Lost Bloodlines Ch. 06

Disclaimer and Acknowledgment: All persons engaged in sexual activity or otherwise sexualized are over 18.

Thank you to my editor, LiterKnight, for their continued assistance in helping me put out better-polished installments of this series!

My deepest apologies, but there is no sex in this chapter. A travesty, I know. I'll try to make up for it later!

-00000-

"Okay, just take it slow and steady," I cautioned, and winced as the hand on my shoulder dug in with sharp claws.

Hae Chung, the kitsune I had rescued several days ago, offered an apologetic smile and eased her death grip. She took an experimental step with her injured leg, appeared to balance for a moment, but, with a cry, her full weight fell back on my shoulder as the limb buckled.

"I'm...I'm sorry," she whispered softly. After a pleading look towards a patiently waiting Cyrilla, the werewolf stepped in and handed her a crutch.

"It's alright, Hae," I said, holding her steady as she put her weight back onto the crutch with a frown. "Dr. Lima said it will take some time to regain use of your leg."

Hae looked sullen as she began to hobble forward, back towards the looming CDC building. Her fox ears were folded low and her many tails drooped. "I need to be strong when they come for us," she muttered. "I want to be able to hold my children when I see them again." She looked back at me. "How long until the fairies rescue us?"

I shared a look with Cyri. "It's the third day," I said. "I imagine we'll find out any hour now."

Hae smiled, reassured, and began the long walk back to the CDC facility, hobbling determinedly all the while.

In the hours after King Oberon's surprise broadcast, Fort McPherson had become a panicked mess, monstrous soldiers alternately celebrating and cursing below ground as human agents and soldiers were driven into rapid crisis meetings and hurried preparations. In the midst of it all, I had been left alone, Elizabeth giving a terse promise to get me back to camp by dinner before rushing off to parts unknown.

I had used the unexpected solitude to come to grips with the rapid-fire revelations that had been thrust upon me. So many unknown factions had plans for the Turned: the Militia, the 'Conclave', this 'Project Tartarus', and now these 'Monstrous Seats.' I had no idea if any of them were even remotely trustworthy. Magical humans, new monsters, old monsters, religious zealots, and secretive government agents, all with different agendas. As far as I saw it, my only agenda was to survive and protect the ones I cared about. Figuring out what the hell was actually going on was a secondary, but no less important interest. It was clear that the government had no idea of the magical underground community, and I rather doubted that the Militia was anything but a reactionary paramilitary force. That left the Conclave and the Seats, the Seats being the one that hasn't tried twice now to enslave me. With all this in mind, I decided to temper my enthusiasm on our imminent 'rescue,' but remain tentatively hopeful.

When a harried-looking Elizabeth had returned hours later, I was hurried back to the prison camp, which unexpectedly was in just as much of a frenzy. There were no electronic devices allowed inside the camp; we had all been stripped of our phones. I was expecting to have to break the news myself to my friends, but as it turned out, two enterprising goblins had been spying on one of the guard towers when the broadcast came through on some of the radios there. The news had spread like wildfire throughout the camp. We had now reached the promised third day, and to say that the mood of my fellow monsters was complicated would be an understatement. Many welcomed the announcement with enthusiasm, but others were much more reserved, wary of what this new threat held for the monsters in the camp.

Before I had been returned to the camp, Elizabeth had given me a furtive kiss and a request. Though I had turned down her offer of participation in Tartarus, she recognized that I still wanted to be useful at the camp, rather than just waiting around. Given that I was already likely to be spending lots of time in the recovery suites with Aqua, she asked that I help guard and assist the other monsters recuperating there. Many of them had been injured in the riot earlier in the week, and more than a few of them had killed or injured soldiers in the process, leaving them in a complicated position. While they needed continued treatment, they were also considered dangerous, and having more soldiers in their rooms was likely to just make the situation worse. Their fuzzy legal situation was only further complicated by the Fae's threat of recompense for imprisonment. That's where I came in.

I, along with Victoria and Cyrilla, have taken up residence in the CDC building these last few days as we assumed unofficial positions as both guards and nurses' assistants for the monsters housed there. It wasn't a job without issues, but it allowed us to be close the Aqua and do some good while the rest of the monsters waited in suspense for how the government would respond to Oberon's threat and offer.

Cyri bumped my shoulder and brought me out of my reverie. She nodded towards the retreating figure of Hae. "Hard to imagine that the poor woman burned half a dozen men alive. She's basically a soccer mom." She wasn't wrong. Hae was a sweetie, but she was...fragile. I shook my head.

"They took her children away from her," I responded. "Really, I'm not all that surprised that she snapped. I might have too in her position." I looked up at the hulking werewolf whose body was most distinctly male, and yet held a woman inside. "And besides, looks can be deceiving."

She chuckled, and the fuzzy ears poking through her hair twitched. "As we know all too well."

We walked in silence for a few moments along the pathways towards the main building, keeping Hae in sight as she led us onwards. The air somehow felt less stifling out here, far from the fences of the camp. The soldiers were inescapable, however, standing guard near any possible egress away from the facility and towards the city or the countryside. Freedom may be coming, but it wasn't here yet. I grimaced. Assuming the government actually accepted the offer.

"How are you doing with that, anyway?"

"Doing with what?" I responded as Cyri looked down at me with furrowed brows.

"Come on, Lilith, I'm not the only one whose sex and gender became a fucking mess after we Turned. You just never really talk about it."

I shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I just sort of...accepted it?" I looked down. Sometimes it was almost easy to forget about the dramatic transformation I had gone through. The overfull chest of my tan shirt jutted out suggestively, appearing to mock my words. No matter what I wore, it always seemed to scream 'suggestive,' to me.

"Don't get me wrong, having tits and a vagina? It's really damn weird." I blushed. "Fun, but weird. And the way people look at me now...like I'm some sort of candy bar they want to unwrap. And then there's the voice and the mannerisms and...I've gotten more hugs from non-romantic partners in the past week than my entire life as a man, you know that? I guess I figured it's just another thing to get used to in this new world. Or hell, maybe I'm actually a gibbering mess on the inside and the only thing keeping me complacent is the fucking demon in my head manipulating me subconsciously." I offered Cyri my best facsimile of a reassuring smile. "But hey, sex is even more amazing now, so I shouldn't really complain about my fraying sanity, right?"

Cyri was not impressed. Her broad features were drawn into a concerned frown, and with a look towards our closing gap away from Hae, she put out an arm and stopped me. "But there's more to it than that, isn't there?"

I sighed. "Not that really matters, no."

"You can talk to me, Lilith." Her face reddened slightly. "I know I'm not Victoria, or even Aqua, but...I'm here for you. For whatever you need. You don't have to act tough like you do for the others." Her dark eyes searched mine.

I reached out and grabbed ahold of the arm that was blocking my way, running my fingers down towards its rough palm. I knew that she shaved every morning to try to contain the masculine body hair, but her muscled forearm was already dark with stubble. I grabbed her hand between mine and looked up at her intensely.

"Except I do have to act tough, Cyri," I felt my voice rising slightly and the werewolf blinked as I rounded on her. "Because deep down, I'm still Charles fucking Finch, a history teacher for overprivileged brats who lived a quiet, sheltered, sexless life with a woman I loved more than anything in the world. And that woman threw me away like a piece of garbage because I turned into some kind of hermaphroditic freak! And to deal with the pain of that rejection and the confusion of a world rapidly falling apart, I took on this persona, became 'Lilith,' this sexy, confident, feminine badass who for some reason everyone looks to solve their problems!"

At this point I was practically yelling, Cyri's trembling hand crushed in my desperate grip. "And if I don't keep it up, I might remember that I butchered half a dozen people! I might become absolutely terrified that an ancient monster lives in my head and wants me to either fuck or enslave every person I meet." I felt the corners of my eyes grow wet and I looked away from the terribly pitying look in Cyrilla's eyes. "I wake up every morning confused and alarmed, because I don't feel right. It feels like I don't fit in my own skin. I mean, look at these!" I roughly squeezed my breasts through my shirt, and now Cyri looked away with a blush. "They're just absurd! And that's not even going into the madness between my legs, trust me on that one!" I breathed heavily and tried to ignore the curious looks my outburst had attracted from the nearby guards.

"I have to be okay with who I am now," I whispered, "because if I'm not, then I don't know how to keep living like this." My eyes burned as I tried to hold back the torrent of tears that threatened to erupt. I kept my eyes solidly on Cyri's chest and refused to look up.

I felt her hands touch at my shoulders and begin tugging at me, slowly, hesitantly, as if she was afraid I would run or something. "Don't," I warned haltingly, but I found myself pressed against her chest as she pulled me in and wrapped her arms around me. I struggled for a moment, even putting some real strength into it, but her arms were solid as iron around me and refused to budge.

Eventually I settled, and simply allowed her to hold me for a moment. The tears that threatened to escape never did. "Why do we keep ending up in this position?" I mumbled into her chest.

She chuckled, the entirety of her chest vibrating with the deep hum. "Because we're both very fucked up individuals." She let go of me, and I pulled back. Her face was sympathetic, even after the barrage of pent-up anxiety and rage I had just thrown at her.

"I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

The werewolf, normally so somber and withdrawn, had a gentle smile on her face. "I told you, I'm here for you. If you need to vent, I can take it." She patted my head affectionately. "I'm a big girl...now. I actually used to be rather short. Just about your size, pipsqueak"

I glared up at the grinning woman who easily had a full foot of height on me. "Shut up. Go...chase a cat up a tree or something, you big mutt." She just laughed, and with a yank, we were back on our way down the path. I tried to hold onto my scowl and wallow a bit more in my self-misery, but Cyri was insistent, and something about the rarity of that big toothy grin of hers made the weight of the last week not so hard to bear any more.

"Hae, wait up!" I yelled. The fox-woman turned around and tapped her uninjured foot with all the impatient energy of a six-year old before Christmas. Hell, if Congress actually went through with the alliance with the monsters, we might really have something to celebrate about. Maybe things could go back to some semblance of normalcy. I let a little grin slip. Maybe Christmas would come early this year.

Of course, I had to fucking jinx it.

-00000-

After seeing Hae back to her assigned room, Cyri and I returned to our constant vigil at Aqua's side. Her skin was no longer quite so pale, her breathing not as labored, but still she had remained asleep as she recovered from her grievous injury. Dr. Lima had removed the bandage from around her neck the day before, and only an angry red scar marring the smooth skin of her throat remained.

As I walked into the room, Victoria's head was bent over some sort of tabloid magazine she had looted from somewhere in the facility as she sat by the bedside. I placed my hands on her shoulders and squeezed gently, placing a kiss on the top of her head. She jerked her head up, but smiled as she saw me, meeting my lips in a slow and sensual kiss. When we parted, she wore a self-satisfied smirk.

I passed her to the bedside, yelping as she squeezed a handful of my ass as I stepped in front. Lilith had been right, damn her. When I told Victoria about my encounter with Elizabeth, she had lasted all of a third of the way through the story until her hand was down her pants and she was begging to hear more. The girl was becoming dangerously open-minded, I wouldn't be able to use her as an excuse to escape Dr. Lima for much longer.

I lifted one of Aqua's limp hands from the bedsheet and kissed it gently, threading my own fingers through it as I sat in one of the unoccupied chairs. Cyri shuffled in behind me, taking her usual spot against the window sill.

"Is it weird how much it hurts to see her like this?" I asked softly. "I mean, I barely know her. Four days of shameless flirting on her part, one intense bout of sex, and a night together that was interrupted horribly half-way through. That's all our connection is based on." I squeezed her limp hand pensively as I looked over to Victoria.

"It's not weird, love," she said. "I feel the same way."

"We all do," Cyri rumbled from the corner. "Even though it hasn't been that long. We've been through a lot together."

"Yes, but..." I said, "I don't even know her real name. How old she is. What she used to do. Every interaction we had up until this point was her trying to get into my pants, and finally succeeding." My voice broke. "And then saving my life."

My companions were silent for a long moment.

"22," Cyri said. "She's 22."

"I think she was in college." Victoria spoke up. "She said something about frat parties once, and failing out of a mid-term. Claimed she only went there to rescue impressionable freshmen girls from pervy frat bros." She chuckled. "Of course, she then described how they all fell into bed with her immediately afterwards, so maybe take it with a grain of salt." We all shared a laugh.

"She doesn't know how to swim," Cyri added.

"You're messing with me! The siren doesn't know how to swim?" I sputtered.

"It's true. Told me she's never seen a body of water bigger than a swimming pool in her life, and she never even went in it."

"Well, we have to fix that." I declared. "Once she's better, we'll drag her to the beach. God, after the week I've had, I could use a little R&R. No wizards, no guards, no horny scientists. Just sun and sand. Damn, I bet I could rock a bikini."

We laughed again, but I froze as the hand in mine suddenly tightened. I whipped around, and Aqua was leaning up against the pillows, blinking groggily.

"Aqua!" we all cried, and she was immediately surrounded on all sides. Aqua opened her mouth to say something, but just let out a raspy croak instead. Her eyes became panicked, and a hand whipped to her neck, feeling at the raised scar tissue there. She turned to me, pain and confusion written across her face.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," I reassured her quickly. I pulled her hand from her neck and held it in my own. "You've been out for a few days now. Do you remember what happened to you?"

Her gaze lost focus for a moment, as if she were trying to remember, but then she nodded sharply.

"You were hurt very badly," I said. "The doctors here have been taking care of you, but...they don't know if you'll be able to speak again." Her eyes widened again and she tugged insistently at my arms, grunting painfully in protest.

"Shh, its okay," I tried to calm her, holding on tight so she couldn't grab at her throat again. "There are things you don't know. We'll find a way to get you all better, there are...people out there, that we think can help." The 'advanced medical treatments' that Oberon had promised were what I was referring to here. We had theorized that if anyone could fix up Aqua, barring the fuckers that did it to her in the first place, it would be the monsters.

Aqua looked confused, but settled back down into her bed. "We'll bring you back up to speed, fishbreath. Things are looking up around here." Victoria said, patting her arm gently.

"Until then," I started, reaching under one of the counters for the pair of items we had requested days prior from the doctors. I pulled out a small erase-board and attached expo-marker on a cord, handing the two to her. "You can use this to talk, unless you magically learned sign language while you were out."

Finally, Aqua cracked a little smile, and ruefully shook her head. She took the pad and marker, thinking for a moment before scrawling something down on the pad. She turned it to face us, and I laughed.

"You're never taking me to a beach, but I would murder several puppies to see you in a bikini."

"Puppy murder isn't necessary," I laughed. I leaned forward a planted a soft kiss on her cheek, smiling as she blushed slightly. "As soon as we're out of here, I'll find one to model just for you." She smiled lecherously.

A dark shadow crossed over her face, then, and she seemed to be thinking over something that soured her good mood. She tapped the marker against the board several times in thought before writing something else down. As she turned it towards us, she pointed at her neck with a sullen frown.

"Does this mean no more oral?"

Cyri tried to hold in the snicker, she really did, but it came out all the same. Victoria and I held on slightly longer, but quickly burst into our own chuckles at the siren's words. Aqua looked affronted, and rapidly wrote something else.

"It's important!", she scrawled, the words underlined three times. We just laughed harder. Even after suffering a near-death experience and being comatose for four days, the siren hadn't changed a bit.

"Probably, yeah," Victoria said. At Aqua's downcast features, she nudged the reclining siren with a shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure Lilith and I will find a way to make it up to you. I'm pretty sure our mouths work just fine." Aqua appeared to be weighing Victoria's words as Cyri began to blush. With a haughty expression, she nodded her agreement at the fair deal.

We spent the next hour catching Aqua up on everything that happened while she was unconscious, which took considerably longer than necessary as the siren demanded to hear the details of my encounter with Elizabeth in greater detail. For Cyrilla's sake, I tried to push off her request, but she continued to shove her board in my face demanding answers until I relented, whispering the story in her ear. By the ever-deepening red on Cyri's face, I could tell my attempt at privacy was not entirely successful.

We were interrupted from our long-winded catch-up as I noticed a flurry of movement from the window. As Victoria recounted Sam's unsuccessful attempts in the last few days to score with the camp guards before we were moved to parts unknown, I moved over to the window to see what exactly was happening out there.