Part 6
San Francisco, California
July 26, 2002
The next morning, the Island Legacy House members met around the pool table. One thing they all had in common was the ability to think better while moving, so they had developed the habit of having meetings while playing pool. Victoria broke the balls to call the meeting to order.
"So just what are we going to do about this little mess?" Elizabet asked while setting up her shot.
"Well, first of all, we're not giving up Nick, so banish all traitorous thoughts right now," Victoria said. She grinned at Kane and Elizabet to let them know she was joking.
Elizabet suddenly snapped her fingers. "He mentioned the demon. That's Justin, obviously. Why don't we call him?"
Victoria nodded. "Boyle said he wanted a war. Then we need an army." She held up her necklace, the symbol of her pledge not to fight any of the other 'kid' Immortals. The other two had similar jewelry. "So let's call one. Justin will definitely say yes. I'll try and locate him after the meeting. What about Laurana Thompson?"
Kane grinned. "Last I heard from Von, she was holed up on her island down in the Florida Keys to recover from the havoc you two wrecked in Washington. I'll try and contact her."
"I saw Moon Starbreeze a few years ago, and she said she was going back to China for awhile," Elizabet said thoughtfully. "So she's out."
"Dare we call Kenny?" Kane asked.
Victoria and Elizabet looked at each other. Elizabet shrugged, and Victoria replied, "I don't even know where he is."
"Five is probably enough, though," Kane said. "Especially if we've got the San Francisco House backing us up." Everyone nodded.
Victoria sunk a ball and put up her cue stick. "That settles it," she said. "Let's call in the troops."
Two days later, Alex answered the door of the San Francisco House to see a tall teenager with curly blonde hair standing there. "Hello, how can I help you?" she asked. Victoria had warned the San Francisco House that she was calling in some friends to help, and for some reason, Alex had been expecting adults.
"G'day, miss," the boy said in an Australian accent while pulling off his sunglasses. He grinned at Alex, who soon discovered that the smile was infectious. "I'm lookin' for one Victoria DiThon Kestral." Suddenly, his eyes got the faraway look that Alex immediately recognized after a year with the Island House.
A happy shriek came from around the corner of the castle, and Victoria, Kane, and Elizabet came running up second later. Victoria didn't stop, and the stranger had to drop his rucksack in order to catch her in his arms. The two spun around in a circle and came to a stop, then Kane and Elizabet hugged the stranger in welcome also.
Victoria turned to Alex and said, "Alex, this is my best friend, Justin Le Faye. Justin, Alex Moreau."
Justin tipped an imaginary hat. He spoke again, and this time the Australian accent was gone to be replaced by a more natural Welsh one. "Pleased to meet you, Ms. Moreau. Victoria told me that there was a war to be fought, so I came."
"Call me Alex, please," the researcher said. She already liked the young man. "I'm sure you know what's going on?"
Justin nodded, and Victoria spoke up. "Justin is the 'demon' that Jonathan Boyle spoke of. He was with us in Seacouver when we were attacked at the school. I told him about the recent going-ons when I finally got hold of him in Japan."
Kane looked at his watch. "Nick should be back with the last member of our little army soon." Justin looked at him in curiosity. "Um, Toria?" the younger Immortal said, with an embarrassed grin.
She gave her own mischievous smile. "Laurana Thompson, dear brother."
Justin rolled his eyes. "You would call my former teacher, wouldn't you! Have you no mercy?"
Nick walked through the airport and was reminded of the day he had been sent to pick up the members of the Island House. He arrived at the gate in time to see the passengers start unloading from the plane. Elizabet had warned Nick that the girl he was picking up was unusual looking, but that was the only description he got. That, and a name - "Dolores Knight".
One of the last passengers off was a slim teenage girl with darkly tanned skin and long hair so blond it was almost white. She was wearing jeans, a silk blouse, and a light over-coat. A leather backpack was slung casually across her shoulder. Her ultra-modern sunglasses were mirrored, but Nick could tell she was looking for someone.
Unusual is right, Nick thought, and approached the teen. "Are you Dolores Knight?"
She nodded and said, "Who's asking?" Her soft voice was tinged with a Spanish accent.
"I'm Nick Boyle, from the Luna Foundation," he introduced himself. "Victoria DiThon Kestral is my associate and asked me to pick you up."
The young lady nodded again and said, "Nice to meet you. I've got something to pick up in baggage claim." Nick spread his arm and allowed her to lead the way. However, instead of joining the masses of people at the carousels, the girl headed towards a small office to the side. At the counter, she handed the attendant a slip of paper and an ID card.
The lady behind the counter inspected the items, then looked at the patient girl, whom Nick was fast suspecting to be an Immortal. "You're Laurana Thompson?" the lady asked in a nasal voice. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, the teenage girl nodded. The attendant raised her eyebrows and disappeared into a back room.
Nick looked closely at the girl. "Let me guess," he said in a soft voice. "You're an Immortal, and your real name is - what? Dolores or Laurana?"
"Laurana," came the smooth answer. "And yes, my life span is considerably longer than yours." She slid the paper on the counter over to Nick. He read that it was a permit for Laurana to transport a Spanish rapier from Miami to San Francisco, signed by Alexander Thompson, antique dealer. "It's always handy being good friends with antique dealers, especially when they are also Immortal and happen to be your adopted father," she said. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to transport weapons on planes these days?" Laurana favored Nick with a grin, then turned serious when the attendant returned with a black leather case. Laurana took it with a nod of thanks, and she and Nick left the airport.
Back at the San Francisco House, the group of Immortals were sacked out on the front porch and busy catching up on the past few years. Kat walked up the path and grinned a welcome to Justin after being introduced by Victoria. "Nick just called down at the House. He and Laurana are on the ferry. Apparently she has no idea that we called anyone else."
Victoria smiled slyly when Justin gave her a mock frown. "It was least I could you for you, since I did call her."
Alex had stepped back out onto the porch and heard the last few sentences. "What, you don't like each other?"
"Nah," Justin replied. "We just make an odd pair when we get together. We don't agree on a lot."
Everyone heard Nick's Mustang driving up. "Get ready then," Alex said.
Nick and Laurana got out of the car, and everyone stood up to greet them. Laurana instantly saw Justin and rolled her eyes skyward, sighing. "I should've known," she said. "¿Como estás, mi estudiante?" [How are you, my student?]
Justin approached her and they clasped hands. "Muy bien. ¿Y tú, mi professora bonita?" [Very good. And you, my beautiful teacher?]
Laurana gave a real smile and said, "I'm okay, too, you flatterer." Victoria and Elizabet glanced at each other and gave sighs of relief. The last time those two had gotten together had not been a pretty sight.
Nick glanced at his watch. "It's getting late, guys. Laurana and Justin can leave their stuff up here and we can all go eat dinner."
"Wait a second," Laurana said. She looked intently towards the setting sun. There was absolute silence, the Laurana gave a sigh of relief as the sun disappeared over the horizon. "Much better," she said.
Victoria laughed. "You going to tell them?" she asked.
"Tell them what?" Laurana said innocently. "That I prefer to work at night?"
"So do vampires," Nick tossed off without thinking. Laurana and Victoria grinned, and Justin gave a short bark of laughter.
Laurana raised her eyebrows and turned towards Nick. "That might explain it then." She pulled off her sunglasses, and for the first time, Nick saw her eyes. They were a brilliant sea blue and seemed to glow slightly. The she smiled widely, and Nick yelped when he saw the points of real fangs on her canines. Alex's mouth dropped, and she stared in stunned silence. "What?" Laurana said. "Never seen a vampire before?" She linked arms with Victoria and Elizabet, who had been her friends for years, and headed inside, dropping her bag and sword case with Justin's things in the foyer. Justin, Kane, and Kenny grinned at each other and followed the girls.
Nick was still standing by the car and staring in shock. Alex grinned and said, "Come on, Nick, let's go eat. We've seen worse. Including vampires."
He nodded and accompanied her inside. "But never one like her. She had me completely fooled. I mean, we walked outside to the car at the airport, through pure sunlight."
"Maybe it has something to do with her Immortality," Alex replied. They approached the dining room. "Rachel's forever nagging at the others to let her do some medical tests on them. She's going to have a field day with this one."
The two took their seats at the dining room table, Nick pausing to whisper in Derek's ear. They both watched Laurana out of the corner of their eyes. She appeared completely normal once again and was innocently eating her lasagna.
Introductions were made, and Derek said, "I recommend that we all enjoy this dinner and have an official meeting tomorrow morning, when Mr. Le Faye and Ms. Thompson have had a chance to rest after their trips."
"Japan's not all that far from San Francisco," Justin mentioned.
Laurana snorted. "You were in Japan again? I'm warning you, sooner or later they're going to start distrusting foreigners like they used to," she said. "And you know what they did in the past to those they caught."
Justin gave her a sarcastic grin. "Yes, I know. Burned at the stake and then beheaded."
Laurana looked ready to retort, but Victoria smoothly interfered. "Now, now, children," she said. Both backed down and the rest of the meal passed without incident.
That is, until the topic of conversation turned to preternatural beings the two Legacy Houses had encountered. Derek took the opportunity to ask Laurana a question, though the way he put it was rather blunt. "Ms. Thompson, Nick informs me that you are a vampire. Is this true?"
She shrugged. "I assume you know the basics of Immortality. First death and you become Immortal. My first death just happened to be turned into a vampire. Instead, I became both."
Rachel was immediately intrigued. "But you can stand the sun."
"Without pain, but my eyes are very sensitive. And I just naturally prefer the dark," Laurana responded. She was starting to become uncomfortable with the questioning and shot a glance to Victoria to rescue her. "When I was mortal, I was a Spanish aristocrat. Pale skin, black hair, the works. The sun had other ideas." The apparent teenager did not need to explain further. Her deeply tanned skin and sun bleached hair said it all.
Victoria stood up and the other members of her Legacy House followed suit. "It's getting late. We still need to make sleeping arrangements down at the Island House. And we have a lot of catching up to do." She nodded at Derek, her fellow Precept, and the six Immortals headed for the Island House.
Author's Notes: Laurana is the type of vampire from the show Forever Knight. And no, the Legacy does not know about Victoria's vampiric asssociations, either [See "Demon's Triangle II: Of All Immortals, Dark and Light" for more details about her].
Part 7
San Francisco, California
July 28, 2002
The next morning, each of the Immortals trailed into the library for a joint meeting with the San Francisco House. Derek called the meeting to order and said, "Unfortunately, I have some bad news. Since things have been so quiet in San Francisco lately, the new Head Precept has decided to do whatever she wants with its House's members."
Victoria rolled her eyes. "I cannot stand her," she stated vehemently. William Sloan had died at the hands of a demon in Paris two months ago. The young woman he had named as his replacement was extremely unpopular with most of the Precepts of the Legacy. The woman, Lindsay Billfro, refused to let the Island House go on missions, because she persisted in thinking they were children. The Buenos Aires House had almost been destroyed by a group of nasty spirits until Earth Borne had gone behind her back and sent the Island House down to help. "What has Her Majesty done now?" Victoria continued.
"Well, I have been called to London to discuss the Precept of the Island House's recent actions," Derek said. "She didn't like you disappearing down to Argentina."
"And I suppose she would have liked it better if everyone down there had died?" Elizabet tossed in. "Give me a break."
"Alex, you're being sent to Munich, and you'll meet Earth Borne there. Ms. Billfro would not tell me what this mission was about, so I suspect she was just looking for an excuse to get Earth out of her hair for awhile," Derek continued. "And Kat, I know that you are a full member of the Legacy, but Ms. Billfro still refuses to accept it. She wants you to come to London with me, so she can meet you personally."
"I really, really don't like her, but sure," Kat said with a resigned shrug.
"And I'm sorry everyone, but I've just been called away on an urgent business trip regarding a past client," Rachel said. "I leave tonight, and I won't be back for at least three weeks."
"So that leaves us and Nick to deal with Jonathan Boyle," Victoria said. "All noncombatants in the Game are out, but I don't know if this makes our job easier or harder."
"This afternoon, I'm going to meet my contacts in the gangs in the city," Elizabet said. "If some strange guy has been trying to gather forces, they'll know."
"And tonight I must go see the master vampire in San Francisco. I have to let them know I'm in town anyway, so I'll see if they have any information," Laurana put in.
"Kat, Alex, and I leave for Europe tomorrow morning," Derek said. "I wish you luck, and if things get too out of control, feel free to call me."
"I'll ask Earth if he knows anything about Jonathan Boyle," Alex said. "He may have some clues."
"That's it, then," Victoria said. "Until the deadline, we're going to search the city for Boyle and train until we're all in top fighting condition for a challenge. If we're going to win this war, we have to be ready for it."
After seeing Elizabet and Kane off, Victoria took out her bike to go riding. Usually this helped relax her, but today it just wasn't going to happen. She rounded a curve in the road and saw Nick by the edge of the cliff at the head of the island. His motorcycle was parked on the road. Victoria dropped her bike next to it and walked to where Nick was sitting on a bench.
"I said this before, but if it makes you feel any better, I do know exactly what you're going through," Victoria said, sitting down beside him. "And I've had two hundred years to hold a grudge. I want to rip off his head with my bare hands for what he did to me. If it weren't for him, I would probably be an adult now." Victoria couldn't even bring herself to say Jonathan Boyle's name, she was that angry.
Nick shrugged. "What does it matter. He hurt me, more than I can ever forgive. And now that I know he wasn't my real father, I don't have to try."
"I'm not asking you to forgive him, Nick," Victoria said, placing a light hand on his shoulder. "I'm asking you to accept it. You'll never be able to face him if you don't. You can't change the past, but you can still have an impact on the future."
He was silent for a few seconds. "I know that he made you Immortal, but you've never said what really happened when...you died. Will you tell me?"
Victoria sighed. "It's not really something I like to talk about. No Immortal likes to remember their first death." Nick gave her his puppy eyes, and she gave a short laugh. "Well, here's how the stinkin' story goes. Not that I'll ever forget that day..."
Northern Wales
Saturday, June 14, 1797
Surrounded by trees and calmed by a sense of familiarity and security. A solid presence at her back. Then -- two gunshots. A sudden pain. A scream.
Blackness. Infinite blackness.
Victoria DiThon Kestral awoke with a start from her nightmare. She grasped at the threads in her mind, but it was already fading from her memory. A quick glance at the tiny window erased all concern from her mind as she realized that she had slept in. Cursing quietly to herself, she quickly rose from the small pallet in the loft above her uncle's farmhouse and hastily dressed in some of her clothes -- hand-me-downs from her cousin William. Victoria doused her face and hair with some of the cold water in the basic next to her clothes-chest, then pulled her shoulder-length hair back with a leather cord. Feeling herself presentable, she dropped back onto her pallet and began pulling on her boots. As she did so, she summoned her dagger from it's hiding place in the rafters and slid it into her right boot.
She smiled slyly to herself at this daily act of rebellion. After coming into her telekinetic powers over a year ago, she had been quietly working on refining her control. Only her best friend knew about her gift and Victoria preferred to keep it that way. She already acted completely unlike a girl of her age should, and having witch powers would not help her any. Her aunt had not been happy when she had cut her hair and begun wearing William's old clothing, but had written it off as cheaper than buying the girl her own clothes. The dagger had caused a real fight, but Victoria certainly did not care what her aunt thought.
The loft she lived in was above the main room of the farmhouse that she and her adopted family lived in. Her uncle Jonathan, aunt Rachel, and two older cousins, William and Elaina, were not in the house, so Victoria assumed that they were all out working. She herself needed to hurry and do her part of the work -- travel into town and collect dairy orders for the next day's delivery. Victoria was only trusted with this job because Elaina had no head for business and William was constantly busy helping her uncle with the chickens. None of her adopted family like her - just the money they received on a regular basis from her dead mother's lawyers - but again, she didn't care. Justin was the best family she could have ever asked for. Victoria grabbed an apple for breakfast and headed out to the barn to eat as she saddled up the aging mare for the trip into town. As she headed across to the barn, she was surprised to her Jonathan's loud voice, but not the anger that she heard in it. Usually he saved his temper for her alone. This definitely warranted checking out. Creeping around the side of the barn, she moved into clear hearing range and gasped in shock. They were going to destroy the stone henge!
"Those stones must be the cause of all our misfortune," her uncle said vicously. "The disease that has struck some of our crops, and the reason for all the mysterious deaths the past few years. Even my bastard neice has been corrupted by them." The men all nodded in agreement. "The gunpowder was delivered yesterday. In half an hour, we'll head over there and destroy them once and for all."
Victoria dropped her half eaten apple and whirled to run back into the house. Her aunt and other cousin were also crossing to the front door, and obviously shocked to see her -- especially the expression of rage on her face.
"Get out of my way!" Victoria snarled at them. She ran over to the ladder to the loft and scrambled up it. The enraged thirteen-year-old had only one thought and that was to protect the circle of standing stones. She knew that they were mysterious monuments erected by the ancient Celtic people. Her mother, an amateur anthropologist, had told her that the stones must be preserved for future generations as proof that the Celts were not a group of barbarous savages. These combined memories of history and her mother ran through her head as she grabbed her sword, her only heirloom from her mother, out from under her bed and buckled the belt around her waist.
Victoria leapt from the loft and collapsed from the impact when she hit the ground, but immediately rolled to her feet and ran out the door, shoving past Elaina as she did so. She tore off for the woods leading to the standing stones. As she ran, she recalled that Justin had had his own premonition and disappeared into the woods a few days ago and had intended to stay for at least another week. Maybe his prediction of doom was coming true.
Finally, she reached the clearing, a feiry stitch in her side and gasping for breath. As she came into sight of the large stones, she slowed and walked reverently toward them.
Placing her hand against one, she said, "I won't let you be destroyed. I can't let you be destroyed." She sank down to the ground and leaned against the sunwarmed stone, waiting for the inevitable confrontation. She knew her dagger and sword would be of no use against six grown men, but it was all she had.
A little while later, Victoria heard a crashing in the underbrush and rose to her feet. She paled as a group of twenty men loaded down with barrels emerged into the clearing. The already impossible odds had just become that much worse.
When the men saw Victoria there, a few of them stopped nervously. She had a reputation in the village, and had been accused by some of the older women of witchcraft. Apparently being an orphan with odd habits counted against her even with keeping her telekinese a secret. Seeing her standing defensively in front of the stone henge did nothing but encourage that view.
"What are you doing here?" her uncle cried angrily. "I order you to go home, now!"
"No!" Victoria shouted back. "I won't let you do this! You can't destroy history, Jonathan!"
In response, her uncle drew his pistol and took aim. One of the other men grabbed his arm in shock. "What are you doing, Boyle?" he asked askance. "You cannot fire on your own flesh and blood!"
"She is not of my flesh and blood," Jonathan replied furiously. "She is an orphan, taken in by my wife's sister, who is now dead. She has also been corrupted by the stones of Satan. We must destroy them all!" By the crazed look in his eyes, Victoria knew he was reaching insanity. But she did not have time to dwell on this fact as Jonathan fired twice.
The first shot hit the stone to the left of her. Then, Victoria felt a sharp pain in her chest. She glanced down and saw a flowering of blood on her shirt over the spot where she knew her heart lay. A momentary thought that if Justin came back he would probably be killed flashed through her mind. That was the last thing she felt as her vision dimmed and she collapsed to the ground.
When Victoria was through, all Nick could think to say was, "Wow."
"Wow, indeed," Victoria replied sarcastically. "I died, and when I woke up, the circle had been destroyed, and I was somehow alive. I left my supposed family after that, and lived deep in woods for a few years, before my teacher found me." She stood up and walked closer to the edge of the cliff. "I will never forgive him, but I have learned to live with it. I faced my cousin, and won. I think I can face my uncle, too."
"You think?" Nick said with a small grin.
Victoria turned around and smiled back. "Nothing's a given."
"How did you get to be so wise?" Nick asked, shaking his head.
"I ain't wise. I'm just a good actress," Victoria said. "Come on, you have to drive Justin and I into the city. We need to start searching somewhere. Waiting out his two weeks will play us right into his hands; we need to find him first."
On the ferry to the mainland, Victoria received a call from Elizabet on her cellular phone. "What's up, Beta?"
"I pulled in a favor and enlisted the help of one of the street gangs. They sent out some boys and got info almost immediately," Elizabet said. "Apparently, there was a strange electrical storm a couple days ago down by the docks. From the description that Kane got from a homeless guy, it could have been a Quickening."
"Yeah, but there are other Immortals in San Francisco. Any of them could have gotten into a fight," Victoria countered. "You're right though, I'll bet that Boyle was somehow involved. One can only hope he was the loser."
"I doubt it," the other girl replied. "That would be too easy. Kane and I are still down here, so we'll keep searching for clues."
"Nick's driving me and Justin into the city," Victoria said. "We'll go look up the local Immortals and see if anyone's missing or has been in a fight recently."
"Gotcha," came the reply. "We'll see you at dinner tonight."
"Damn," Victoria said softly at dinner. "I can't believe that Sunoh is dead." The group was lounging in the Island House's main room, but all were merely picking at their food. "I so do not want to tell Moon that he's gone." Nick, Victoria, and Justin had gone to see all of the local Immortals in San Francisco. Sunoh Hahm, a thirteen hundred year old Asian Immortal had been discovered missing by his housekeeper two days ago. A call to the Legacy's contact in the local police had revealed that Sunoh's headless body had been found on the beach early that morning. Moon Starbreeze, another "child" Immortal, had introduced Victoria to her teacher Sunoh about thirty years ago, and the two had hit it off immediately. Both had been thrilled to be living in that same city.
Victoria sat in silence for a few minutes, twirling her spoon in her hand, before continuing. "My cousin was obsessed with destroying people he felt had different 'powers' than him, I learned that from his Quickening. He was pretty much brainwashed into that by my uncle. Sunoh used to be a monk in China, that's when he met Moon."
"I get the feeling that Jonathan Boyle was in San Francisco to kill you guys, and seeing Sunoh was an added bonus," Justin said. "Did you find anything else?"
Elizabet shrugged. "We saw definite signs of a Quickening, so we'll have to assume it was Sunoh's. The gang that helped today promised they would call me if any of the boys found anything else. They said they'd keep an ear out, too."
"I met with the eldest vampire in San Francisco, the master of this city. He owes my sire a favor, and wants to be on another friend of mine's good side, so he's going to keep his eyes open, too," Laurana said. Victoria nodded, agreeing.
"Your sire?" Nick asked. He was still slowly becoming used to Laurana.
"The one who made me a vampire. Nicholas de Brabant, who lives up in Toronto," Laurana replied. "Actually, he's going by Nick Knight, now. And the message I had to deliver was from his sire, Lucien LaCroix. For some reason, Adrian was quite interested in helping me after that." Laurana gave a short grin, and her eyes flashed with an unnatural light.
"So what do we do now?" Kane asked.
"As I said earlier," Victoria said. "Search, then fight."
Part 8
San Francisco, California
August 9, 2002
The end of the allotted two weeks had finally arrived. Elizabet's gang contacts had seen Jonathan more than once, but had never been able to follow him back to wherever he was based in the city. Fortunately, a rival gang had allied themselves with Jonathan. This meant that Elizabet's contacts were behind them one hundred percent. Whenever they had been in the city in the past two weeks, their backs had been watched.
The four remaining Legacy members, plus two, were sacked out in the library of the San Francisco House. A call from the enemy was sure to come soon, and all wanted to be present for it. Sunset was in two hours and they had been waiting all day. Tempers were running thin, and Justin and Laurana had been at each other's throats once already that morning. Former teacher and student were now as far away from each other as they could get and still be in the library.
"This is driving me insane!" Kane said, and stood up to pace. He glanced around at the others who, with the exception of Nick, looked perfectly calm. "How do you guys stand it?"
Victoria and Justin had been attempting to play poker with Nick, but his heart just had not been in it. He stood up and joined Kane to stare out the window. "I'm with you, man. They are way too calm."
"Comes with a couple hundred years of practice," Elizabet said from her spot on the floor where she was surrounded by the group's weapons. But anyone who knew her knew that when Elizabet was nervous, she needed to clean something, preferably a weapon. "And we're definitely not calm. We just look like it."
The cordless phone on the conference table next to Victoria rang, and everyone jumped slightly. They all gathered around the table, and Victoria switched on the phone and put it into speaker mode. "Victoria DiThon Kestral, Luna Foundation."
"Otherwise known as the Legacy," Boyle said mockingly. "Well, witch, have you and your little friends decided to be smart and give me my son?"
"I'd rather die than go with you," Nick spat in disgust.
"I'm sure something like that can be arranged - for your friends, that is," Boyle said. "You, however, are much more valuable. I came up with the nice little idea of ransom a few days ago. One thing I remember about the Legacy is that they take care of their members." Boyle sighed dramatically. "The only drawback to what I would like to do you with you, Nicholas, is that you're mortal."
"Get on with it," Justin said harshly.
"And who's voice is that? I remember you," Boyle said. "So the demon has come to be with it's beloved witch. I don't suppose there are any other guests I should know about?"
"Just the vampire," Laurana said, her eyes flashing gold. "And I fully intend to taste your blood before one of us takes your head."
"I'm sure you do," Boyle said condescendingly. "But we are wasting time. You can find me at the old canvas factory at the docks. Remember to bring your swords." The dial tone followed.
"Good," Elizabet said. "Now he thinks we're mad, and he'll be surprised when her underestimates us and figures out that we're not blinded by anger."
"Speak for yourself. ¡Yo soy muy estupida!" Laurana growled. "I should have known it was him!" [I am so stupid!]
"Who?" Kenny asked warily. He had been quiet the whole day, dreading the imminent battle. He knew that he wasn't very good in the type of fight they would be facing, and was afraid he would only be a liability to his friends.
"Boyle is a hell of a lot older than you guys think. I swore I would never forget that voice. He has single-handedly killed more vampires than any church in Europe ever did." She sighed. "And he's good. He got over ten vampires before he nearly killed me, over three hundred years ago." Then she laughed humorlessly. "Good thing a stake through the heart isn't fatal to me."
The six gathered up their respective weapons, and each was found to be flawless, thanks to Elizabet. Swords, guns, knives, and throwing stars were hidden away, and then they were off.
On the ferry, Nick quietly asked Victoria, "Is there any way that I would be pre-Immortal?" She gave him a surprised look. "Seriously, Victoria, I want to know."
Slowly Victoria shook her head. "No, you're not. So don't go thinking that you're going to commit suicide to get us out of trouble. How the hell would I explain to Derek that I got a member of his House killed?"
Nick sighed. "It was just a thought."
Elizabet had called her gang contacts from the ferry, so they were met a short distance from the abandoned factory. Since they were in another gang's territory, that of Jonathan's allies, the boys were noticeably antsy. "...We've checked the place out and there's no way in but the front door," the leader was saying. "We won't go in with you, but we will stay outside and make sure no one goes in after you."
Nick looked slightly put off, but Elizabet understood perfectly. Loyalty went first to your gang and second to all else. She nodded. "I understand. You've done more than enough for us already. Thank you."
The gang leader grinned at her. "Hey, RoseBlade, we owed you. It's no problem." Then he and his boys disappeared, calling a good luck behind them.
The six set out on foot. Elizabet winced when gunfire sounded a few blocks away. "The other gang has been found," she whispered.
The abandoned factory loomed before them. As the gang had said, the only available entrance appeared to be the front door. Even the windows were boarded up tight. Victoria pushed open the doors, and the group walked cautiously in. They found themselves in a pitch black room. Flashlights were immediately produced. The room, a lobby, had three doors. Signs above each door were numbered one through three.
"Pick a door, any door," Victoria muttered. "I vote we split up. That makes better chances of finding Jonathan. I pick door number three, any other takers?" It was quickly decided that Kane and Laurana would take the first door. Nick joined Victoria, and Justin and Elizabet went to door number two. "If you find Jonathan, don't challenge him - Laurana. Try to keep him busy. We'll figure out what to do as a group," Victoria said as Laurana rolled her eyes. "Good luck everyone!" The three groups opened their respective doors and disappeared.
Elizabet and Justin found themselves in a brightly lit room. They had to step down from the doorway, and ended up in nearly a foot of stagnant water. "What the hell is this supposed to be?" Elizabet asked, grimacing at the water soaking into her boots. Suddenly, a hole in the ceiling opened, and a metal ball on a cord started to descend slowly. The static electricity in the room increased noticeably.
"Oh, shit!" Justin whispered in horror. He looked wildly around the room, but the door behind them had closed and locked. There was no way out. The ball touched the water, and electricity lanced through both Immortal's bodies. Their hearts stopped and they collapsed.
The ball raised and disappeared back into the ceiling. A hidden door on the opposite side of the entrance opened, and two gang members trudged through the water. Gathering up Justin and Elizabet's limp bodies, they dragged them out of the room.
Kane and Laurana emerged into a similar room, but the floor was covered in packed dirt. "Okay," Kane said slowly. "I'm confused."
Laurana's eyes were tinged gold, a sure sign she was ticked off. "So am I," she said. "And I don't like it." Suddenly Kane let out a yelp of surprise. He looked down to see a robotic arm clutching his ankle. He was even more shocked when Laurana jumped up - and did not come back down. "Yes, I can fly, just like any Souled vampire," she tossed off, grabbing Kane underneath the arms. "This'll hurt!" Giving a mighty heave, Kane's leg was jerked free. The momentum shot both towards the ceiling where they burst through.
They landed on a catwalk high in the factory. Below they could see the hole they had made, but the rest was swathed in darkness. "Whoa," Kane said. "What a rush."
"Yeah," Laurana said distractedly, looking suspiciously around. Her vampiric senses picked up footsteps from down the catwalk. She drew her sword and backed up a few steps. Kane immediately followed suit.
"What's wrong?" he asked, right before gunfire sounded. He never had time to duck, and caught three bullets in the chest, killing him instantly.
Laurana flew up again and narrowly evaded the spray of bullets that followed her. Hiding in the rafters, she watched the two gang members drag Kane away.
After the other four had entered their rooms, Victoria opened the middle door. The room was filled with gray fog. She took one whiff and slammed the door shut, then started cursing. "Vaporized acid," she said. Nick's eyes widened. "I'm going to go back in and start a little tornado to clear out the room. Then you're going to follow. When we're both in, I'll bust through the back wall."
"Sweet," was his only comment, and Victoria took a deep breath and ducked back in the room. Then Nick opened the door and entered the maelstrom that had already been started. Within seconds, Nick felt as if the gravity in the room had shifted towards teh back wall, and hole began to form. Finally, a hole big enough for them to get through was created. The two left the room and the vaporized acid drifted harmlessly towards the high ceiling of the factory.
"Ah, shit," Nick said. The two gang members in front of them pulled the triggers on their pistols, and Victoria fell dead to the ground.
Part 9
San Francisco, California
August 9, 2002
Nick sighed in relief when Victoria came back to life with a gasping breath. "You okay?" he asked. No matter how many times he saw absolute proof of their Immortality, it never failed to amaze and startle him.
"How about you?" Victoria asked with a nod, in the raspy voice that usually followed an awakening for her. "You didn't get shot, did you?" She was also relieved with when Nick shook his head in a negative. A few seconds later, Justin revived. After assuring that he was also healed completely, Victoria took the time to look around the room. The three were chained to pillars in the factory proper -- Justin had been hauled out of one of the other rooms as Nick and Victoria had been tied up. The hole in the wall they had come through gaped open. The rooms that the others in the group had gone into were shut tight.
Justin cursed when he realized something very important. "Toria, our swords-" Victoria echoed the curse.
"Yeah, they took our weapons and chained us up," Nick said. "They had a gun on me, so I wasn't going to risk fighting, especially with you guys out of it. Those two kids were from the gang Jonathan hired. They went into the offices back there." He tilted his head towards the other end of the empty factory.
Sighing, Justin shook his head. "Now all we can do is sit and hope that that idiot doesn't take our heads unfairly." Victoria nodded in adamant agreement, and the three settled down to wait.
When Kane came back to life, he found himself lying on a cot in a room with Elizabet sitting on the ground beside him. Quite typically of the young Immortal, the first words out of his mouth were, "What's that smell?"
Elizabet made a face. "You got off easy. Justin and I were electrocuted. That smell is my hair."
"Okay, next question - where are we?"
"The gang on our side saw our bodies get dumped outside. They came to check on us, and I revived right in front of 'em," Elizabet said with a grimace. "I got them to take us to a safe house, which is where we are now. What happened to you? And where's 'Rana?"
Kane told them what had happened and admitted to not knowing where Laurana was. "So, what do we do now?"
"There's nothing we can do," Elizabet said. "But hope that 'Rana's okay, and the others are still free."
Victoria, Justin, and Nick had been alone for a few hours. Night had since fallen, and the factory was nearly pitch dark. When the lights suddenly came on, they jumped in startled surprise. The door to the back offices opened, and the sense of another Immortal hit them. Jonathan Boyle approached, broadsword in hand.
"'My, my, my, my, what a mess', to quote one of my favorite movies," Jonathan said, surveying the hole that Victoria and Justin had created. "What do I have here? A demon, a witch, and a traitor."
He walked over to Nick and backhanded him across the face. "That certainly brings back memories."
"Fuck you," was Nick's only response.
"No thanks, I'd rather do that to her, seeing as I never got the chance two hundred years ago." Jonathan pointed the sword a Victoria. He walked slowly towards her and placed the blade against the side of her neck. "Would you like that, you little witch?"
A harsh cry erupted from above them, and a blur dropped onto Jonathan, making him collapse to the ground. It was Laurana, and she instantly had Boyle by the neck, drinking his blood as promised. Within a minute he had stopped struggling. When Laurana released him and licked the blood from her lips he didn't move. Silently, the Immortal/vampire walked to each of them and snapped the chains with her bare hands.
"Is he - dead?" Nick asked, staring at the limp body.
"Yes, for now," Laurana said softly. Victoria placed a comforting hand on the older girl's shoulder. "The debt has been repaid. Now the only thing we have to decide is who gets to kill him." Justin and Nick dragged Jonathan over to one of the pillars and chained him up, while Victoria and Laurana headed towards the back offices. The three gang members playing cards at a desk ran when they saw Laurana in full vampire mode. After collecting the stolen weapons, the walked back out. Laurana handed Nick his guns, and Victoria and Justin strapped back on the various blades they carried.
Justin looked from the dead man to the two girls. "So, who gets to fight him? Who even wants to fight him?"
"I can't," Laurana said. "Much as I would like to see him dead, I no longer have the right."
"Why can't you just take his head now?" Nick asked
Victoria shook her head. "We would be sinking to his level. A fair fight is the only way." She sighed. "I don't know if I'm strong enough. And even if I win, Justin might have to kill me to get rid of a Dark Quickening."
"And I know I'm not strong enough to do that," Justin said softly. "Why don't we just wait until he wakes up and ask him who he wants to be killed by."
"Such optimism," Laurana tossed off. "He won't revive for awhile. I'm going to go find the others." Rising into the air, she disappeared out of a broken skylight in the ceiling.
Victoria, Justin, and Nick waited in silence for Jonathan to come back to life. When his head shot up and he gasped for breath, the three jumped to their feet and stood in front of him. "We are going to offer you a choice," Victoria said. "Neither Justin nor I will sink to your level and take your Quickening unfairly."
Justin continued. "So, you get to decide who you want to fight."
Jonathan studied both of them, fury in his eyes. His gaze finally settled on Victoria. "I tried to kill you before, witch, and failed. Time to finish the job. I challenge you, Victoria Kestral." Jonathan purposely left out Victoria's middle name, the surname of her adopted mother, Jonathan's sister-in-law two hndred years ago.
Victoria simply nodded. "I accept." Justin handed her Jonathan's sword, and he and Nick unchained him. He stood and followed Victoria into the middle of the factory. She dropped his sword and kicked it across the floor, then dropped into her fighting stance. Jonathan swiftly retrieved his weapon.
She stood perfectly still, her way of messing with an opponent's mind. When Jonathan lunged towards her, she dodged unexpectedly to the side instead of parrying, throwing Jonathan off balance. Then the battle was joined.
They fought, dancing a deadly dance around the warehouse floor. It became obvious that Jonathan was becoming extremely aggravated by Victoria. She used her smaller size to her advantage, and he could not touch her. Unfortunately, he was good enough that Victoria couldn't draw first blood either.
Finally came the showdown. Jonathan had fallen into a rage and stopped thinking clearly. A gash across his left forearm did not help his concentration any. Victoria's gaze was cold and calculating, not betraying any of her planned moves. When Jonathan rushed towards her with a yell, she merely ducked under his blade. Ending up behind him, she lunged forward and stabbed quickly. Jonathan gasped when he saw the point of her sword erupt from his chest, and dropped to his knees. Victoria pulled out the blade, and drew it back.
"There can be only one," Victoria said quietly. "And it sure as hell isn't gonna be you." She swung her sword with a wordless cry, separating Jonathan's head from his body.
Justin gave a cry of triumph from where he'd been standing with Nick by the wall. Victoria only heard it distantly as a white mist rose from Jonathan's body and enveloped her. Cold blue lightning lanced towards her, and she dropped to her knees. Then the Quickening began in earnest, and Victoria threw her head back and arched her spine, arms outstretched. A seemingly never ending cry came from her lips, a savage mixture of pain and pleasure. As suddenly as it had started, it ended, leaving Victoria on her hands and knees gasping for breath. Justin ran forward and gathered her into his arms. Nick stood where he was, utterly shocked. For the past year, he'd heard tidbits of what a Quickening was like from Victoria and Elizabet, but he'd never witnessed one. Needless to say, it had both astonished and amazed him.
Justin held Victoria for a few more seconds, then helped her up. Unlike most Immortals, her injuries did not heal during a Quickening, so she was still bleeding from a nasty gash in her side. Justin helped her back through the hole they had created in the wall and out of the warehouse. They found a gang member in a car, ready to take them back to Angel Island.
"Kane is driving your Mustang," the boy said when Nick asked. "And I'm supposed to thank you. The other gang has been disbanded, and our territory just doubled."
Victoria was gingerly holding her side in the back seat with Justin. "So at least something good came of this whole damned mess."
Part 10
San Francisco, California
August 10, 2002
It was past midnight by the time they got back to the island. The other three were already back, as was the rest of the San Francisco House except Rachel. Victoria ran down to the Island House to change, then met everyone else in the library.
"Well, he'd dead," Victoria said. She shuddered. "He was old, very old. But he wasn't very powerful. He was Roman, one of the soldiers sent to butcher Christians. He's been doing stuff like that his whole life, and only killed other Immortals when they fit his description of 'inhuman'. Like me and Justin."
"And Sunoh," Kenny added softly.
"On a lighter note," Derek said. "All charges have been dropped against the Island House. I managed to talk Ms. Billfro out of it."
"And I'm still a full member of the Legacy," Kat said. "Our dear Head Precept now acknowledges that fact."
"Earth Borne has finally gotten his wish," Alex put in. "The incident in France was cleared up in a few days, so we went to London. Lindsay Billfro has officially recognized him as her successor. He'll be allowed to hold the position for thirty years when she dies."
Victoria smiled. "Glad that's settled. Now he'll stop calling in the middle of the night to complain to me." She looked at Laurana and Justin. "And I was thinking, while we were chained up in that factory...."
"Hope you didn't strain yourself," Kane said mischieviously.
She made a face at him. "Anyway, would either of you be interested in joining the Legacy?"
Laurana gave a small grin. "Victoria, thanks for the offer, but I can't. You know that what I am goes against most of what the Legacy stands for." Victoria nodded in understanding. "But," Laurana held up a hand. "The master vampire around here has offered me a position in his 'court', if I want it. The east coast has gotten a little boring recently, so I think I'll accept."
"Great!" Elizabet said happily. She glanced at Justin. "Jus'?"
He slowly nodded. "I believe I will. Don't want to miss out on all the fun."
Everybody grinned. "Just to warn you," Victoria said with a grin. "Life in the Legacy is never dull."
"I'd noticed," Justin merely replied.
Epilogue
San Francisco, California
August 11, 2002
The next evening, Victoria and Justin locked the door to the library and sat at the conference table. Between them was the speaker phone. Victoria glanced at her best friend. "You ready?"
He shrugged. "As ready as I ever am to talk to them."
Victoria cocked a half grin. "Yeah, me too." She quickly dialed a number and sat back. After a few rings, someone answered.
"Hello?" a soft male voice answered.
"Hey, Shadow! It's Victoria and Justin. Are Gwena and Cassandra there?" Justin asked. Johnny Utah, aka WindShadow, had answered the phone. He was Gwena's husband, and also a werepanther.
"Hey, guys! Nice to hear from you! I'll get Gwena and Cass, just a sec." There was the sound of Johnny putting the phone down. A few minutes later someone picked up the phone, and then another extension was picked up.
"Toria? Justin?" Gwendolyn Carter-Utah asked. "What are you two up to?"
"It's nice to hear from you," Cassandra added. Though it was unknown to the majority of Immortals in the world, Cassandra and Gwena had discovered exactly "where" Immortals came from. Gwena was Victoria's mother, and Cassandra was Justin's.
"Hi, Mom! Just out of curiosity, have you guys ever heard of a group called the Legacy?" Victoria asked. There was utter silence for a few seconds.
"Yes," Cassandra replied. "Are they after you? Where are you, we can leave immediately."
Victoria laughed. "Hardly! I'm a Precept in the Legacy, Cass. Jus' and I figured you guys should know, especially since he just joined, too. We're in San Francisco."
"We have heard of them. You two had better be careful," Gwena said.
"Mom, I've been in the Legacy for over a year. I'm in no danger," Victoria said. "There are other Immortals in the Legacy, too, and we all have a truce not to challenge each other unless a House goes to the Dark. And no, Mother, the Legacy doesn't know where Immortals come from. I've been good."
"I wasn't going to ask that!" Gwena replied.
"Yes, you were," Cassandra said. "We know you too well. But have you encountered any shape-shifters? MistGlow is listening in and would like to know."
Justin looked at Victoria, who replied, "We know about the weres, but my House hasn't encountered any personally."
"Why, Mom?" Justin asked.
"Glow says that if you do, to please contact us," she replied with no further explanation.
"Okay, will do," Victoria answered agreeably. Gwena and Cassandra were two of the few people in the world Victoria and Justin trusted implicitly.
"But please, really be careful, children," Gwena put in. "What the Legacy does is dangerous."
Victoria was silent for a few seconds. "I know, Mom. I've fought things you can't even begin to imagine," she said softly, images of Jonathan Boyle swirling in her head.
Justin knew what Victoria was thinking about, and spoke when she nodded. "Cassandra, do you remember Victoria's uncle? The one who destroyed the stone circle?"
"Yes, I do," she replied slowly. "Why?"
"He found Victoria," he continued, "and challenged us, all of us. Elizabet, Kane, and Laurana, besides Toria and I."
"I thought you said you weren't in trouble!" Gwena interupted, her voice slightly panicked.
"He's dead, Mom," Victoria answered. "Two days ago...I had to take his head."
"Oh, love, I'm so sorry," her mother said. "You're too much like me, Victoria, you hate to kill."
"Don't I know it," she said with a humorless laugh. "But yeah, we just called to let you know what we were up to and to say hi."
"It is good to hear your voices," Cassandra said.
"And yours, Mom, Gwena," Justin replied. "Take care of yourselves."
"You, too," Gwena replied.
"Love you, Mom," Victoria said. "And you, Cass."
"Bye," Justin added. "I love you guys, too. Talk to you later."
Gwena and Cassandra both said their good-byes, and Victoria hung up. She looked at Justin. "Wasn't it so much easier before we knew we had parents?"
"Oh yeah. I definitely sympathize with the rest of the teenagers in the world," Justin replied.
"But I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world," said Victoria.
"Neither would I," Justin replied. He glanced at his watch. "Come on, lets go for a swim before dinner."
The two best friends clasped hands and headed for the Island House, their new home.
~finis~
Additional Disclaimer: Gwenna and WindShadow belong to StarDancing. MistGlow belongs to dwolf. Cassandra belongs to Rysher and Johnny Utah is from the movie Point Break by 20th Century Fox.
Author's Notes: While reading this, my RL best friend came up with an interesting point. To some people, it would seem that inner-city gangs play a very predominant role in the conclusion to this story, and they have roles in other stories of mine. I have no idea how this happened, considering I'm not even in a gang. Here is my take on that: some people automatically assume that gangs must be dealing drugs and must be randomly shooting people. I personally know that this is not true. I have a good friend in a "gang" which does neither of these things, but he is still constantly harrassed about the way he dresses. That is just my honest opinion, so please refrain from flaming me about this fact. It will be used to bake virtual chocolate-chip cookies and you will not get the satisfaction of a reply. Thank you.
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