A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome to "Dark Curse", which is the sequel to "To Love A Vampire". I have been planning out this story for a long time, and I hope that you enjoy it. I am happy to say that this chapter is beta read! :Cheers: A million thanks to my beta reader Nicole.

(A Note from my beta reader) Krystin, This is an awesome way to start the new story. I'm looking forward to reading the coming chapters. You are a talented writer. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'll talk to you next year. LoL! Nikki

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I am going through this really big Nirvana phase, so that is why their are their lyrics here. Also, it is fitting for this fic, it will make sense in the coming chapters.

"What else should I be? All Apologies. What else should I say? Everyone is gay. What else should I write? I don't have the right. What else should I be? All Apologies." -Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, singing a line from "All Apologies"

And without further delay, here is the first chapter of "Dark Curse"

Dark Curse

Chapter One: Jhessail's Life

Jhessail was standing in the dim room, which was only illuminated with a single candles flame. Her long black hair was cascading like water down her back, and it shown like a ravens wing in the soft light.

Her face was slightly illuminated by the candle, and what could be seen was breath taking. Her gray eyes, sparkling with happiness, could clearly be seen. Her skin was as white as snow, due to the fact that she could no longer go into the warmth of the sun. Her long neck, also as pale as snow was adorned with a black moon. It was her mate's mark, claiming her as his, and also warning all other Vampires that if she was injured that there would be dire consequence.

Jhessail was wearing a black dress, which was stretched tightly over the swelling mound of her stomach. She was six months pregnant, and she was beginning to prepare for the birth of the child.

Jhessail looked longingly at the bed, and shook her head. ~Mark wants me to stay up. He says that he has something important to tell me.' She cast one more longing look at the tempting bed before she walked to the window.

With a lift of her dainty hand, she easily opened the shade, and looked out into the blackness of the night. It was raining outside, and she watched the silver droplets fall to the muddy ground. She could easily discern the wind gusting through the trees, blowing the leaves off of the branches and sending them cascading to the waiting ground. Jhessail smiled at the absurdity of her thoughts. 'This pregnancy is making me loony' she thought with another shake of her head. "I have come so far in just six months," she whispered to herself, resting her hand on her stomach.

Just six months ago, she had been crouched down in the forests clearing, with her two friends Erick and Chris. They had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Vampire King so that they could make the kill of the century.

Yet things had not gone according to plan.

When her friends had charged, ready to kill all of the Vampires in the clearing, they had been ambushed. Mark had anticipated their coming, and Erick and Chris had quickly been overwhelmed.

She had valiantly fought for her friends life, by fighting Mark. He had easily overpowered her, for even though she was a Slayer, in fact one of the best Slayers her people had, she was weak compared with the King of Vampires.

Once he had her struggles quelled, Mark had bitten her. She had fainted, and Mark had marked her with his symbol of a black moon.

When Chris and Erick had woken her, she had been devastated to find out that she had been marked, and to make things worse, it had been the King to do so.

Only one other Slayer had ever been marked in their whole history. The girl had shamed their people by falling in love with the Vampire that had marked her.

Her father had arrived, and told her that she was disowned, and that the only way she could get back into the family was to kill Mark.

She had tried to do so, by going to where Mark lived, and fighting him. Once again, she had failed. Mark had forced her to live with him, and prepare for a fight to the death that would happen in one week.

While training in the house, she had met Nicole. She was surprised to find out that Nicole was the Slayer who had been marked more than two hundred years ago. Over the week she befriended Nicole, and her mate Michael. During the week, things between Mark and her had become heated. They consummated their feelings for each other, and things had became very difficult when she found out that she was pregnant. As the day of the fight arrived, Mark told her that he loved her. She had cruelly shot him down, and so they continued with the scheduled fight.

Fortunately their fight had been interrupted by the arrival of a Vampire named Kurt. Kurt warned Mark that Slayers were invading the house. Mark left, and she followed moments later. As she was struggling to find out where Mark had gone, she had ran into Erick. So the two of them eventually found where Mark had gone.

As they entered the room, they found Mark, Kurt, Nicole, and Michael all surrounded by a ring of Slayers. She had become very angry and screamed at her father to call the Slayers off, and not harm her lover and friends. As she was talking, Chris appeared behind her, and stabbed her.

Somewhere along the time when she had been kidnapped, he had totally gone off the deep end. It turned out that Chris was a betrayer, and that he thought that if he killed her he could become the King of the Vampires.

She would have died, for her wounds were fatal. Mark had done the only thing that he could do under the circumstances. He had turned her into a Vampire.

So she became a Vampire, and was totally disowned by her furious father. She was happy though, she was going to give birth in a scant three months. She was married to Mark. Nicole and Michael were still here, and Erick had moved in with them, for he had been disowned as well.

She turned around, rather startled when the door flew open. She relaxed however, when she realized that it was only Mark. She ran to him, and threw her arms around his broad shoulders.

Mark had long black hair, and black eyes that always appeared to be glowing with a strange red flame. He was tall, and well muscled. He was currently clothed all in black, and his outfit was completed with a black cape.

He smiled, and lowered his head. Their lips found each others, and they kissed hungrily. Fire swept through their bodies and the ground shifted below their feet. Mark reluctantly lifted his head, and gazed lovingly at his mate.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, his rich voice husky with desire. She smiled, and gracefully moved to the bed, and laid down on it. "I'm really tired, but other than that I am okay." She opened her mouth as if to say more, but she quickly closed it.

Mark raised his eyebrows, and looked at her questioningly. She squirmed under his piercing, lust filled stare. "Mark, do you get the feeling that something bad is on the horizon, just waiting to come?" She was surprised to see Mark's gaze spring away from hers.

He sighed, and sat down next to her, and drew her into his arms. "All the time Jhessail. All the time. I am just trying not to think about it." She looked at him, quite startled.

"Try not to think about it Jhess. We have more important things to think about. Like, what we are going to have! Just one more week before we can find out the sex of our child!"

Jhessail laughed, and threw her arms around Mark's neck. The two of them fell back onto the mattress, and as their bodies came together, they both momentarily forgot about their feelings of impending doom, that was looming so close....

*Nathaniel's Pov*

"...Yeah sure. I'll talk to you later. Bye." Nathaniel hung the phone up, with a distracted sigh.

He had just gotten off the phone with Erick. They had been talking about his sister. Erick had told him that she was fine, and she had appeared to have accepted her transformation without that much difficulty. He was also relieved to know that Mark and his sister were doing fine as well and that they were preparing for the birth of their child.

Nathaniel felt horrible. He had not seen his sister since her wedding five months earlier. His father prevented him from visiting Jhessail every time with work that took until the early hours of dawn to complete.

He could not visit his sister when she was lying like something dead! He was feeling incredibly angry; he wanted to see his sister, damn it! He knew that Erick would not lie to him about Jhessail's well being, but still, for his mind's sake, he wanted to see for himself how his sister was faring with her new life.

He would also never forgive himself if he was not there when Jhessail gave birth to her child.

He jumped about a foot in the air when his father came charging into the room, looking akin to an angry bull.

"Father! What on Earth is wrong?" He cried, the question plainly heard in his voice.

His father was a short man, with piercing blue eyes, and blonde hair that was rapidly turning gray. He was very fat, and none of his shirts seemed to fit him right, for they were stretched over his enormous stomach, and looked as if they would tear at any moment. His father turned and looked at him, and an insane smile light up his face. "All of them must pay Nathaniel!" He cried, turning to face the window that faced the courtyard.

"Who must?" Nathaniel asked, even though he truly did not want to know. His father turned and faced him once again. "All of the Vampires!" He cried, his eyes a light with a strange fire, and spreading his hands to further accentuate his point.

Nathaniel opened his mouth to ask a question, but his father rushed on. "They took my precious daughter from me! Thanks to that damn Vampire, my daughter can no longer come back to our people, nor can she ever see the light of day! But...if I kill her mate, if I eradicate him from this world, then she can come back to us!"

Nathaniel could only stare at his father, truly shocked. "What?! Kill Mark? Father, do you really expect the Vampires to just allow you to get away with killing their King? You could start a war between our people and the Vampires!"

His father turned around, and smiled even more evilly. "So be it. If a war does start, then we will be ready." Before Nathaniel could say anything else, his father turned on his heel, and walked out the door without a backward glance.

Nathaniel was left standing in the now silent room, and staring blankly at the floor. In the back of his mind, he realized that his father had gone mad.

*Michael's Pov*

Michael was standing in the middle of the room, and silently watched as his King sauntered around.

"Michael," Mark said softly, and Michael watched the mixed emotions dance across his King's face. Michael nodded, silently urging Mark to continue. "I have a very important job for you," he said softly, staring emotionlessly at him.

Michael nodded, already accepting the task, whatever it may be.

Over the many centuries since Mark had changed him, the two of them had been inseparable. In fact, he had been named Mark's heir until it was learned that Jhessail was pregnant.

Over the many years, the two of them had built a very strong friendship. He would willingly die for his King, and Mark would do the same should the need arise.

"What is it?" He asked, looking at Mark curiously. Mark continued to look at him silently, before he finally talked. "I need you to be Jhessail's bodyguard. There will be times when I will be unable to be there should she find trouble. Jhessail is still new to our world, and she will need protection."

Michael could not help staring at Mark in utter amazement. "Me? Is Jhessail's bodyguard? Mark have you gone mad? Jhessail was a Slayer only six months ago! She can still fight; she doesn't need me to protect her." Michael realized his mistake too late; he had said the wrong thing.

Mark's eyes darkened with anger, and it was obvious that only his iron control over his emotions kept him from striking him. "Jhessail," he started in a soft, quiet, voice, "Jhessail is six months pregnant with my heir. She is not as agile as she once was. She needs protection. Michael, I feel that something bad is going to happen soon; I fear for my mate and child's safety."

Michael was surprised that Mark would openly admit his fear for Jhessail, and after only a seconds thought, he nodded his head in agreement. "All right, Mark. I'll protect Jhessail."

As he looked at Mark's now relieved face, he knew that he had made the right choice.

*Jhessail's Pov*

Jhessail bounded happily to the door of the room she shared with Mark. She threw the it open, and jumped into the Erick's waiting arms.

Erick laughed, and quickly twirled her around. He lowered her to the ground, and the both of them laughed.

Without a word, the two of them started outside, into the pre-dawn light. After perhaps five minutes of silence, Erick finally spoke. "Jhess, how much time do you have before you need to be inside?"

Jhessail observed Erick in the soft light. He had obviously just woken up moments before, for his short blonde hair was matted to his head, and two strands were spiked up on his head making it appear that he had horns. He was wearing a faded ~Central University' sweatshirt, and baggy capri pants.

She quickly glanced up at the sky, and mentally counted down the time that she had before she needed to go to the sleep of her new people. "I have...let's see.... fifteen minutes." Erick nodded.

"Hey Jhess, do you miss being a Slayer?" She looked at Erick, obviously shocked at his question. "I don't. I mean, at first I was sad that I was kicked out, but I'm happy here with you. I have so many more friends than I could ever have thought possible. I mean, look at Kurt and me! We get along so well...I never want to go back to the life I once had."

Jhessail looked at Erick, and she smiled. "I'm glad that you found peace with your new life. You accepted it faster than I did!" Erick frowned, and looked at her with accusing eyes. "Jhessail, you had to come to grips with being a Vampire! That's more than I can say." She sighed, and twirled a leaf that she had picked up from the ground in her hand.

"True...it was very hard to come to grips with. I mean, here I am sixteen, pregnant, and a Vampire. The one thing that I have spent so much time destroying, and now I have to be one for all eternity!"

She laughed, and looked up at the beautiful sky, that was beginning to brighten with the suns rising. She motioned for Erick to follow her, and they both started to briskly walk back to the house.

"I am perfectly happy now. I won't lie to you Erick, there are sometimes when I see a new Vampire visiting Mark, and I automatically reach down for my twin swords. Yet, at the same time I couldn't be happier. I am going to give birth very soon, and I have a loving husband. Not to mention great friends."

They walked quickly up the stone walkway, and Jhessail ran into the shadowed doorway, for the sun was starting to hurt her sensitive skin. She turned and took one last look at the sky that was now tinged with orange and yellow. She listened to the birds that were stirring to life, and the soft wind that was blowing through the grass. She gave one sad smile, before she closed the door after Erick walked in.

"Though, I don't think I will ever get used to not seeing the sun. The most I can see it for is maybe two minutes when it is rising, and even then it burns like hell! I can't even see the sun setting, for both Mark and Nicole tell me that the it is too intense for my newly changed body to handle."

Erick nodded sympathetically, and patted her shoulder in a comforting manner. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the doorbell.

~Jhessail? Can you answer the door? Michael and I are having an important conversation.' She heard her mate ask her through the special link that was formed between them when Mark had "marked" her.

'I can't, it's not safe for me. But Erick can.' She told him, once again through their special link.

She nodded when she saw Erick's questioning stare and he opened the door. She was shocked to see her father standing there!

"Oh my God!" She cried, truly shocked. She moved back into the shadows, swaying from the lethargy she was feeling from the rapidly rising sun. She needed to be sleeping in seven minutes; otherwise she was going to be suffering terribly.

"Dad, what on earth are you doing here?" She cried, and Erick repeated her question. "Jhessail," he said, searching for her. He nodded once he spotted her. He drew himself up to his full height, and once again started to talk. "I am here to see Mark. It is very important."

Jhessail gasped, and desperately looked at Erick's comforting form."This can't be good." She mouthed to him, and saw that Erick agreed.

End of Chapter: Jhessail's Life

Next Chapter: Smells Like...War?

A/N: I finally finished! How did you guys like this chapter? From what I can tell, I think this fic is going to be pretty long.

I have to fit in Erick and Kurt getting together, as well as Nathaniel's story. And of course, most of the fic is going to center around Jhessail and Mark, and there is still going to be some Michael and Nicole.

Please tell me what you thought, and leave me a pretty review! Please you guys, this is the first time that I am actually you guys to review and tell me what you thought!

5+ Reviews and I will continue! ~StarryFIF2~