A Tainted Revenge

Lauren twisted her soaking wet hair up into a towel, with her water-wrinkled hands. She wrung the mess dry before stepping out of the shower. Lauren pushed aside the blue, plastic curtain. She swept her now light brown hair, in the small, white towel that was hanging on the peg next to the shower. She crouched down, over the edge of the shower, and picked up the large towel that fell on the floor and wrapped herself in it. She stepped over the edge and onto the soft fuzz of the mat. Lauren turned her body, to face the door. There was a long, body-sized mirror hanging on the back of it.

It had been three months since her rape and Dave’s murder. When she looked at herself in the mirror, Lauren did not see herself. All she could see was the pair and fear that tormented her dreams every night within her heavily, aged eyes. Lauren had moved into her grandfather’s house, thinking that she would feel safe , but she knew that she would never feel safe again. With the power that her rapist had gained over the vampires, it would be hard to feel protected anywhere.

Lauren could hear her grandfather barking out orders over the phone, like normal, to his vampire slayers, or the Necos as they are known in the police force, through the closed door. This special branch of the police was working with the Proeliator slayers of the church to keep order in the mortal world.

She drowned out the sound of his loud, stressed out yells, by humming random notes as she pulled a long, cream nightshirt over her head. Lauren shimmied the towel off and opened the bathroom door, which adjoined to her bedroom. She ran over and sat on her queen sized bed. She fiddled with the hot pink sheets until she heard silence. Lauren listened to the heavy footsteps up the stairs and waited for the loud knock that always followed after.

“Come in!”, Lauren yelled as she heard the knock, and the door opened. Her grandfather stood in the doorway. He had grown much older in the past couple of months, because of the stress and troubles the vampires kept bringing him. His skin use to be smooth and his hair dark, but now she looked at the wrinkles forming on his face and the gray hair that was beginning to take over the brown. She had begged him to quit and said that they could ran away, but she knew, deep in her heart, that he was suffering because of her. He suffered for her. Her grandfather was the only thing standing in Alaric’s way. He needed to kill the Vampire Master so his granddaughter could live.

He held out a hand towards Lauren. “I need you to come downstairs with me, Lauren,” he said. “I need to tell you what is happening”.

Lauren slipped off the bed and walked slowly over to her waiting grandfather, letting her feet sink into the soft, blue carpet of her bedroom floor. She took his hand, and he lead Lauren, silently, down the stairs and towards the dinning room.

There where two people already sitting at the expensive, dark maple table. One was Charlie Medows. He was a very handsome man, even if he was a few years older than her. He had against-police-regulation shaggy, blond hair and bright, green eyes that had entranced her from the moment they had met. Charlie was his top Neco. You could tell just by the sculpted muscles in his arms and the multiple scars on his face.

They gave each other warm, friendly smiles of hello, as she walked over to the chair next to him and sat down. Across from Lauren was a man she did not know. She looked over him as her grandfather sat down next to the man. Lauren tried to figure out his eyes. They seemed to have no color, yet at the same time, they seemed to encompass them all. He was overall a strange looking man. He was nice looking, with his dark, curly hair, that set off his very pale skin. She did not like the looks of him. He scared her.

The man flashed a big smile at her as she shifted nervously in her chair. Lauren jumped back out of fear. Her chair fell, with a loud crash to the floor, as his sharp fangs seemed to glisten in the dim light. As the vampire held her in his gaze, Lauren was paralyzed with fear. She could not run away.

“Lauren,” her grandfather said in his gruff tone, “he…”. Lauren interrupted him.

“HE is a vampire!” Lauren yelled at him, with a shriek. “Why would you do this to me?” Tears started streaming down her cheeks out of anger and fear. Charlie stood up and walked over to Lauren. He wrapped his arms around her while she buried her face into his shoulder.

“Lauren,” Charlie said softly, “He is our informant against Alaric. Bran is Alaric’s third.” Lauren pulled away from Charlie’s shoulder and looked up into his eyes.

“Yeah? So what is so important that my grandfather, whom knows that I am afraid to death by the word ’vampire’ alone, must have me involved in this?” Her voice started rising with her irritation. “I don’t ever want to see a vampire again! I am leaving!” Lauren pulled out of Charlie’s grasp on her and turned to walk away.

As soon as she started moving, the vampire began to speak. “You are pregnant. You do know that, do you not?” He asked her, with a slight British accent. Lauren turned to look at him.

“How would you know that?” she asked quietly in shame. “I haven’t told anyone”.

“The bastard that runs this city can sense it, my sweet love. He knows that he got you, how do you teenagers say it…knocked up,” said Bran, with a sly, little smile. “He is going to try and kill you and that child that you are carrying within your slim body.”

Lauren placed her hands on her hips in a show of her fake strength. “I’ll just get rid of the baby then,” her voice rising in defiance. “I will be safe after that”.

Lauren looked at her grandfather. He raised his bowed head. His eyes were filled with his fear for her.

“No, Lauren,” he said in a saddened voice. “You will always be his number one target. Keeping you alive was a mistake, and he knows it. He needs to fix his mistake to keep a hold of his power, especially now that he knows that you are carrying his child”.

“Why is that?” she asked.

“Because,” the British vampire said, “Your baby will be the end of him. It will become a Dhampir. It will be able to sense it’s Daddy’s location anywhere. Your baby is the biggest weapon you all have against Alaric once it is of age.”

Lauren looked at him now, not out of fear, but of curiosity. “Why are you helping us?”

Bran’s eyes filled with darkness. “The last Master was my wife.” His voice filled with the dreams of revenge. “He needs to pay for what he did to her and I am not strong enough to do it.”

Lauren’s thoughts drifted to the memory of that awful night and right at that moment she connected with the vampire. Their eyes met with mutual understanding. They both gave similar, malevolent smiles.

“I will have the baby,” Lauren decided. “I want the bastard dead.

“Alright,” said her grandfather, “You will go, with Charlie, away from the city, for there are laws that even he must follow. He cannot go past his own territory. Once your child gains it’s skills, we will protect and train him or her and then finally this will all be over.” He took his granddaughter’s hands. “You will be putting your own life at risk. You must tell your child that if anything is to happen to you and Charlie before the baby comes of age, to run to St. Claire’s church. They will protect the child.”

“I will also be in charge of protecting the child, once it comes of age,” said Bran. “Nothing bad will happen to the babe.”

Lauren looked at all three men. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s kill this asshole!”