| Chapter 29 The sun was just rising when Jennifer made it back to the house. She quietly shut the door, pulling her sunglasses off. Standing in the foyer, the place looked more like a hotel than a house. It was stories high, with at least twenty bedrooms. The great room she just walked through could hold hundreds if need be. It was a good thing, because with all the family coming in, they would need the room. The house was already filled to capacity, and more arrived everyday. She walked into the massive kitchen and headed for the frig. It was past time for her to feed, and she was getting hungry. She pulled a bottle out and poured herself a glass. "So, how are things with the watcher?" Jennifer jumped, nearly dropping the glass. She turned around to see Raven staring at her from across the kitchen. "Fine," she answered, taking a big gulp of the drink to settle the fear that wanted to take over her body. Raven glided across the room to stand in front of her, "Just fine? You've been with him all night and things are just fine? I want to know what he knows, who's with him, what are they doing! Not fine!!" Jennifer backed herself into the counter behind her and stared at the floor, trembling. "Now," Raven said, softening her voice, "Tell me." Jennifer swallowed hard, still not looking up, "He brought someone back with him. A girl, a vampire. She's older than me, I can tell that, but I don't know what family she's from. Her name is Tracy, that's all I know." Raven grabbed her face and squeezed it, "See, now that wasn't difficult at all," she teased, "Now what of your watcher?" Jennifer's eyes shot up to meet hers, "What of him?" Raven tilted her head to the side and smiled, "What do you plan to do with him?" Jennifer looked back down at the floor, remaining silent. Raven sighed heavily, "You're instructions were clear girl. Now when are you going to bring him into the family?" Jennifer bit her lip, "He's not ready yet. Please, just give me a while longer," she begged. Raven laughed, the sound echoing off the walls, "You're personal feelings for him will not change the outcome, and I will not accept failure. Do I make myself clear?" "Y-Yes mistress," Jennifer stammered. "I expect him to be part of the family before the meeting, if you fail me, I'll take him myself and you don't want that do you?" Raven threatened. Jennifer shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. "Good, now get some sleep, you have a lot to do in a few days time," Raven said, stalking out of the room. Jennifer sank to the floor, tears rolling over her cheeks. She couldn't do what Raven wanted, no matter how much she was threatened. But she couldn't let Raven do it either. She loved Howie, and no matter what the danger was to herself, she was determined to protect him. Slowly she stood up and headed to her room, she had to come up with something. She couldn't lose Howie. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick sat up in bed, on the verge of tears. He'd been that way since Michael told him the news. Kevin had gone into big brother mode immediately wanting to know what could be done, what it entailed and how soon they were gonna get started. Candice had said nothing. She didn't have to, the pity and sadness was written on her face. Nick was glad that she stayed with him, but he couldn't take that look anymore. He cleared his throat, "Hey, it's not like I'm dying right?" She managed a weak smile, "Yeah. Let's look at the good side here." He nodded, then jumped as Kevin's voiced boomed from the hallway. He felt sorry for whoever was on the receiving end of that. Candice laughed, "He loves you a lot ya know." "I know, he just has an odd way of showing it," Nick replied. She smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. She'd known Kevin for several years now. "Candice, have you known anyone with this?" Nick asked. She looked away from him and nodded her head, "Yeah .... when I first started out there was a slayer that everyone talked about. Kent. He was a natural, and everyone loved him. He wracked up more kills in one year than most in a lifetime. But then .. he started to change." "Change? How?" Nick asked. She sighed, looking back at him, "He couldn't go about his normal day anymore. He became paranoid, and he just couldn't turn it off. He was constantly on the hunt." He didn't want to ask, but he knew he had to, "So what happened to him?" Candice sat down on the edge of the bed, picking at the sheet, "He became uncontrollable. He attacked a couple in broad day light. Michael had him brought here and that's when they found it, but it was to late. He managed to escape and walked into a vampire club that night. He knew he couldn't live like this, so he ..... um ...." "He let them finish him off," Nick offered. She nodded. Nick bit his lip, doing his best to control his emotions. Candice took his hand, "Hey, that's not gonna happen to you. They have medicine now." "But Kevin said it was still experimental," he argued. "It is, but so far it shows promise. It's better than nothing Nick," she said. "I hope so," Nick said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian rolled over and opened his eyes, "Hey, why aren't you asleep?" Tracy glanced at him, "I'm just thinking." "What about?" he asked, getting comfortable. "That girl we saw in the hall on the way out," she answered. "The red head?" he asked. She nodded. "What about her?" he asked. "She's like us, and she went to Howie's room," Tracy said. Brian raised his head and looked at her, "You're sure?" "Positive," she answered. He turned to face her, "Well I'm sure D has an explanation. He is a watcher, maybe she's like an informant or something." "I don't know Brian, I didn't get that from her. It was almost like fear there for a second, like she'd been caught doing something she wasn't suppose to," Tracy said. Brian glanced at the window, seeing the sunlight peeking in from behind the curtains. He looked at the clock, it was only 11:30 AM. "Well, why don't we ask Howie what's going on," he said. "Do you think he'll tell us?" she asked. Brian grinned, "I think so. Besides he has this nasty habit of playing with his cell phone when he's lying. I'll know if he's not giving me the whole story." "You think?" she laughed, "You have to remember that he's been a watcher for years and you didn't know about that." "Well, true. But none of us ever asked him about it either, so in essence he never had to lie to us. He just didn't tell us everything that was going on in his personal life. We all do that," he defended, "Now, why don't we get a little more sleep, then we can go have breakfast and talk to him." Tracy sighed, "Alright, I'll try." Brian lifted his hand and motioned for her to come closer. She scooted over and snuggled up against him, as he wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head, "Good night." She smiled, relaxing in his arms, taking in his scent, "Good night Brian." With that, they both closed their eyes and were asleep in minutes. Chapter 30 |