Louise Ch. 14

He pushed Barb out of his mind. She was no longer his responsibility other than she was the sister to his mate. He was brought back to the present by the sound of Juliette gagging.

"Come, let's go out for a moment." he said gently.

Juliette didn't argue, but allowed Hans to lead her out of the room and to a bathroom. Once inside, Juliette washed her face with cold water and rinsed her mouth out. Hans was waiting for her when she came out.

"Do you feel better?" he asked.

"Yes, thanks." Juliette replied sheepishly. "As you can tell, I don't do well with blood."

"I noticed." Hans said with a smile. "Would you like to go for a walk?"

"You don't like those kinds of movies either do you?" Juliette asked.

"No, not really." Hans replied. "I've seen too much death and bloodshed during my time. About that walk?"

"Sure, but I want to check on the kids first." Juliette replied.

Together, they went to the bedroom where all three children still slept. They stood side by side for several second neither of them missing how natural it felt. A few minutes later, they were walking around the grounds. The warm breeze felt good on Juliette's face. She kept peeking over at Hans still not sure of whether she believed him or not.

"You still aren't convinced." he said after a few minutes.

Juliette hesitated. She was thinking about how to respond to Hans' statement.

"I do and I don't." she finally replied. "The part of me who used to dream about mythical and mystical creatures believes you. The adult woman with three children, and has to live in the real world doesn't. I'm not saying that you're crazy. If I thought that, I wouldn't be out here alone with you and you definitely wouldn't be anywhere near my kids."

"What would it take to convince the adult woman?" Hans asked.

"Do you fly?" Juliette asked as she began to recall the vampire lore that she knew.

"No, but there are those who can." Hans replied. "I can however, jump from the ground and land on the roof of a building and vice versa."

"What else can you do?" the Juliette who used to dream about mythical and mystical creatures asked.

"I am telekinetic, I can read thoughts, but all vampires can do that as well as compel. I am also telepathic and when we mate, you will be as well. I can vanish from one place to another even if it is another part of the world. The stories about our strength and speed are true."

"What about the blood thing?" Juliette asked. "I saw you eat."

"There are those of us who can eat, but we still need blood. It has things in it that we need. There are those who can only survive on blood. Human food doesn't appeal to them and causes significant pain when ingested. While we're on the subject," Hans said, "let me dispel a few more falsehoods for you. Holy water doesn't affect us... let me clarify that. There are those who for whatever reasons let go of their humanity and become truly evil. They cannot stand to be near holy objects of any kind no matter the religion nor can they enter sacred buildings such as churches."

"Why do they change?" Juliette asked.

"Some of them just choose to." Hans replied. "Some of them get tired of waiting for their mates and instead of doing something to help them retain their humanity and compassion, they let themselves go. These are extremely dangerous creatures. They will take a woman even if she is mated, and will force her to mate with them. Why? No one knows for sure although the consensus is that they hope to revert to their former selves."

"Does it work?" Juliette asked.

"Not that I am aware of." Hans replied. "These creatures are part of the reason why vampire males are so protective of their mates, especially ones that are still human or haven't turned. Once a mate is turned, they are of no use to the dark ones. When a dark one is spotted, they are immediately killed with no questions asked. There are also those that are called hunters." Hans continued.

"They have been in existence for as long as the vampire and they are our sworn enemy. Their only goal is to eradicate every vampire there is and they will use the women and children of the vampire to meet this goal. That is another reason our families are so vigorously protected."

"Are the hunters human?" Juliette asked.

"For the most part yes." Hans replied. "But there are other species who work with them including vampires. Secrecy about whom and what we are is our greatest protection. I must apologize; I have gotten away from what we were discussing."

"Please, don't apologize." Juliette said. "I needed to hear all of this at some point didn't I?" she asked.

"You believe me then?" Hans asked.

"It's not that I don't believe you." Juliette replied. "When I'm with you and talking to you, it sounds so reasonable. The problem comes when I'm alone and have time to think."

Suddenly, Hans was gone. Juliette stared at the spot where he had just been standing in disbelief. She did a complete three-sixty degree turn looking for him.

"Juliette, turn around and look up." Hans called out to her.

Juliette swallowed hard, slowly turned around and looked up. She gasped in shock when she saw Hans floating several feet above her.

"Oh my god...Oh my god!" she murmured as Hans slowly descended and landed on his feet in front of her.

"Juliette?" Hans said softly ready to catch her if she fainted.

"Oh my god." she repeated looking up at him. "I think I'd better sit down."

Hans looked around for the nearest place to sit. Seeing none that he deemed close enough, Hans sat on the ground and pulled Juliette into his lap.

She sat in stunned silence not paying attention to the fact that a hard cock was pressed into her bottom. Hans fought the urge to rub against her and waited.

"Do you bite people?" Juliette asked when she recovered from her shock.

"Not unless there is an emergency where blood is unavailable." Hans replied. "Some of us have access to bagged human blood. Sometimes, a female will allow her mate to feed from her, but it isn't required nor is it forced."

"Where do you get the bagged blood from?" Juliette asked.

"There are vampire run facilities where it can be ordered from. Some like the Sinclaires' have their own suppliers or they own their own blood bank."

"What about you?" Juliette asked.

"I am nowhere near as well off as the Sinclaires, but I have my own supplier. Hans replied

"When did you last bite someone?" Juliette asked.

"It's been awhile." Hans replied.

"How long?" Juliette pressed not sure of why it was so important that she know.

"I haven't bitten a human since blood banks came into existence." Hans replied.

"But what about those who don't have money? What do they do?"

"Some of them live off of animal blood, some of them make arrangements with human friends and some of them just take what they need in order survive. Sometimes in their eagerness, they kill or accidentally turn someone. There are also those who prefer to feed from humans as opposed to the alternatives. "

"And then what happens to the ones who were turned?" she asked.

Hans hesitated. He wasn't ready to tell her about the uglier parts of his world.

"What happens to them?" Juliette asked again oddly concerned.

"They are hunted down and if possible; saved." Hans replied. "If they cannot be saved, they die."

"Die? You mean killed don't you?" Juliette asked.

"You have to understand." Hans said. "All new vampires need someone to teach them how to survive without killing anyone. As I mentioned, secrecy is our greatest protection and these newborns through no fault of their own endanger all us. They must be dealt with."

"Can you imagine waking up to a world that you may not believe in or even knew existed?" Juliette asked. "And to top it off, you're hunted and then killed without knowing or understanding why? That has to be terrifying."

Hans looked at Juliette and saw the tears brimming in her eyes. The compassion that she felt for the unfortunates who had been unwittingly turned touched him.

"Ours is a hard world." he said softly.

"What happens to the ones who accidentally turn someone? Are they hunted down too?"

"Yes and they are forced to take their new creations."

"But what if they refuse? Or if they say yes and then dump them off somewhere?" Juliette asked.

Juliette had touched on a topic that was of concern to all vampires, even the dark ones, but it was a discussion for another day.

"We are working on that issue." Hans assured her. "Do you have any questions regarding our relationship?"

"Let me see if I understand something," Juliette said. "If I do this, I will become immortal. All of the kids will have the opportunity to change when they are old enough to decide, but they could also find their mates. Am I correct so far?"

"Yes." Hans replied.

"If they don't change or find their mates, I have to watch them die." Juliette said. "And if they change and become one of the dark ones, they die."

"Yes, but Juliette, they will have me, Nathan and every vampire in the family to teach them so that it doesn't happen."

"How often does it happen?" Juliette asked. "How often does someone who was turned have to be killed?"

"I wish that I could say never." Hans replied. "It doesn't happen often but I should tell you in the cases that it did, the people who died were bad people in their human lives. When one is turned, the personality remains the same and in some cases, the personality worsens. However, Juliette, our children are in no danger of being killed. They are already good children who will grow into good adults who will contribute much to the world whether they remain human or not."

"Our children?" Juliette asked.

"Our children." Hans replied. "Wanda, Victor and Celeste will be and are loved as though they came from my loins. That they have a father doesn't change that nor does it change the fact that he is their father. I encourage that relationship and will only interfere if I see that they are being hurt."

"But Hans, they're children. They'll feel as though they have to choose and that alone will hurt them." Juliette replied. "And I won't do that to them."

"I know and I understand." Hans replied. "I also think that you aren't giving them enough credit or is it that you're using them as an excuse? I know that your concern is real, and it is a legitimate concern but let us not confuse the issues. The way to handle the concern about the children is to be upfront with them. I won't and don't require that they call me father or anything like that. I leave what they will call me up to them. The issue that you are having is up to you to resolve."

Juliette didn't respond. Hans was right in that she was confusing the issues.

"Juliette, tell me about the man that you were with." Hans urged.

Juliette looked at her watch; they had been gone for almost two hours.

"We'd better go check on the kids." she said. "We've been out here for awhile."

"Fine, but then we will continue this discussion." Hans said.

When they got to the room, Wanda was just waking up.

"Is Vickie still here?" she asked.

"She's in the room down the hall." Juliette replied. "Are you hungry?"

"A little." Wanda replied. "I'll get something after I talk to Vickie."

During the conversation, Victor and then Celeste woke up.

"Let's tend to the children, we can talk again later." Hans said as he picked Celeste up.

Juliette watched as Celeste wrapped her arms around Han's neck and laid her head on his shoulder. There was no fear only trust as she closed her eyes again not quite ready to wake up.

Juliette's eyes met Hans.

"We belong to each other." he whispered before handing Celeste over to her.

**********

It wasn't until three before Gene saw his chance to talk to Louise. He thought that Nathan was never going to leave her side. Once the moment arrived, he wasn't sure that he could go through with it. Apologies weren't a part of his vocabulary unless he hoped to gain something out of it. He reminded himself that he would be. He would be on the road to gaining some respect for himself. The question was whether Louise would believe him.

He decided that it didn't matter whether she believed him or not. He had made far too many false apologies for her to believe that this one was sincere. He had to show her that he was at least thinking about things. He waited another few seconds, looked around for Nathan and went over to her.

"Hey sis." he said as he sat next to her.

"Hey yourself." Louise replied. "Having a good time?"

"No, not really." Gene replied, "and that isn't anyone's fault but my own." he added.

Louise waited for Gene to continue. He cleared his throat, started to speak and stopped. He wasn't sure that he could go through with it. Getting buzzed was becoming more tempting by the second. A moment later, he began.

"I know that I haven't been the best brother to you and the rest. I was sitting back there thinking about why, and I couldn't come up with a good reason except to say that I am and was a jackass. I let everyone down including dad because I didn't do what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to take care of mom and the rest of you after he died. I did the bare minimum, which is something that I've always done, and left you holding the bag.

I should have helped you a lot more than I did even though I couldn't help you financially. Instead of taking charge, I played devil's advocate and made an already difficult situation more difficult. Unfortunately, there's nothing that I can do to change that. I'm sorry. I know that I've apologized before and didn't mean it, but this time I do."

Louise lowered her shields and felt the sincerity of the apology.

"When I heard that you were getting married, I didn't congratulate you or Kevyn. I was so angry that you and she were getting what I wanted. Part of the anger was at Leon too. He was a fucking drug addict, lost everything but he came out on top. Instead of asking him how he did it, I got angry and jealous. When I found out that we were being flown out here for the wedding, I looked at it as an opportunity. That in and of itself isn't wrong but using you and Kevyn's wedding was. Asking you to talk to your husband on my behalf was wrong.

I know that you're going to find this hard to believe, but I'm only just beginning to understand that most of what happened in my life was my fault. A lot of what you went through with mom was my fault. Nathan told me that I should have been the one leading the way in helping you and he's right. He also called me a lazy son of a bitch, and he's right about that too.

As I was sitting back there thinking, I felt a little like Ebenezer Scrooge except that any changes that I make won't be overnight. I know that it won't be easy and I expect to have relapses but I'm going to try. Just a favor though, I would like to call every so often to say hello and to check on the progress of my new niece or nephew."

Louise reached over and took Gene's hand in hers.

"Thank you." she said softly. "I know how hard this must have been for you, and it means a lot to me. I accept your apology and of course, you can call me. But I have a suggestion."

Gene almost made a smart comment and, and stopped himself.

"Talk to Leon." Louise said. "He can help you if you'll let him."

"I know, and I will. Are we alright?" Gene asked.

"We're alright and Gene? We're here if you need us." Louise said giving his hand a squeeze.

"Thanks sis." Gene said returning the squeeze and moving away.

He went back to his seat, sat down and blew out a long breath. Talking to Louise had been more difficult than he thought it would be. He couldn't imagine what it was going to be like telling Kevyn about his involvement with Clay Robinson. He thought about writing a letter and leaving it for her.

"I can't do this." he muttered as he looked around. He wondered if anyone would miss him if he snuck back up the kitchen. There had to be a beer in the fridge. He looked around and saw that no one was looking in his direction. He slowly stood up and began to make his way to the stairs that led to the kitchen. Halfway up, he stopped and turned around. He could have sworn that he heard someone behind him. When he didn't see anyone, he made his way to the kitchen.

He stopped in front of the refrigerator and stared at it. He battled with what he wanted to do and what he should do.

"Walk away." he told himself even as he reached for the handle. "I deserve a beer." he muttered. He opened the fridge and saw brands of beer that he didn't know existed. "Just one...."

"Those don't belong to you." a voice said from behind him. "Does Uncle Patrick know that you're taking one of his beers?"

Gene turned around to see Victoria looking at him.

"Oh... hey, he said that I could have one." Gene replied hoping that Victoria would just go away.

"No he didn't." Victoria replied.

Gene started to argue with her and realized that she had just done him a favor.

"You're right, he didn't." Gene replied and closed the refrigerator door. "Thank you." he said and walked back to the door leading downstairs.

Victoria watched him walk away, shook her head and followed Gene down the stairs.

*******

By five am, everyone was gone leaving Victoria Patrick, Kevyn, Louise and Nathan to clean up the mess. Patrick had given what house staff he had the evening off, and refused to leave the mess for them. With the five of them working together the clean up went quickly.

As they cleaned, they talked about the evening.

"Leon will be back." Louise said. "He'll want to go back home to give his two weeks notice and to pack up his stuff."

"Gene won't be back will he?" Kevyn asked

"I don't think so." Louise replied, "if he does, it will be to visit."

"And Juliette?" Kevyn asked.

"She'll leave too, but she'll be back." Louise replied and then turned to Patrick. "Hans is going to need time off."

"I know." Patrick replied. "We've already talked about that. The arrangements are already made."

"What do you think is happening with Barb?" Kevyn asked.

"I don't know." Louise confessed. I thought I felt something the other day but it was gone before I could grasp it."

"Does she really hate us?' Kevyn asked.

"No, not really." Louise replied, "But she's very angry though."

"Can you believe that a week has passed already?" Nathan asked. "They'll be leaving in a couple of days so I was thinking, how about another night out a Jonesy's? We could invite Joseph and anyone else who wants to come. How much notice does Jonesy need?"

"Not too much, just a general head count." Patrick replied.

"Not tonight though, Leon is taking Nadine out for dinner, and Hans and Juliette have some unfinished business." Louise said.

Kevyn looked at the clock. "They should just be getting back to the hotel, let's call them before they hit the sack."

"It's too early to call Barb." Louise said. "I'll call her later."

Patrick and Nathan finished cleaning up while Kevyn and Louise made phone calls. Victoria, bored with the conversation went to one of the spare bedrooms, and settled in for the day glad that she was too young to worry about adult things such as mating.

********

Gene went to his suite still fighting the urge for a drink. He was amazed at how strong the desire for a drink was once he had decided that he was going to stop. He was going to pick up the phone to call for room service when his phone rang.

"Hey Kev... dinner tomorrow? Ok... sure. Kev?... never mind, I'll see you tomorrow night."

He hung up still wanting a drink. His hand shook as he reached for the phone. He pulled his hand back as a realization hit him. He was scared shitless. He was afraid of failing. That was the real reason why he never stepped up to the plate in his marriage, his job and in life in general. He also realized why the urge to drink was so strong whereas he had always had some control before; he was vulnerable as well as scared. When he drank, he didn't feel vulnerable or afraid. He had felt nothing but fear since he arrived almost a week ago. That realization did little to curb the desire for a drink.