risk a life to get it."

Quinn's mind started working. He ran through his list of contacts from his drug days and tried to remember if any of them had access to a blood supply.

"What are you thinking about?" Justine asked.

"Blood and how to get some for you." Quinn replied absently.

"I won't involve anyone else in this." Justine said firmly, "and you're not leaving here, it's not safe."

"But you can't keep surviving on animal blood can you? I mean doesn't human blood have stuff in it that animal blood doesn't?"

"Not the point." Justine argued.

"It is the point!" Quinn retorted, "Are you telling me that you're as strong as you could be by drinking animal blood?"

He had a point; Justine knew that it was only a matter of time before she needed human blood.

"Alright, tell me what you're thinking."

Quinn told her about his past including Amanda and Lana, "I still have the numbers of my dealers in my head." he said. "I don't know if any of them are still around but if they are ...."

"Too risky." Justine said, "How would you get it?"

"I would meet them at one of our old meeting places...'

"Absolutely not!" Justine interrupted, "That's way to dangerous, what if you got caught?"

"I won't get caught." Quinn said not realizing whom she was talking about.

"I'm not talking about the police; I'm talking about the people looking for us. Do you understand what they'll do if they catch you?" she asked, "they'll use you to get me and that can't happen at least not yet."

Quinn was frustrated, he wanted to help her but he had to admit that she was right.

"Why dies this Jeremiah Mathers want you so badly?" Quinn asked.

"He turns human women into vampires and sells them. That's why my friend Pam was turned, but I wasn't supposed to be turned, I was supposed to be killed."

"And you know this how?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know but I know that its happening and I also know that I'm not supposed to be alive. I also know that Pam has gotten away from him but I don't know where she is or how she managed it."

"I think that there's more to it than what you're telling me." Quinn said, "I'm not saying that you're lying but there's something else going on here. Think about it... why would he go through such lengths to find you? You're one woman but yet he has people looking for you non stop."

Justine gave his words some thought, "You're right." she conceded, "but what could he want from me? Pam escaped but I would do everything I could to shut him down but that doesn't make sense either. All he would have to do is pack up and move somewhere else and keep going."

"So we agree then." Quinn said, "But that doesn't solve the blood issue."

Justine thought about the phone call that she had gotten from Zoë Carpenter. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't sensed any deception in her voice but there had been real concern and then relief when she found out that Buddy was with her. Maybe she was someone that could be trusted.... Justine froze, someone was coming, and more than one and they were looking for her.

Time was growing short.

********

Jeremiah looked at the map and came to the same conclusion Mikhail had, he now knew the general area in which Justine and her mate were hiding. He made several phone calls and headed to Center City, he wanted to capture her himself. He gave the same explicit instructions that Mikhail had, "call me immediately if you see her and under no circumstances are you to approach her."

He hummed to himself as the thoughts of limitless wealth and power went through his head. He was already mentally going through the checklist of things that he would have to do in order to close his office. "Me a king." he said to himself as he vanished.

********

Pam and the women huddled together in the back of the abandoned store. Each of them had six units of blood left, enough for another day or two. After that, Pam had no idea of what they would do for blood. None of them had any cash on them and none of them felt good about compelling people to let them drink from them.

"So what are our options?" Janine asked.

"We have none." Pam replied, "Which brings us back to what we don't want to do."

The discussion continued and grew heated. Three of the women were adamant about using their new vampiric powers to coerce people into giving them their blood.

"It's too much like what that scum Malcolm did to us." Allison said.

"Fine and what do you propose we do? Starve to death? I don't want to compel anyone anymore than you do but if I have to do it in order to survive....."

"Shush!" Pam said urgently, "someone's here."

The women hushed and looked toward the front of the store and waited not sure of what they were going to do.

"Pam." a soft female voice whispered, "I'm here to help."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Pam called back.

"I'm a friend and I can get you and the others to a safe place where Jeremiah Mathers can't get to you."

"How do I know that he didn't send you?" Pam asked.

"Do you remember an attorney by the name of Zoë Carpenter?"

"Sure," Pam replied, "she disappeared a couple of years ago, what does she have to do with anything?"

Zoë stepped forward so that Pam and the others could see her.

"Malcolm turned me just as he turned you."

"Zoë? How did you find us and what are you doing here?" Pam asked surprised.

"That's a very long story but I'm here to help you as I was helped after what Malcolm did to me, will you come?"

Pam and the others listened to Zoë's voice and detected no lie.

"Where are you going to take us?" Janine asked.

"To the home of the queen, come on, we have to go now." Zoë said and walked back to the front of the store not giving the opportunity for more questions.

The five women looked at each other and nodded, they had nothing to lose and the worst that could happen was that they would be turned over to Jeremiah.

*******

"What's the matter?" Quinn asked as he looked at Justine and heard a low growl come from Buddy.

"Time is running out and I haven't told you everything." Justine said.

"There's more?" Quinn asked.

"Yes and it has to do with why you were following me... it was a natural response."

"Response to what?" Quinn asked.

"Me... Quinn, you're my mate. In other words, we belong together."

"You and me?" Quinn asked shocked, "You wanted nothing to do with me and now you're telling me that we're mates or whatever you call it?"

"It wasn't like that exactly; part of it was that had I acknowledged you, your life would have been in danger as it is now."

"And you're just now realizing this?" he asked.

"Honestly? Yes and I haven't had much time to think about it, I've had my hands full with trying to survive and a mate was the last thing on my mind." Justine replied a bit tersely.

"What does this mean?" Quinn asked.

"I don't know yet but we have to come up with another place to go and soon."

Buddy's growls became deeper and louder, whoever was coming was getting closer.

"Quick, pack a change of clothes, we need to go." Justine said.

To his credit, Quinn didn't argue. He knocked the chair over in his haste to pack a bag, five minutes later he was back in the living room with his backpack. He looked around the small apartment knowing that he would never see it again. He hefted the backpack onto his back and adjusted it trying to distribute the weight of his cameras and clothing.

"Where to?" he asked.

"The last place they'd expect me to go... my apartment." Justine replied.

"Are you sure about this?" Quinn asked, "They'll be watching your apartment too."

"No, they're not." Justine said as she picked up her own bag.

"How do you know?" Quinn asked, "And where's Buddy?"

"At the apartment waiting for us." Justine replied as she put her arms around Quinn and hugged him tight. Unlike the first time they embraced to teleport, Justine felt something when Quinn wrapped his arms around her. For a split second, she thought to kiss him but footsteps approaching the front door stopped her.

The door banged open just as Justine and Quinn disappeared. Three men rushed into the now empty apartment and swore. Jeremiah Mathers was going to be furious and they would be severely punished if not killed especially since he had given explicit orders that they weren't to approach the woman but to call him.

"Shit!" one of the men exclaimed and ran out of the apartment leaving his two cohorts to explain to Jeremiah why his orders weren't followed.

"Maybe no one called him." One of the men said, his voice shaking with fear.