The Cure Ch. 02

Gabriel couldn't manage to get use to the stale smell of the catacomb of mazes he'd discovered in the abandon silver mines. He wasn't sure what had led him to the place where he kept his sister Madelyn captive, but all the still it had served its purpose well.

He'd known weeks earlier that his young, beautiful, vibrant sister hadn't been acting herself. It wasn't until he cut himself making dinner that he discovered reality behind all the childhood stories he'd been told. At the sight of his blood his sister had flown into a frenzy, drawing his injured hand to her lips and drinking the thick red blood from the open gash. In that moment, he knew that he had to find away to save her.

Confusedly, he pushed her away. She turned her eyes up to him. Her eyes were bright red and void of all traces of humanity. He could sense her hatred and desire acutely. He knew in that moment what she was. All that would come to mind was the Lord's prayer. As he began to recite it, seeing his own death at her hands, she began to screech as if in brutal agony. She doubled over and began to vomit violently.

He took advantage of her pain. Continuing to pray, he bound her hands and feet and carried her to the jeep. His intention had been to take her to the hospital, but it was as if an invisible hand was steering his jeep. Instead of the hospital, he found himself in the middle of no where, 50 miles out side of town in the back country, standing at the entrance of the old silver mine.

With only a flash light and his catatonic sister draped over his shoulder, he allowed that invisible hand to guide him through the web of interconnecting passages and tunnels to a room that had obviously once served as a prison of some sort. As he let the beam of the flash light explore the dark cavern, he found shackles lined along the wall. A dusty mattress in the corner of the room and what looked to be a makeshift lab lining the wall next to the entrance. All at once he knew his purpose. The Lord led him to that place to secure his sister until he could find a cure.

In the weeks to follow, he'd made the rather large cave into a second home. He'd brought a tub for Madelyn to bath in, though he was only able to fill it with water from the natural spring that ran freely though out the maze of tunnels. He dragged her bed, frame and all to insure she would sleep comfortably all with in moving range of the iron tether. He filled the room with oil lanterns so that he could document the steady changes in her appearance and behavior. The only thing he hadn't taken in to account, was feeding her, though she hadn't seemed at all weak and he hadn't once sensed her hunger in the weeks that he'd held her chained to the silver lined wall.

"Madelyn honey..." Gabriel breathed tiredly, studying her empty green eyes. "I'm back."

"I see." she frowned, not bothering to rise from the bed. She didn't have the energy. Her heart ached far too much to move.

"I'm sorry I had to leave you alone for so long." Gabriel apologized softly, debating whether he should tell her about the female creature.

"I smell her on you." Madelyn said disinterestedly as if reading his thoughts, though he knew she couldn't.

"I've met another female like you." Gabriel said gently. "I'm hoping maybe she can help me find a cure."

"I don't need a cure." she said weakly. "I need Adam." she said as she had a million times in the past two weeks.

"Yeah..." he said thoughtfully. "I would love to find Adam as well. I'd like to rend his head from his neck for doing this to you." he bit as once again rage took hold of him over his sister

predicament.

"He did nothing to me that I didn't ask him to. I knew what he was and I wanted to be with him forever." she said honestly. "You wouldn't understand. You're heart is incapable of knowing that kind of love. You're just like Mother." she frowned, chiding him as she did over the course of their child hood for not wearing his heart on his sleeve. "I will die with out him Gabriel. Please I'm begging you to let me go to him." Madelyn pleaded, thick painful tears spilling from her eyes, not knowing how much longer she could survive with out her mate.

"You won't die. I won't let you." Gabriel said firmly. "I will find away to fix you."

"And I will find away to return to him if I don't die here." she said honestly.

"Then maybe I should make it a point of destroying him before I find a cure for you." he bit coldly.

"You would destroy me in the process." she smiled.

"Stop being so dramatic." he laughed bitterly, seeing that even as a creature she still had a propensity for melodrama.

"I'm not being dramatic... If you destroy the maker, you destroy the creation. Every one knows that." she said, not honestly knowing if her words were actually accurate.

"Oh... Damn it." he sighed.

"Watch your language. What would God think?" she chided. "I think you would see things differently if you were capable of loving." she said thoughtfully.

"I have to go." he frowned feeling Ava calling out to him. Her crying his name echoed as loudly in his head as it would have in the wide open cave.

"She's calling you. You can sense that." Madelyn said with a gasp of surprise, though she'd been in the process of being educated about their abilities when her brother had secreted her away, she was certain that only mated pairs could call one another. Hearing the female vampires voice in her brothers head confused and interested her greatly.

"Yes I can sense her. Same as I sense you." he shook his head annoyed by the smile on his sisters pale face.

"I can't summon you." she said knowingly.

"I'll be back soon." Gabriel sighed, feeling Ava's summons become more urgent, though to his surprise it didn't seem to hold any anger. Nervously, he drove back to the parking lot of the Vampire night club he'd fled from earlier. He knew Ava was awaiting him there.

"What have you done, you stupid human?" Ava questioned furiously, before Gabriel was able to step out of his Jeep.

"What do you mean?" Gabriel asked innocently, having thought the whole way there of a way to explain his actions. He knew that she would be livid with him. He didn't need to see the violet of her eyes to know that she was fighting the urge to sink her fangs into him, he sensed the war of emotions with in her very vividly.

"What do I mean?" Ava growled taking a threatening step closer to him. Instinctively, his hands immediately went to her shoulders, cupping them soothingly. Ava, felt a powerful stab of sentiment that she hadn't felt in longer than she could recall. It was so foreign that she was unable to even name it. For a moment, she found herself completely frozen. To her chagrin, her eyes returned to their calmer shade of green as her anger melted away.

"I didn't have a choice Ava." Gabriel said, telling only a half truth. Had he not baited the guard she'd left to watch over him, he'd not have had to defend himself. "That blood sucker bit me."

He explained, with wide eyed child like surprise.

"Where?" Ava questioned, having sensed the attack on the human the moment it happened. Fear had immediately crept into her mind as she'd felt Gabriel's pain and distress distinctly.

"There." Gabriel said, removing only one hand from her, to tug the edge of his collar down to give her a view of a mark that didn't exist. He tensed as Ava stepped closer in an attempt to study his injury. The feel of her warm breath on his skin was almost more than he could bare. Slowly he closed his eyes and found himself deeply breathing in her intoxicating scent.

"There's nothing there Gabriel... Not even a bruise." Ava said thoughtfully, knowing that what she'd felt earlier had not been an illusion. Confusion filled her mind like a thick haze. She knew Gabriel staked the guard while he was still feeding. Why his wounds were sealed was a mystery. She'd never known a human that could close heal their own wounds.

It was the responsibility of all vampires to close the puncture marks of their victims. As their fangs were covered with powerful toxin, their saliva was filled with antibodies to those toxins. The feeder would coat the wound with a thick coat of saliva when they were done feeding immediately sealing the evidence of their crime against humanity. Failing to do so, the wounds would fester and end the life of the victim in a matter of hours as the human body had no antibody to the venomous toxins that coated the fangs of all vampires.

"I know... I thought that was strange. I figured that ya'll just have a way of closing it up." Gabriel shrugged blamelessly, forcing his mind from the creature standing so close to him, trying desperately to focus on the conversation at hand.

"We do." Ava said hesitantly, deciding not to relay her concerns. She didn't want the human knowing yet just how unique he actually was until she had a chance to discover why he was so singular. "Do you realize what a mess you've made for me to have to clean up Gabriel?" Ava asked with a sigh, running her fingers through her long hair in frustration.

"Relax." Gabriel frowned, feeling a sense of guilt over her distress that made him more than uncomfortable. Instinctively, his hands moved to her full round hips to draw her closer to him. "They all bow to you. This isn't a big deal. Why are you so upset?"

"That's the second time that you've said that tonight. Why do you assume that they bow to me?" She asked, easing away from him despite the objections of her body. Intently, she studied his tired eyes.

"I don't know." he said honestly. "I think I just assumed it because of the way you looked at them as you dragged me from the club earlier. I sensed them... I don't know, cowering I guess, to you. Why is that by the way?" he asked curiously. "What makes you so special to them?"

"What do you mean you sensed them?" she asked, realizing that the council may have a bigger problem on their hands than they'd originally suspected. If a mortal could actually sense their presence and state of mind, that could prove fatal to their very existence.

"It's hard to explain." he shrugged. "I felt you... I think the second you were asked to come here. And I've been locked on you every since. But when others of your kind are around... I can sense it. Not as painfully as I feel your presence though. I can't read their minds or anything. But I can kind of feel their emotional state. Like when I walked into the club. Immediately it was like the room became filled with a thick air of hunger or lust... But when you came over to me, it was like all that need was replaced with absolute fear and bitterness for your presence there in the first place. I was able to sense what their emotions were. Yours... I feel more strongly than any others for some reason." he explained, not understanding why he was opening up to the creature so willingly. It had to be the fatigue of the last few days.

"Have you always been able to sense us?" she asked, suddenly filled with genuine interest.

"Yes and no." he answered with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I've always had a sense of something... I just didn't know what it was that I was sensing until..." he started but stopped himself short. "Until recently. Do you sense me as well?" He asked curiously.

"In the way I sense all humans." she lied, not wanting to divulge anything the human could use against her or her kind.

"I don't believe you." he said honestly.

"I have no reason to lie to you." she frowned. "You know you can't keep following me around Gabriel." She warned tiredly.

"I'm not following you any more." he said innocently.

"Then how did you know I came back." she asked suspiciously.

"Because you were calling me." he explained simply, looking at her as though she were a simpleton for asking him such a thing.

"I didn't call you. I can't call you Gabriel." She found herself stammering. "I mean I was thinking about you. But I didn't call you. So you have to be following me." she explained, laying her hands on her full round hips.

"I am not." he groaned, her overly feminine gesture making him more than uncomfortable in her presence, and his snug fitting jeans.

"Then I don't know." she lied, feeling his desire as strongly as she felt her own. "Do you intend to follow me home now that it's obvious that I can't set a guard on you?" she asked, desperately needing a diversion from the warmth that seemed to flood her body.

"Yeah. Probably." he admitted with a sleepy smile.

"Then you should just take me home." she said decisively, noticing for the first time the dimples in his cheeks that seemed to take years from his already young, handsome face. She managed to convince herself that her demand was merely her wanting the opportunity to question him further. "Don't sit there like an ill bred clod! Come open the door for me." she demanded.

"Sorry." he laughed absently, stepping around the front of the jeep to meet her demand. "It's been a long night." he sighed, groaning painfully as he watched her with unabashed desire as she slid into the passenger seat. "Does this mean you're going to answer my questions?" he asked hopefully as he slid into the drivers seat.

"I will... with in reason." she conceded, not seeing the harm in answering a few basic questions. Despite herself, she immediately began to sense the steady rhythm of his heart, beating warm metallic life through his veins. It puzzled her how being so close to the human, feeding was the farthest thing from her mind. She couldn't deny that there was something about him that was drawing her, but it wasn't his blood. "But only if you answer mine as well." she said firmly.

"Fair enough." Gabriel nodded. "Why are you here?" he asked curiously.

"I'm here on business." she said evasively.

"What kind of business?" he asked.

"Nope, my turn." she corrected. "You obviously aren't a hunter, other wise you'd be a bit smarter. So tell me.... Why you're stalking my kind."

"Research." he replied, being as evasive as his companion. "Now, what kind of business are you here on."

"I'm here because of you." she said honestly, not seeing in harm in sharing that much with the human. There was nothing he could do with that information. "What kind of research?" she questioned.

"I want to find a cure." he explained, waiting to hear her laugh and tell him that his intention was a waste of time, just as his sister had. To his surprise, she did neither but something in her emotions changed to something softer, that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Again it wasn't anything he was use to sensing in the creatures. It felt more like a human emotion than one that belonged to her kind. "Why are you here because of me." he asked, fighting with the need to lay his hand on hers, or on her thigh, any where, just to have some sort of physical contact with the creature.

"There is something special about you Gabriel." she admitted. "I was called here to try to find out what that something is."

"I don't understand." he said seriously.

"You probably never will Gabriel." she said firmly. "Exactly what kind of research do you think you need to do to find a cure?" she asked finding herself genuinely interested in his intent.

"I'm not really sure." he shrugged. "What your strengths and weaknesses are? How you're made? Where ya'll started and how? There's so much lore, it's impossible to sort through what's real and what isn't. But like any other ailment in this world... There is bound to be a cure if someone just took the time to find it."

"For a human to know any of those things would be a death sentence Gabriel. No matter where you go, we don't want humans knowing of our existence. And we certainly won't stand for one knowing how to harm us. It's a matter of self preservation." she explained seriously.

"What about hunters? If they exist, then obviously they know about your weaknesses and

strengths." he argued.

"Darling, all a hunter is, is a coward that finds a fledgling at it's weakest and kills it. If one ever came up against a tried one of my kind, he wouldn't stand a chance."she bit in disgust.

"Tell me about fledglings. How are they weaker?" he asked, eager to gain any knowledge that could help his sister.

"A fledgling is like a human baby." she said softly, concerned by his curiosity about fledglings. "Everything is still new to them. Their power, their hunger. If they aren't properly trained and cared for by their mate, they won't survive. Most fledglings die with in a year of creation."

"Can one survive with out its mate?" he asked hopefully.

"Depending on how much a fledgling and how much time they've spent with their mate... It is possible, but not likely." She explained, finding it odd that he chose the word mate as oppose to maker, as was usually the proper term. "Taking a fledgling from it's maker is as much a death sentence as decapitating it. They need their maker for pretty much everything in the first year. Especially feeding. And a fledgling needs to feed at least twice a week in the first year. Less, with age." Ava said emphatically. "Gabriel, have you managed to capture a fledgling?" she asked, seriously doubting the possibility, knowing all too well the instability of a fledglings hunger. A new born would have torn him a part no matter how weak it might have been.

"No." he lied. "So decapitation is the only way to kill you?"

"No." she sighed, not liking how quickly he tried to change the subject.

"But it will kill you?" he questioned glad that, that much of the lore had been accurate.

"Wouldn't you die if I decapitated you?" she questioned. "Nothing super human or not can survive with out a head or its brain goof ball."

"Where am I taking you Ava? We've just been driving around. The sun will be up soon." he said pointedly, rolling his eyes at her childish name calling.

"Take me to the Carlson." she demanded, deciding to get a room there. She knew that if she was to stop him from following her that she would have to restrain him.

"A hotel?" he questioned curiously. "Don't you need a coffin or something?" For the first time, her heard the melody of her laughter, he felt a warm tightening in his chest that terrified him more than the idea of her draining him.

"I think I'll settle for a hotel tonight. Perhaps tomorrow I'll switch to a coffin." she laughed, realizing he was doing far too much of his research on the internet and old horror novels about her kind.

"Why do I feel you so strongly Ava?" he asked softly as he pulled into the parking lot of the Carlson Grand. One of the more ritzy hotels in the area.

The confusion and agony in his voice as he asked the simple question was almost more than Ava's heart could bare. "I don't know." she said honestly. "Why don't you come up with me and see if we can figure it out together?" she asked suggestively laying her hand on his thigh and squeezing him gently.

"I can't." he refused, detesting the knowledge that there was nothing in the world he wanted more in that moment. The feel of her hand on him was almost his undoing. He reminded himself repeatedly that the woman sitting next to him was no woman, but instead a demonic creature of hell, one that needed either a cure or an execution.

"Why?" she asked biting down her wounded pride. "I won't bite." she teased as she withdrew her hand.

"You're a daughter of Satan. An abomination. I can't want you that way." he said in a weak panic filled voice, feeling the loss of her contact very deeply.

"You do want me that way Gabriel. And what I am won't change that." she bit coldly. "Come up with me on your own accord, or I will drag you." she warned.

"Fine, but I'm not going to make love to you." he said firmly, doubting the honesty in his own words as he walked around to open the door for her.