Bat Country

Brian ran a different direction than Alexis had expected. There was a door in the back of the library which led to what seemed like a very long shaft that went on forever.

"What the hell is this?" Alexis asked, her legs finally catching up to Brian.

"Secondary hatch to get out of the nest. I didn't feel like Matt asking questions." He responded, grabbing Alexis's hand and pulling her to the left.

The shaft split off in several directions and now it seemed like a maze.

"He should just now be getting up, actually."

"This late?" Brian stopped and turned around.

"Yeah I kind of made him sleep in...Is that a problem?" Alexis's eyes looked up at Brian's carefully.

"You don't play games, do you?" He asked, a surprised look on his face.

"I'd never have got to you last night if I didn't do something. He'd have followed me all night even though he told me I could go. I could feel it in my fucking bones."

A sudden kiss made Alexis's stomach drop, but before she could hardly return it, Brian had smiled at her and took off again, leaving her to swoon as she ran.

"Where are we going?" Alexis asked urgently after her momentary weakness had subsided.

"You wanted to know about that other Original, and if Matt rejects us, or he tries to destroy us, he and his maker could be of great help to us." Brian's voice seemed distracted.

"We're going to go see him?" Excitement lit up Alexis's voice and she beamed a large, surprised smile up at Brian.

"Assuming we can find him. He's sometimes difficult to locate, although he'll be close because he's waiting for you." Finally reaching the end of the shaft, Brian unlocked a hatch which spit them out into the ravine.

"Why is he waiting for me?"

"Well, honestly, it's probably at the behest of his maker." Brian said, his pace now slowed to a walk.

"Still doesn't answer my question." Alexis had to walk a little faster to keep up with Brian's longer stride.

It had rained today and it smelled like wet earth and the ground was a little harder to traverse.

"Aside from the fact that you are an Original female, only one of two...It gets a little complicated."

"I'm listening." Alexis shifted her weight to the opposite foot and crossed her arms.

Brian sighed and looked to the side trying to figure out how to word this.

"You're family to them. That Original...his maker also made Thor. Which makes them 'brothers' so to speak. The Original would be Matt's 'uncle.' The Maker is Matt's grandfather, so you know he would be our--"

"Great Grandfather." She interrupted.

"Right. Now the maker ended up releasing Thor because he was...weak. Thor ended up being pretty bitter, and so you can imagine Matt would be too. When Matt came to this country looking for me, they were already here and they could sense my blood was related to theirs, so they looked after me and kept me hidden for a long time."

Alexis didn't say anything, except for an odd noise that sounded like the beginning of a word that she thought better of speaking.

"I had asked them to...and they did a fantastic job. Every time Matt got close, they made sure to send him on a different path. Eventually Matt got fed up with the run around, and decided to pick a fight he couldn't possibly win and inevitably lost. Badly. Which pissed Thor off to no end, and did nothing to help their standing with Matt. After I made the decision to go back to Matt, they always stayed close making sure Matt didn't do something stupid, like destroy me."

"They were making sure he didn't destroy you?" Alexis asked in disbelief.

"Alexis." Brian stopped for a moment. "Originals have strong attachments. You know that. For the same reason you've not killed any of us but Callie, and we know you didn't like her. But Zacky, Rev, Johnny, you like them enough to not kill them even if you could. I'd have killed them outright. You saw how Zack and I jumped at each other. You won't do that. Maybe to Matt. But you know the story there."

"That didn't take as long as we had thought." A new voice suddenly snapped Alexis out of a trance.

Whipping their heads to where the voice came from, the young looking Original sauntered down from a small hill, his lean body glimmering with rain.

"There've been developments." Brian responded calmly, his body language telling Alexis that he was not afraid of this Vampire.

"What kind of developments?" The Original asked, crossing his arms and looking down as he toed his way down to the hill until he was standing with Alexis and Brian.

"Is it possible to double mate for your type?" Brian asked, almost unsure of himself.

The Originals eyes came up to Alexis's and he smiled warmly. "No." He said flatly, his eyes still on Alexis. Turning to Brian, he raised his eyebrows and uncrossed his arms. "But what I've inferred, that is going to cause problems."

"It already is one." Alexis muttered.

The Original turned back to Alexis and pat her on the back before turning to Brian. "Shall we go? Discussing this with me is only going to help so much. Nikki has been anxious to meet her. I think he's out hunting, so I'm going to need to go find him."

"The spot?" Brian asked with a sigh.

"The spot." The Original nodded.

"Alright Andy, we'll meet you there." Brian said farewell to a blur, as before he even finished his sentence, Andy was gone.

"Nikki?" Alexis asked. "I thought you said they were guys."

"Nikki is a guy, and that's not his birth name." Brian said, taking Alexis's hand and following a trail up the hill. "He's very old, Alexis. Thor was two thousand years old, and Nikki is double that age. A lot of us choose different names after our...second birth...and even if Nikki did not, his birth name is archaic and you'd probably not be able to pronounce it."

"Four thousand years old?!" Alexis blurted in disbelief, pulling Brian back and facing him. "Are you fucking kidding? How old is Andy?!"

"A millenia older than Thor." Brian said calmly.

"Holy shit." Alexis whispered, curling her fingers into the fabric of Brian's shirt and hugging him, her surprised face nearly blank.

"Fucked up isn't it?" Brian laughed, holding Alexis tightly, his chin pressed to her forehead. "But let's go, we've got a way to go."

Alexis nodded and took off with Brian.