Bat Country

Alexis felt out of options. Her brain was so out of it, she could not even focus to switch to her original self. Thor smelled like Brian's blood and it made Alexis so queasy she fell to her knees, Matt, Johnny, Miranda, and Zacky surrounding her.

"It's not a pleasant smell, I imagine?" Thor taunted.

"Fuck you." Alexis hissed. "If you've killed him, I promise you that I'll--"

"Kill him?" Matt laughed.

Alexis whipped her head around. "You!" She said through gritted teeth. "Have been the very reason all this misery has happened!" Standing up she was suddenly in Matt's face. "You have NO idea what it's like being your 'child'. No wonder Brian hates you. No wonder I hate you. And." Alexis pursed her lips. "No wonder I found better comfort with him than you. You are a fucking monster!"

Matt quickly snatched Alexis by the throat and pulled her face close to his. "All the pleasure you ever felt will be nothing, NOTHING, compared to the pain you're going to feel. You have betrayed me in every way, and I have done everything to accommodate you!"

"By violating me when I refused to leave your bed when you were nearly killed? By letting your own maker nearly destroy your 'precious' creation? By letting your maker kill the ONE THING THAT MAKES ME THINK THIS SHIT IS WORTH LIVING?! How dare you say you ever accommodated me." Alexis looked like a trapped panther. "By bringing more pain to me without asking for an explanation for this crime?"

"I don't want an explanation for why you fucked Brian. You are mine, and you don't seem to understand that I can bring you down as quickly as I raised you!" Matt stepped back and looked at Zacky.

Stepping forward Zacky's arms came out to grab her and a pair of arms suddenly pulled Zacky away and tossed him across the forest. While Matt was trying to figure out what happened, Alexis pulled back and started running again, letting her true nature and take over. With even more heightened senses, she now knew it was Jimmy who had showed up to her rescue and that he would likely be killed for it.

"Don't let them escape, you fucking idiots!" She heard Thor call. She didn't even bother to turn around this time. She kept running and knew that this time Thor would not catch up to her. He might come close, but he would not be able to do it.

Alexis was at least relieved that Jimmy may have been able to escape, as she could tell all of them were following her, minus Jimmy, and that she didn't smell any vampire blood that wasn't Brian's.

When Nikki's blood finally jumped in her body she became more determined to make it, and it was just in time, as Thor's giant hand swiped at her shoulders. She whipped him around and threw him back before continuing to run. Matt was even gaining on her and she knew there was no time to bother with him. She'd let Nikki and Andy do it.

Get ready to jump the ravine. Something told her. Within seconds she understood why. As the ravine came into focus, she could tell Nikki was close, but on the other side. Alexis hunkered down and started to run at a pace that would allow her to make the correct jump. At the correct moment, Alexis jumped the ravine and hit the ground hard. It took a moment to right herself, a moment she didn't have. As she got back up, Thor landed and caught her shoulder. Spinning out of his grasp Alexis once again let her feet thunder over the ground before Nikki finally came into view, right as Matt now reached out for her. Alexis reverted immediately and began crying.

Nikki held out his arms for Alexis as she leaped into the safety of them. Once she was there, she collapsed to her knees sobbing and Nikki just stroked her hair.

Looking behind her, she saw the line of nestmates stop, frozen by Nikki and Andy's presence.

"There, there, lovely. It's over now." Pulling Alexis up, Nikki smiled at her and held her tightly. "Where's Brian?"

"I d...don't know." Alexis said. "They took him."

"I bet one of them knows." Andy chuckled. "Can rip them limb from limb until one of them spills."

"What is that horrible fucking smell." Nikki said, dropping his arms from Alexis, but remaining close to her. He stepped forward, towards the group, but not before handing Alexis a heavy velvet bag, sniffing wildly. "Hmmm...hard scent to place...but it smells an awful lot like the biggest disappointment, the biggest failure, that I ever had the misfortune to make." His eyes fell to Thor.

Thor's face blanched as he looked up at his maker. It had been a long time, and Thor both loved and resented his maker. "You did not tell me of this!" Thor hissed at Matt.

"Do not chide your own child for your stupid decisions. He is stupid enough on his own, because of what you taught him. Do not expect that he suddenly has the mental capacity to inform you of the risks that your voluntary participation in this comes with."

Matt growled deeply.

"A cute little puppy, you are Matthew. I could destroy you with one finger a hundred years ago, and I can do it even better now."

"Sounds more like a mewling kitten." Andy said with a laugh, stepping closer to Alexis as Andy wandered further away.

"There were seven of us before Alexis was created. Seven. Who wouldn't think I would hear of her creation?" Nikki asked, crossing his arms.

"Zacky, Johnny, Miranda, all of you leave. NOW!" Matt barked.

Slowly they all started to run. Nikki turned to Andy and nodded. A large grin spread across Andy's pale face and he took off following them.

Quickly he returned, carrying three shrieking vampires in thin silver chains.

"When you get as old as we do Alexis, remember that silver will stop hurting you as you can move faster than it burns you." Nikki chuckled over his shoulder before turning back to the group.

"You won't get away from us." Andy said, helping Nikki form a barrier between Matt and Thor by moving in closer to Nikki.

"You wouldn't kill us either, because then you'd lose Brian!" Thor hissed.

"On the contrary, brother!" Andy said. "Alexis is mated to him. She will find him eventually. If we have to kill you, we will and we'll still find him. Or, you can tell us right now where he is and live to see another day."

"Please, though." Nikki continued with a smile. "Give Andrew a reason to torture and kill you both. He's been waiting many hundreds of years for this."

"Alexis won't allow that." Matt said with pursed lips and wide eyes.

"How can Alexis be mated to Brian?! She is already mated!"

"I assure you, she'll have no problem allowing you to be tortured in the same way you've, no doubt, tortured Brian. And perhaps, if you'd bothered to ask the girl instead of plotting to kill her mate and then her, you'd know exactly how such a thing is possible. She was more than willing to tell me everything. But that brings me back to a further point."

Andy suddenly kicked the ball of chained up vampires who were still hissing and screaming.

"Andrew, some respect." Nikki said.

Shrugging, Andy replied "Sorry, they just won't shut up."

Nikki rolled his eyes. "I am the oldest vampire on this hemisphere. The only other vampire older than myself is a thousand years older, and has entombed himself in a cave somewhere in South Africa where he is worshipped as a God. He's gone so insane that he has sat still for so long now, that he is almost petrified and likely to meet a true death from it, if he has not already. To be honest, it's been several hundred years since I last checked. That essentially leaves me as the authority. Assuming he's alive, there were seven of us before Alexis was made. Seven originals, so when you had the privilege to create an original vampire, Matthew, did you think I would not hear of it?"

"I had hoped you wouldn't. Because I knew it wouldn't be long before you tried to take her yourself. An original female? Everyone knows the only other in existence wants nothing to do with you." Matt said hatefully.

Nikki laughed. "Well, Alexis does want something to with me, and one the other point, you are wrong. I had no intention of taking her for myself. But of merely offering her, through your permission, the option to be taught by vampires of her own type. I had no intention of taking her into my care, if you could love and take care of her."

"I do love her!" Matt spat.

"Ah yes, but who could tell your love from hate? So far, poor Alexis's memories of you are mostly negative. She knows you love her, but it seems that no matter what she does to try and please you, she is always hurt anyways. You love her, but you abuse her. How should the poor girl know what to think? This is where my other point comes into play. You do not take care of her. You do not encourage her happiness, but instead let your rage get the better of you. You let your jealousy cloud your love and instead of letting her do what she wishes, and being there to support her, to culminate her into a mature vampire by guiding her, and keeping her healthy, you threaten to do bodily harm to her. You take away the two other beings who make her happy to have been made by you, but I digress..."

"She should have been happy with--" Matt interjected.

"I DIGRESS!" Nikki shouted into Matt's face with sudden fury, making Matt back down. "You knew I would find out about her. So where in your tiny young mind does it make sense that you think you could ever get away with fracturing one of the most precious gems of our species?"

"You're one to talk about being a horrible maker, Nikki! You abandoned your own children simply because they didn't propagate your idea of a vampire! You destroyed every Neo child you ever had, save myself, simply because you released me and I got away!" Thor barked.

"YOU WILL BE SILENT IN MY PRESENCE OR I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Nikki yelled in an accent that Alexis could not place. "You are right. I did abandon my children because they were not the same as myself. But that did not stop me from trying to be different with you. You were the last of my children, and I tried very hard to accept you, and to teach you. But the problem I had with you, and every other 'Neo' vampire I made, was that you are all petty, greedy, incapable of love. Think of the horror stories of the medieval! Those were not Originals as everyone thinks. That was nests of Neo vampires destroying villages, towns to slake their own thirst. An original keeps their sense of humanity, and Neos do not. But Thor, I tried hard to imbue you with that humanity which you were so eager to dispose of. When you could not have any feeling for anything but yourself, I released you. Andy was so disgusted by you that he begged me to destroy you, or, if I would not, asked for the permission to do it himself. So you have zero reason to be bitter with me over this."

Suddenly, everyone's heads snapped up as Jimmy's scent danced through the air.

Alexis turned towards the scent and found Jimmy walking cautiously to her. "Jimmy!" she exclaimed, opening her arms for him. He walked to her and hugged her tightly.

"Glad you made it, little duck." He grinned.

"I'm glad you're alright!" Alexis hugged him tighter.

"Many thanks, James, for your help." Nikki nodded towards him, turning back to see Matt's heavy gaze on Jimmy.

"Not too quickly, friend." Andy said as Matt took a step forward.

"Originals were capable of far worse deeds than any Neo! Originals butcher easier than we do!" Thor once again yelled.

This sent Nikki into a rage and he shoved Thor to the ground and began shouting in a language Alexis did not understand. She knew neither Matt nor Brian ever knew the language, because she couldn't place it in her memories. She turned to Jimmy.

"What language is he speaking?" She asked quietly.

"There's probably not a name for it anymore. He's so old, Alexis, god knows what he's speaking." Jimmy said.

Thor communicated with Nikki for awhile, in the foreign language until finally Nikki turned his back on him.

"Enough of the bullshit. James, did you find Brian?" Nikki asked.

"I lost his scent at a lake. Isabel's too. It's like they disappeared into thin air." Jimmy called.

"Oh you'll never find them." Matt said. "Alexis's blood might find him, if he is alive by that time."

Alexis suddenly flew forward as fast as she could and threw Matt to the ground. "You'll tell me where he is or I'll torture it out of you myself!"

Matt laughed. "I didn't come this far for you to have the happy ending you wanted."

"And she didn't come this far to let you live if you ruined her plans." Andy added.

"Andy, fetch that bag, will you?" Nikki asked, pulling Alexis off Matt and allowing Matt to stand up.

With blinding speed Andy had retrieved the velvet bag Alexis dropped in her haste.

"Thank you." Nikki said, opening the bag and so fast, Alexis did not see it, he had Matt hanging from a tree with a noose made from the thick silver chain by his neck. He finally turned back to Alexis while Matt kicked furiously. Thor got up once but was kicked back down by Andy.

"You have a choice. Ask him where your mate is, and pray he answers, or try to find him now. Given that he mentioned Brian may not have long to live, I'd advise you not worry about this peasant boy. Go find your lover, and if that fails, or he is dead, you can come back and seek your retribution then. Believe me, Matthew will not be going anywhere." Nikki said.

Alexis nodded. "I need Brian here with me."

"Then go find him. Andy, ensure her safety, please." Nikki said. "James and I will handle the one remaining vampire they have. The other three are still writhing like worms over there."

Andy took Alexis's hand and quickly began to follow Jimmy's scent back to the lake.