Beginning Song: It Ends Tonight by the All-American Rejects
Starring:
Jessica Taking
Kelly Clarkson
Craig Taking
Chad Michael Murray
Richard Taking
Keither Sutherland
Monique Witchingcock
Allison Hannigan
Wistan Connelly
Orlando Bloom
Gerard Ford
Kevin Zeggers
Storm Antonio
Chris Angel
Christoph Myers
Heath Ledger
Decadence
Heather Graham
Jon Hannigan
Jesse Mccartney
Mother Taking (Decised)
Susan Surrandon
"Stormy, Stormy, Stormy… where should I begin?" Gerard asked, his tone dangerously calm as he sat on the open window sill, his long legs draped luxuriously over the side.
"Gerard? What are you doing here?" Storm asked, fear pricking his sides like an angry wind. He knew Gerard inside and out, and apposed to most vampires who were quiet when they felt it and loud when they were upset, he knew that this sudden brunt of calmness was something to be both feared and respected, at all costs.
"Are you aware, Steven, that while you fled Virginia, too afraid to face the growing tremors of love and desire that you keep walled up inside that big broad chest of yours… that you were also fleeing from a mistress and babe?"
Storm blinked at him in confusion, the alcohol swimming in his blood at a dangerously toxic level. The mention of his God-given name stirred something inside of him that even the fires of denial couldn't overpower.
"Do not call me that." He managed to say. Gerard looked up and down his body as he stood, naked, clutching the hem of a blanket, and closed his eyes in displeasure.
"Is that really all you've got to say for yourself?" He asked, as the last remaining fiber of control vanished from his smoky purple eyes.
He rose, tipping a chair over on his way, glaring at his child. Storm glared back, unafraid in his drunken stupor of the massive beating that was about to ensue.
"I can leave when ever I want, Gerard. You do NOT own me. No one owns me!"
"Oh, and you'd LOVE to believe that's what this is all about, right?"
"What??"
"You heard me! You'd LOVE to think that I'm here because I can't live with out you! She can't live without you! The baby can't live without you!!"
"Baby… what baby?"
"Don't be coy with me. Fuck you! You know what baby. YOUR god damned baby."
"I had a lot of sex twenty years ago, Gerard, but that kid's certainly old enough to fend for himself by now, wouldn't you say? Whose is it, anyways? That girl from Margaritas? She was fine-"
Gerard lunged, grabbing Storm by the jugular and squeezing with only half of his super human strength.
"Shut UP, Storm. Don't you FUCKING PRETEND YOU DON'T KNOW. DON'T YOU LIE. MONIQUE'S CHILD!"
"It's not mine!" He gasped out, his hands white-knuckling Gerard's wrist as Gerard's eyes turned carnal red with hatred; madness.
"FUCK YOU, IT'S NOT YOURS. IT GOD DAMNED IS SO."
"I'M FUCKING DEAD."
"Oh, no Storm. Not yet."
"Jessica, what's happening?" Monique shrieked as the ambulance for St. Myers bumped over ruts in the road as it sped into the Hospital Parking Lot.
"We need to start an IV" a red haired med-student who thrust a clipboard in Jessica's direction.
"What's this?"
"You gotta sign for it."
Jessica looked at him, flabbergasted. "Because??"
"Well, it's a bumpy ride. In case something… happens."
Jessica snorted, tossing it aside and gripping Monique's hand tighter.
"I don't think so, buddy. Fuck that. Christoph can start one for her when we get there."
"Listen, I don't think-"
"Back off."
The student's eyes widened, and he stepped aside with wary eyes as Jessica leant down over Monique.
"Thanks." Monique said, as she closed her eyes to the face of another contraction.
"You'd have done the same for me, Monique."
The student looked at the bag of blood that was slowly turning Monique's wrist purple with strain from the needle, and shook his head, sitting down beside the equally put off ambulance driver.
"She refused?"
"Yeah."
"I told you she would."
"I know. Christoph's patients are always so damn finicky for some reason…"
Monique gasped as the pain subsided, and she rearranged herself on the hard gurney beneath her.
"Jessica? What's wrong with my baby?"
"I don't know Monique. But we're gonna fix it."
"You swear?"
"More times than I can count in a day." She smiled, squeezing her friends hand as the ambulance doors opened. Several strong looking EMT's sped into the car and pulled Monique's gurney down the ramp, rushing her into the Hospital.
"We need Dr. Christoph!" Jessica yelled, rushing behind the stream of employees.
"We got the call." Said the EMT, flashing a toothy smile at her. Jessica could have slapped herself when the two pointy incisors caught her attention. It would serve itself correctly that a vampyric doctor would have only vampyric associates.
"Okay." She answered, feeling slightly better to know that no secrets were to be violated by the sudden and terrible occurrence of this night.
She was whipped back into the present when she heard Monique's groan as she began to writhe again. She sped up after her friend as the EMT's pushed the gurney into a copious elevator and held the door for Jessica.
"Floor ten." Jessica said as she took Monique's hand in hers again. When the shaft was safely closed once more, the EMT's began to speak normally.
"God, look at how pale she is… is she turning?" A taller, blond asked. Jessica shook her head.
"No. We think the baby's actually-"
"Drinking her blood." Finished the EMT who Jessica had first pronounced as a vampire.
"Right." She said, nodding.
"Christ…" The third said as the doors shifted apart again. They wheeled her up the floor and released the gurney.
"This is where we leave you. Take care, girls!" The first said again, saluting them. Jessica nodded to them and took off in the direction where she knew Christoph and the other doctors were waiting for them.
"Jess… it's coming!" Monique said, gritting her teeth and straining her hold on Jessica's hand.
Jessica closed her eyes, silently praying that this would all be over, and they'd both be safe and sound within a few hours.
She hoped… but dared not believe.
"Gerard, either you tell me why you're here, or you fuck off, and let me GO."
Gerard's hand came down hard on his child's cheek, and Storm winced. Gerard was glaring down at him, his anger beginning to sear through the air.
"Don't EVER talk to me like that again. Can you even begin to understand what I'm telling you?! Monique is pregnant. Right now. She has a baby inside of her, Storm."
"And?? It's not mine!! Couldn't be! I haven't even fucking known her that long."
"LISTEN TO ME, YOU DRUNKEN IDIOT."
"I AM! YOU'RE ALL ON A FUCKING TYRAID, LOOKING FOR SOME ONE TO BLAME! AND JUST BECAUSE I LEFT HER, YOU CHOOSE ME TO BLAME. WELL GUESS WHAT, GERARD? I DON'T HAVE THE FUCKING ABILITY TO MAKE CHILDREN, AND YOU KNOW THAT."
"No, you dumb shit, have you FORGOTTEN?? YOU POSSESS THE PROPER EQUIPTMENT TO MAKE CHILDREN UNTIL LONG INTO YOUR IMORTALITY. I CAN STILL MAKE CHILDREN, STORM."
Storm looked at him, hard. Then he shook his head, waving him off.
"You're lying."
"Why would I lie?"
"Because you're jealous."
The statement hit Gerard square in the chest, and he dropped Storm in shock.
"I'm WHAT?"
"Jealous! Yeah! You're jealous, because I can get away!! You're jealous because I can break away and you CAN'T. You don't have the stones to see when you've had enough and move on. So, instead, you create a new reality to function in. DON'T BLAME ME FOR YOUR FLAWS, GERARD!"
Angry tears glinted in the vampire's eyes, and a red drip ran down his cheekbone. Gerard was literally shaking as he threw himself at Storm, striking out in every direction. His fist collided with Storm's jaw, and he felt it knock out of place. Storm growled and tried to defend himself blindly against the superior man. Gerard circled his deft fingers around Storm's jugular and began to squeeze. The vampire didn't need to breathe, of course, but the pressure caused him immense pain none the less.
"Listen to me, you little fucker, and listen good. The way I live, I live because I feel it. And don't you ever forget the fact that I MADE you. Without me? You are NOTHING."
"Yeah? Then what the fuck you tryin' ta say, mommy?" He slurred.
A closed fist hit his left eye, and began to bruise as Gerard snarled unevenly.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN! Christoph has examined her, Storm. The baby is VAMPYRIC. It has created a BLOOD DISORDER in her. Any other vampires you know, still capable of breeding, been fucking her?!"
Gerard saw something in Storm's eyes, suddenly, and he stopped, evening out the pressure and backing off a little.
"What??" He asked, as he watched Storm.
Storm's eyes were far away, as if in a trance. Gerard panicked briefly, thinking he had dislodged something in his child. Even after everything that had happened, he still loved him dearly.
Storm watched as a scene unveiled itself before his eyes. Monique lay on a mattress, her legs thrown apart by two doctors, one with a mask over his face that he couldn't place, and another holding adjusting a monitor that he knew to be Christoph. He heard her scream cut through the air like a razorblade. Storm felt the pain like a knife twisting in his gut, and he clutched his stomach in agony.
"Storm?!" Gerard said, rushing down to him as he began to writhe.
"Oh, fuck…" Storm groaned, his head rolling back. "What the hell is happening?!"
"What's wrong??" Gerard asked impatiently, searching his body for signs of destruction.
"It hurts!" He yelled, a vein in his neck straining.
"Uh oh." Gerard mumbled, his eyes going wide. "Storm… Monique must be in labor."
"No shit!!"
"STOP DENYING- Wait... what??"
"SHE IS! I CAN FEEL IT!!"
"That's because it's yours, dummy." Gerard said, rolling his eyes.
"Well why the fuck is it hurting ME??"
"Well, sometimes that can happen…. I like to think it's an odd sense of karma. I mean, mortal men get to have all the fun and no pain, but vampire men actually have MORE pain than females-"
"GERARD!!"
"Oh, sorry. Right! Time for us to go. Come on, sweets, let's get you to the Hospital."
Monique screamed as another contraction ripped through her. Jessica held her hand, her features tight with worry. She hated Storm. She hated what he'd done to her friend. She hated the Christoph for not authorizing the pain medication before today. She hated the blood disorder Monique had developed. She hated the urge she had to down an entire case of beer. She hated her brother for not being here at Monique's time of crisis-
"Sorry I'm late!" Came a masculine voice as the doorway burst open. Jessica whipped around and frowned at Craig.
"Took you long enough!"
"I had… uh… a situation."
"A what?" Jessica asked, annoyed. Two heads poked out from behind Craig's back. One was thick with straight, strawberry blonde hair, and the other was covered in a short mop of ebony locks. One wore glasses over chocolate eyes, and the other had bright green orbs surrounded by dark eyeliner.
"What the…"
"He took our car." Jaimie said, blinking nervously.
"Ah." Jessica said, eyeing her brother angrily.
"Yeah… and he made out with my sister." Genesta said, her face brightening as she saw the angle she had. Jessica grimaced.
"How old are you two?"
"16." They said systematically. "And it wasn't a make out. Just a kiss." Jaimie added reluctantly. Jessica shook her head at Craig in rage.
"Monique's about to fucking pop and you're cradle robbing?!"
"I WAS TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM!!"
"Oh, god, it's coming!!" Monique screamed, sitting up, her eyes shut tightly against the pain.
"No, no, don't push yet, my dear. Christoph isn't even in yet!"
"Yes he is." Came another voice as the door again swung open. Christoph ran in, a younger doctor on his heels.
"Babes, you were supposed to give us another week!" Christoph smoothed over, rubbing Monique's forehead as he quickly stuck the needle of an IV into her blood bag. She smiled an exhausted smile as some relief began to coax her sides and abdomen.
"What is that?" Jessica asked, worried.
"Calm down, it's only an epidural."
"What? I thought those went in through your back."
"Well, in normal circumstances they do, but in cases such as this, when the baby is half blood-ridden, we administer through the bag because it gets to the source much more quickly.
"Tell me about it." Monique said, relaxing against the wall, breathing a deep breath. "Good god, she's about to come WALKING out."
Jessica chortled, and Christoph looked around the room, taking in the abundance of people.
"One visitor, guys." He said, shooing Jaimie, Genesta, and Craig. The three-some trudged out and into the waiting room, and Christoph got immediately to work. He lifted the blanket above Monique's opening, and stared for a moment.
"Wow." He said, his brows furrowing.
"What?" Monique asked, clearly scared. Jessica's hand fell on her shoulder.
"Monique, please describe to me exactly what happened at Jessica's house."
"Well, I felt a pressure on my stomach, and thought I had to go to the bathroom, but then when I tried, I couldn't. And then when I stood up, this warm rush of blood came pouring out."
"Was it straight blood?"
Monique thought for a moment before answering.
"No. Well, yes. Some of it was clotted."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Christoph slung his stethoscope around his shoulders, and braced his hands on his hips. "What you just described to me, is what occurs directly before the birth of a vampyric baby."
Jessica and Monique exchanged quick looks of horror mingled with wonder, and he continued, "When a baby is born, the gush of water like fluid is what the baby is surrounded in inside of the placenta. It falls out when the baby is ready to come out, basically."
"Okay."
"Well, baby people need food, water, and oxygen. And that's basically what comes out. But baby vampires…"
"Need blood." Monique said, realization falling into place on her features.
"Correct."
"Is that why she got so pale and veiny?" Jessica asked.
"That would be my professional opinion, yes."
"So then… the baby isn't in any real danger?"
"Well, I didn't say that." He said.
There was a sound as though a hose filled with water exploded, and Monique cringed as water ran down the table.
"Um… so… what does that mean?" She asked, disgusted.
Jaimie sat on a chair adjacent to Genesta and stirred a red stirrer inside a cup of creamy coffee.
"I like babies." She said, a smile crossing her lips. Craig rolled his eyes.
"Then you might not like this."
"Oh?"
"No one's sure if that baby's gonna survive."
Jaimie's eyes glazed over with sadness and worries.
"Where's the baby's daddy?" She asked, looking around in confusion.
"He's a dickhead. He's not here."
Genesta's head shot up, shaking fiercely at Craig. Craig looked at her in shock, before Jaimie promptly burst out in tears.
"IS THIS AN ACCIDENTAL BABY??" She asked, sobbing uncontrollably. Genesta put her head in her hands, groaning loudly.
"Y-yes…?" Craig said, backing away from her in fear.
"WHAT?!?!? NOOOOO!!" Jaimie moaned, her eyes turning red from the salty water that was now freely pouring down her face. "THAT'S TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!"
"Jaimie, it happens-" Genesta said, irritated. Jaimie continued to sob.
"WELL, IT SHOULDN'T! THAT POOR BABY. OH MY GOD! I'M GONNA GO KILL MYSELF."
Genesta continued to groan, picking her head up and glaring at Craig.
"You fucktard."
A tiny noise startled them, and they all stopped what they were doing and slowly looked in its direction. A small child holding a yellow bouncy-ball stood before them, her big eyes jumping between the three of them in surprise. Behind her, her mother sat, mouth ajar.
"S-sorry…" Genesta said, smiling affectionately. The mother grabbed the child's hand roughly, and pulled her from the room in a huff, grumbling something about 'inappropriate language.'
"Way to go, Genesta." Jaimie mocked, forgetting the 'unwanted baby' and going back to idly stirring her coffee.
There was a screech and a bang out in the hall, and a bed pan rolled by the doorway of the waiting room. The three exchanged startled looks, before getting up and running to investigate.
Out in the Hospital hallway, Gerard lay face up on the ground, holding his nose, his head tilted upwards. His eyes were shut tightly in strain. Storm was trying to catch up to a separate roll-way bed pan, when he suddenly had a fit, and fell to the floor writhing, clutching his stomach.
Craig, Jaimie and Genesta watched the scene playing out before them, and in one fluid motion, tilted their heads to the left in wonder.
"Oh shit." Gerard said, his voice muffled and nasally from the pressure on his nose. He opened his eyes, and gasped, surprised to see his blessed lover standing over him looking worried and confused.
"CRAIG!!!!!!!!!!" He yelled, and let go of his nose as he somersaulted backwards and swung his ankles down hard on Craig's knees. Craig yelled, and fell to the floor on top of his tiny vampire.
"AH!" He yelled as Gerard pulled him down, wrapping his legs around his waist and peppering his neck with kisses.
"I. Missed you. So much." He said between kisses as he held on tightly to Craig. Craig fought the urge to laugh, and squeezed him back, as they began to spoon on the Hospital floor.
Doctors, nurses, hospital faculty, and even a random janitor paused to take in the sight of the two beautiful men holding each other on the floor as Jaimie and Genesta watched Storm get up and stumble into the room they had come out of not long ago.
"Who was that?" Genesta leaned in and asked in Jaimie's ear. Jaimie grinned from ear to ear.
"That was the baby-daddy!" She declared happily.
Christoph kneeled on the floor between Monique's legs, a canvas mask over his nose and mouth as he pulled gloves over his deft fingers and shot commends at the two nurses and younger doctor in the room.
"I have to make the cut!" He said, as a tiny scalpel was placed in his hand. He made a tiny incision, and held his hands as though he was ready to catch a football, sending Monique a look from the floor.
"Monique, concentrate. I need you to count with me, like this: One, two, three, push. Okay? Can you do that?"
"I think so." She whimpered, her legs shaking from the pain.
"Okay, begin now. One, two-"
"MONIQUE!"
For the third time, the door opened. But no one they had expected walked in. Storm rushed in, his face knitted with pain.
"Storm?!?!" She bellowed, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"What the FUCK are you doing here??" Jessica screeched, more than miffed that he had shown up here when he had little right to do so.
"I'm gonna bring my boy into this world."
"GIRL." Monique yelled, as she crossed her legs at the ankles. Christoph looked terrified.
"What are you doing?!" He yelled, standing up. "This baby's coming, Monique! Let me do this!!"
"No!! Not with him in the room!!"
"Get out, Storm." Christoph said, his eyes burning into Storm's.
"Fuck that! Monique, I had no idea!"
"Yes you did!! You told me you did!!"
"I didn't!! I was breaking up! I thought that's what you meant!"
"I was getting ready to tell you, and you said 'I know'!!"
"Well that's because Wistan was acting as though you were thinking the same thing as ME."
"WISTAN TOLD ME YOU TOLD HIM!" Jessica yelled, her look turning to Monique.
"DON'T YELL AT ME, MY VAGINA IS ABOUT TO RIP!!"
"That was more than I needed to hear." Storm said, his face contorted with repulsion and slight fear.
"OH WHATEVER. TRY FITTING A FUCKING BEACH BALL INTO YOUR ASS."
"That's not really my forte; I leave all items going into an anus to Gerard."
"OH WHATEVER." Jessica yelled, turning again to Storm. "WHY WERE YOU BREAKING UP WITH HER SO ABRUPTLY IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE BABY??"
Storm looked sadly down at Monique, and softened. "Because I was too afraid to love her…."
Jessica felt her anger die away all at once, but she wished it would return. She wanted to rip Storm a new one… maybe with said beach-ball. She didn't care. But that wasn't what she'd expected to come out of his mouth.
"Some one's gotta go." Christoph reminded Jessica and Storm, and Storm nodded, getting ready to leave.
"Wait." Monique called from the bed as his hand fell on the door.
"What?"
"Can you feel what I'm feeling?" She asked, tears in her eyes. He nodded quickly, his eyes large. "Fucking kills. He said honestly."
Jessica looked between the two, and soon found herself seated next to the two boys sitting on top of one another in a tangled up mess, but still managing to take up two chairs.
"I was voted off the island." She said, her head in her hands.
"Push!!" Christoph commanded to Monique as Storm took Jessica's place holding Monique's hand. He bit his bottom lip and groaned loudly against the pain, his eyes clamped tightly closed. Monique screamed, gritting her teeth as her head came up sharply, pushing the baby from deep within her womb.
"Again!" Christoph said, and Monique felt something slide inside her. She pushed harder, white-knuckling Storm's hand, as Storm's knees gave out, sending him spiraling against the wall. A nurse wheeled a chair beneath him, grabbing him behind the knees and forcing him down. He took deep breaths as the agony stirred inside his midriff again.
"One more!!" Christoph yelled, and Storm shot the area a look. The sight made him nearly pass out as he saw what he assumed to be his daughter's head in Christoph's hands, covered in a think sheen of blood. He fought the urge to vomit, and screamed to Monique, "SHE'S HOTTER THAN YOU!!" shaking from the torturous feelings exploding inside of him. Monique's eyes shot open angrily, and she sat up cleanly, an inch from his face.
"What?!" She asked, shaking herself. There was a slick noise, and Christoph smiled as he twisted a cord around his forefinger and thumb and clamped it. A nurse handed him the scapula again and he cut it. No sooner had he cut it, than a small cry emerged from the baby, covered in a thick goo.
"Congratulations." Christoph said, watching Storm and Monique share a look that put all events from before in their past.
"We did it." She said, placing a kiss on his lips. He smoothed her sweaty hair.
"You did it."
"It's a boy."
They turned to look at Christoph so fast, Christoph backed away.
"A what?!" Monique asked, as the baby was placed in her arms.
"A boy." Christoph said, treading carefully around the emotional new mother.
"Then… what… ah!!" She yelled, as another contraction ripped through her.
"What the hell?!" Christoph asked, reaching for a machine behind Monique's head. He spread lubrication on her stomach quickly, and flipped a switch on the machine as he connected the controller with her stomach.
"Oh my god…" Storm said, looking up at the monitor.
"Another one??" Monique asked, her expression horrified.
"It's in backwards. We're gonna need to give you a cesarean."
"What?!" Storm asked, protective of her. The baby was scooped from her arms and placed into Storm's all at once.
"Wait!!" She yelled, as they flipped the bars on her bed upwards and began to wheel her from the room.
"Monique, this baby needs to come out, NOW. The blood was from this one!"
"Storm!" She called as they wheeled her down the hall. He followed, his new son in his arms. His legs felt boneless as he ran after her, his mind doing cartwheels. Just hours ago, he'd been drunk with six girls all around him. Now, a life was thrown into his lap. What was he supposed to do? He followed her as though his life depended on it; knowing instantly that it did.
Jessica sat with a copy of Us Weekly in her lap, dated sometime back to the mid-nineties. She bristled, throwing it away, and shot Craig a look. He was still wrapped up in his lover's arms and deep in another of their time altering kisses.
"Hey." She said, kicking the chair a little. They seemed not to notice.
"Hey!" She said a bit louder, flicking Craig's forearm. Gerard opened his eyes and looked at her, but Craig refused to give in.
"HEY! DICKHEAD!" She yelled, kicking him in the back and watching him fall to the floor ungracefully. She smiled at her work as he glared up at her.
"Whore." He murmured, standing and straightening his shirt.
"Right, I'm a whore."
"Why the fuck did you do that?!"
"BECAUSE YOU TWO SCARED EVERYONE OUT OF THE WAITING ROOM!!" She yelled, chucking the Us Weekly at him and taking his seat beside Gerard.
"You're lying!!" He yelled, looking around. He frowned upon noting that he had, indeed, scared every out of the room. "Well… people are lame." He said, sitting back down, slightly embarrassed.
Jaimie was still contently stirring her coffee, her eyes closed lightly, a smile on her lips.
"What?" Craig asked, leaning back in the opposite chair.
"A faint glimmer of hope lurks for the baaaaabbbbbyyyyyyyyyy" She said, showing her teeth in an ecstatic smile.
"Not that I'm talking to you, but how the hell do you know that?" Genesta asked, mildly interested.
"The baby-daddy just ran after that screaming lady with a baby in his arms." She said, her smile never faltering.
"Oh." Jessica mused, shrugging. All at once, they understood what she had said.
"WHAT?!?!?"
"Put this mask on, Monique" Christoph yelled as he slipped it over her head. She began to feel sleepy as the gas filled her lungs, and she lay down on the bed in silence. Storm looked at her in fear, and sat down in the chair as a warm, fuzzy feeling spread across his abdomen. He felt like he'd injected nova-cane into his torso. He took the time to look over his new son, his eyes flying over the now sleeping baby. It killed him to know that Monique probably had a name picked out. And a last name… one that did not tie in with his own.
He watched as Christoph made a neat incision over Monique's still bulging stomach, and cringed he did so. He watched as Christoph stopped working and gasped.
"Storm?" He said without turning from Monique.
"What? What is it?"
"How would you feel about two more?"
Storm's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
"Two MORE??"
He nodded, as he immediately cut a cord and handed an extremely pale baby, covered in the blood of her mother, over to the younger doctor.
"Baby girl, 1." He said, and began to bring the second baby into the world. Storm noticed, considerably, that Baby Girl 1 had still not made a sound. It stuck a knife in his belly.
As the second baby was lifted out, an alarm above Monique's head went off. Storm was instantly at her side, and Christoph brushed him backwards, cursing under his breath.
"What's happening??" Storm asked, his nerves intensifying.
"She's losing blood; too much too quickly." He said, as he stuck cotton towels around the incision hurriedly to help clot the blood. The other nurse scooped up the second baby and set to cleaning it, casting Monique nervous glances. Her heart monitor began to bleep dangerously fast. Storm felt his heart breaking.
"Christoph!"
"Quiet!!"
Christoph worked quickly, sewing as fast as he could, trying to block all the wounds, but it was no use. The blood was pouring from her too fast to nab all at once. He swore again as the monitor beat faster, and faster, until it was just one long beep.
Storm stared at it, his mind spinning, feeling he might pass out.
"NO!" He screamed, diving in close to her, and shaking her arm. "Wake up, baby. Wake up!!" He pleaded, his eyes filling with red tears. Christoph tried to resuscitate her, again and again. He placed his hands over her chest and pounded, pumping air into her lungs through a bag at her mouth at the same time. He finally gave up, sorrow lingering in his eyes, and looked at Storm, shaking his head.
"She's gone."
"NO!" He yelled again. Christoph unhooked her from the beeping monitor on her left, and nodded towards the two babies. One over a nurses shoulder looked at Storm sadly, its thumb in its mouth. Storm felt a hot tear roll down his cheek, and he angrily shook his head, and pounded on the counter as he leant over her. He shook as a sob wracked his body. And a tear fell from his eye and landed over her wrist; right next to a bruise from the IV he had forced her to need. He instantly blamed himself.
Christoph watched, shaking his head, and fought the urge to hit something- or some one. He looked again at Monique's now lifeless form, and felt another wave of sorrow rip through his belly like a javelin. He focused on her calm face, so beautiful even now in death. He looked at her pale chest and arms, all the way down to wear Storm's tear lingered on her wrist, right next to the-
No. The bruise was gone. Christoph gasped as an idea hit him with such force he nearly stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Storm, move." He said, pushing him from the table, and grabbing a spare needle from the counter. Storm looked, wide eyed, as more tears fell from his eyes in confusion, as he fought back another sob.
"What are you doing?" He asked, cradling his still sleeping son in his arms.
"Saving her." He said, piercing his forearm with the needle, and pulling up the blockade at the other end, sending a rivulet of blood into the tube. He stuck Monique's collarbone, and pushed the blood into her system.
Before their eyes, she began to heal. Her wounds closed up, and her blood disappeared from her body. The sweat around her eyes and neck vanished, and she looked freshly bathed. She hardly looked like a woman who'd just given birth to three triplets; let alone just lost her life.
"Jane, get me three blood transfusions! He yelled at the blond nurse, who ran from the room. She returned in a flash and he immediately hooked two up at once. Color began to return to Monique's cheeks and chest. Her fingertips became warm and soft once more. Her body loosened, and her eyelids quivered, as her chest began to rise and fall with steady, even breaths once more.
Storm ran to her, dropping his baby into Christoph's arms as he did so.
Her eyelashes parted, and he gazed into her eyes for what felt like time long enough to be considered a miracle. She smiled.
"Was it a girl?" She asked, calmly, tugging the mask away. Storm smiled at her, tearing up again.
"Two, actually." He said, looking towards the two nurses as they clutched two babies of extreme pallor, one of which, had yet to utter a sound.
"What's wrong with that one?" Monique asked her, nervously. The nurse holding her was a large, African American woman in her late twenties, she deduced.
"Nothing, darlin'. She just don't need to breath. She dead."
Monique and Storm gasped at the same time in horror, and the nurse laughed.
"No, no, sugah. Not DEAD, dead. She's undead. She's more vampire than human!
Monique let out a breath of relief and Storm chuckled. "Can I safely assume that you are a vampire yourself?" He asked, smiling.
"Indeed I am, Sugah. Made in New Oh'Leans, but I aint nevah goin' back. It's all dead, now." She smiled, her fangs visible behind her larger front teeth.
"Names." Monique said, her eyes beginning to close. Storm frowned, disappointed.
"What's wrong?" Monique asked, concerned.
"Nothing. I want the baby's to take your name."
Monique smiled earnestly.
"Well that's too bad, because they're going to have yours." She said quietly.
"Really?" He asked, thankful for her generosity. She giggled.
"Of course, silly. You're the baby-daddy."
"I TOLD YOU!!" Came a voice from the doorway.
Jaimie and Genesta stood in front of Jessica, Craig, and Gerard. They all looked around the room smiling. Jessica rushed forward and clutched Monique's hand.
"Good god, Monique! What the hell did they do to you?" She asked, her eyes filling with tears of relief, knowing her friend was okay.
"They FIXED me." She announced, stretching her arms over her head. "Not a scar on me!!"
The nurses shot each other looks, before the black one spoke. "Well, sugah. We gonna let'ch'all get some rest. Seems like its been a big day fo' all of us. Now, I dun wanna hear any yellin' in here, or all y'all is leavin'. But fo' now, congratulations. And salutations."
With that, she slowly handed her baby to Monique, and the blond nurse did the same. Monique looked down at the two in a content silence as he began to sob uncontrollably. Too much emotion had been welled up inside of her for too long, and the gate just wasn't standing any more.
"You know, I think we should all get out of here…" Gerard said, his hand on Craig's shoulder suggestively. The twins shot each other looks of happiness.
"Right. I uh… I should go… home." Jessica agreed. She went forward and kissed Monique's forehead, eyeing each baby and stuck her tongue out between her teeth, giggling.
"What?" Monique asked, sheepishly.
"They look like mini- Storms and Moniques! She said, giggling more. Storm stroked the hair of one of the girl's heads as Christoph placed the third baby into his arms again, and smiled.
"Push the button if you need me, Mon, and I'll come running." She nodded her silent thanks and settled down between the sheets with her infants. Storm gently rocked the boy in his arms and gazed down at him in wonder and affection.
The troops left, and Monique looked at the boy in Storm's eyes as the door closed behind them.
"That one." She said, giggling. "That one was supposed to be Jessica."
Storm looked up sharply, "Can't it still be?"
"Do you want him to have a terrible time in school?!" She asked. Storm rolled his eyes and shook off the comment.
"No, no. I mean... what about Jesse?"
"Jesse. Jesse Steven Antonio."
Storm looked up bewildered at her. "How did you-"
"I'm a Wicca, Storm. That's like being the Lizard King. It means I can do anything." He laughed, shaking his head and then looked down at the baby he'd been cradling again and agreed. "Jesse." He whispered. The name fit like a glove.
"And this one…" She said, nodding to the baby in her left arm, who already had red hair sprouting from her head. "This one is Sunshine Sky Antonio."
"Sunshine Sky?"
"She is my Sunshine. And we can call her Sunny Sky. And, plus, it's a severe contradiction to 'storm'." She said, mockingly. He feigned an angry glare, and she kissed him.
"That one is… a miracle." Storm said, motioning to the last baby, the nameless of the trio. Monique thought for a moment.
"Her name is Stella Monica." He said, defiantly. Storm raised an eyebrow. "Stella Monica?"
"Yes."
"But… why?"
"Because. That's the name I wanted. That's the name I would have chosen, had I run away." Storm smirked at her, and brought the top of her head underneath his chin.
"Then Stella Monica she shall be."
They sat in a comfortable silence, as her eyes drifted closed, and Storm followed suite. The babies made occasional cooing sounds and peaceful, bubbly noises. For once, nothing funny, sad, or dramatic happened. No one got laid. No one started a fire. No one was naked, repulsed, or injured. And for once… it was enough.
Jessica's fingers clenched and unclenched, just a moment away from rapping on the door crossed the wall as a barrier between him and herself. She took another deep breath and closed the lingering distance between her raised fist and the doorway, applying a swift knock.
He answered all too soon, giving her hardly any time for a quick getaway, should she change her mind. Her eyes searched his face, quickly remembering every contour and deep perfection of him. They rested briefly on his eyes and she shuddered as she felt them penetrate her own.
"Hi." She said, her voice a level below her normal volume. He blinked, scanning her form, hungrily she thought.
"What's the matter?" He asked; not stepping aside; not asking her to come in; not coming outside himself.
"I'm… It's…"
He stared at her, emotionless. She felt her heart breaking. She had expected him to be happy to see her. She had expected that flash of a smile that she so missed from him; her soul was bleeding for it.
"Monique had her baby- well… babies."
His eyebrows went up, only a slight reaction to her announcement. Still, the effect was like a shot of vodka for an alcoholic only four days into recovery… and she would know.
"Two?"
"Three." Jessica said, smiling. He nodded.
"Incredible."
"Yeah…"
She stood now, her eyes shifting downwards. Why wasn't he happier to see her? He had said that he would be here if she wanted him; if she came for him. Well now she'd come to him, damn it. Why wasn't he showing her more affection?!
"How are you?" She asked looking back up at him. He blinked slowly at her again, his eyes half closed, from what she didn't know. Sleep? Boredom? Irritation, maybe? She prayed for none of these.
"Fine." He answered, shifting his position in the doorway, his hand circling the handle now as his other ran through his long brown hair. Something flashed in his eyes, but refused to show on his face. She yearned to know what it all meant. She yearned for him to touch her as well as he touched something as inadequate as a doorknob. She yearned to run her hands through his hair, and leave his other to explore other regions. She wanted him more than she ever had. Or maybe she had always wanted him this badly, and had been too blind to see it.
"Is that really why you came here, Jessica?" He asked suddenly. It shocked her, and for a fleeting moment she thought he had read her thoughts. She blushed deeply upon remembering that she had to be allowing for that to occur, and swallowed the lump in her throat as she answered.
"Yes, I- I mean, no, I…"
"Well which is it? Yes or no?"
Her eyebrows knitted together and she bit her bottom lip, exposing her vulnerability to him. The voices in her head screamed at her to walk away, and she closed her eyes against it: the endless banter between loyalty to self and others that would never subside as long as she lived. When she opened her eyes again he was still standing there, still waiting. Just as he had been waiting. Just as he always would be, she realized.
"Yes." She whispered. And he nodded.
"That's fine." He said, though she heard the masked disappointment.
"Yes." She said again, though louder this time. He nodded again, opening the door a little wider, getting ready to disappear again behind it.
"I heard you. It's fine. Goodbye."
"Yes, Wistan Connelly." She said again, louder than she would normally speak. He stopped moving, giving her a sideways, uneasy look as though he couldn't quite place her actions.
"Yes, Wistan Connelly… I love you."
His eyes were certainly wide now. He stood, gaping at her, hand still on the doorknob as she stood before him, confessing her feelings, and all he could do was stand there and gawk. He felt like an idiot.
"You… you…"
"I love you."
"What?"
"I love you! I LOVE you! I have always loved you!! I always WILL. It's you, Wistan. It's always been you!"
"I thought-"
"You thought wrong!"
"Jessica, are you su-"
She lunged at him, her lips landing squarely on his own and her hands flying around his neck. This was what she had been waiting for. Him. All of him; completely unbidden.
His shock melted and he cupped her face, pulling her thin form to his hard chest, and growling low in his throat at the sweet bliss of holding her as his own at last. She was blowing his mind, kissing him into oblivion with that skill of hers. Her lips moved swiftly, first robust and passionate, but soon hungry and sweeping. Her tongue sought an entrance that he could not deny her, and she moaned as he tangled his own with hers. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he cupped her bottom as he stepped back from the doorway and closed it behind him. He moved with a vampire's speed to the bedroom, and lowered her to the bed. She brought him with her, pulling him by the shoulders. He stared, panting, at her jugular and licked his lips. She noticed, and dragged his lips to her by the back of his head.
"Drink." She moaned when his lips caressed the skin. He felt her vein pulsing readily beneath the velvety skin and he fought the urge to devour her completely.
"Not yet." He whispered, climbing between her parted legs and staring down at her.
And was she a sight. Her head tipped up to look at him, her eyes glazed over with fervor and something new: love. Her cheeks were flushed and adorably so, framing her lovely pink lips, swollen from her assault upon him. Her ample chest moved up and down with the quick breaths that echoed in her chest.
She ran her hands slowly up his chest along either side of the row of buttons that ran up his shirtfront, stopping at the first one and looking him in the eyes.
"I want you to make love to me, Wistan." She breathed, popping the numb from its holster, and continuing down the line. He inhaled a sharp breath from the delay and torture, but continued to let her bring him to his high.
"And I want nothing more than to make love to you, Jessica… but I don't want it to break you." He said, his hands stilling on top of her smaller ones, much to her dismay.
"I won't let you break me, Wistan. You- This… can only make me stronger; us… stronger."
She finished the last button and the shirt hung loose on his naked shoulders. He watched her drink in his chest, her eyes ravaging his body as so many had before her, but none of them as willingly… none of them as wanting… none of them as lovingly.
"Beautiful…" She breathed, applying the barest of touches to his abdomen. He sucked in another sharp breath, and let his eyes close in pleasure. He had waited so long for this. Longer than he had waited for any mortal he could have savored in a heartbeat. And while his mind had argued that he was stupid for allowing such behavior... this was worth it.
He leaned down and placed his lips on her own, relishing the feel of her beneath his skin; inside his head.
"Jessica, if we do this-"
"Everything will change." She finished. He smiled a half smile at her from behind his frightened eyes. "I'm the innocent here, Wistan. You're supposed to be a big bad vampire. Can we make with the scary?" She added, trying to stimulate him by a challenge. It was working.
"Are you trying to tempt a creature of the night, Jessica?" He asked sparingly. She blushed and smiled up at him. Hell, she was beautiful.
"Maybe." She said, dragging him back down to her lips.
As he invaded her with his tongue from above, his hands worked their way underneath her shear black shirt that hugged her hips and tightened belly. He ran them across the span of her back and felt her shiver in response. He grasped the back edges of the shirt, and pulled it swiftly upwards, up to her neck.
She broke from his lips as he pulled the material above her head and tossed it away. He then sat up, leaning his weight on his knees and pinned her shoulders to her sides. Taking her in was something he didn't plan on rushing, no matter how anxious either of them were.
"Wow." He said, his eyes skipping merrily down her firm breasts, tucked inside of a black satin bra that fit her just right, and pooling in her belly button, surrounded by hard abs. Her body was nicer than he had pictured, and the vision was driving him faster than he wanted to go.
"Take a picture." She said, trying to be sarcastic in the silence, but her tone was mingled with need, and her hands were fisting by her sides as she pulled at him to release her.
"Shh." He whispered, bending low over her face, and moving down her exposed body. He did not directly touch her, but his long wavy hair trailed lightly over her skin, and she burned for him.
"Wistan…" Her voice trailed away when she felt hot wetness lap at her midriff. She gasped and arched against both that and the feeling that stirred inside of her.
He swept to the side and ran in circles over her sensitive hip bone. She felt his incisors resting on the boundary between her skin and her blood, and she moaned. He kept a firm grip on her hands as he slowly, carefully, sunk his teeth into her hip. She winced for a moment, but it quickly turned into so much more than she would have expected.
He drew in a gulp of her, and she ran through his body quick as lightning, and ended up somewhere down south. He growled against her skin and she hummed back to him, struggling with his hands like never before.
God, she wanted to touch him so badly. Just so she knew he was really there. She needed him like she had never needed anyone before, and it was killing her.
"Wistan, please, just let me touch you…"
He sucked a little harder on her, and she screamed, pulling at his hands. His lips were suddenly back on her own and she could taste her own coppery flavor between his lips.
"So this is what it means to love you…?" He asked, his eyelids parting for a moment to take her in. He would never tire of the sight of her. Her smell. Her taste…. It was all perfection.
"This is what it means… to be loved." She said, her smile flickering with uncertainty.
He bent low over her to capture her lips in another embrace, as the door burst open. They each whipped towards the door as cops filled the room, poised with guns. Jessica screamed, grabbing for a nearby bed sheet. She shuddered upon realizing that she knew a few of them from her father's work.
"What the hell is this??" Wistan asked, either not realizing, or simply not CARING that he was still completely naked.
"Mr. Connelly, you are under arrest for the murder of Janis Polyopolis, Hannah Green, and Stephanie Warner-"
"Jessica??"
Jessica closed her eyes, groaning inwardly.
This cannot be happening…
Her father rushed forward, mouth ajar, staring between herself and Wistan. Then they darkened.
"Arrest this man."
It had been a tremulously long day, and all Genesta wanted to do was go home, kill her sister, and relax in bed. She huffed as she gathered her apron from the floor, pushing her glasses higher on her nose.
"I hate Jaimie…" She grunted, gathering the still uneaten tacos and tossing them into the food-waste bin.
"Do you?" came a voice from behind her. Craig. Genesta didn't even turn.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. And for another thing, just because my sister's in love with you doesn't mean I have to like you."
"Come on, Genny!" said a female voice. Jaimie. Whore…. Genesta shook her head defiantly.
"Fuck you guys. I don't want to see either of you!"
"Aw, then I'll just have to send the present I got you back." Craig said, sadly. Genesta turned, arms crossed.
"We BOTH know you didn't get me any such present."
"No? Then what's sitting on my desk all wrapped up right now?"
"Moldy tacos, probably." Genesta grunted, turning again to pick up more rubbage from the floor.
"Not so!!" Jaimie said, physically turning her sister to face them.
"Please, Genny!! Just go and look at it."
"No."
"PLEASE!" She yelled, her face inches from Genesta's. Genesta's eyes went wide, fearful of her sister, before they rolled and she sighed.
"Fine. But then we're going home so I can soak in the tub, and then KILL you in private. I'm wiped."
"Okay. Whatever. Just GO." Craig said. Genesta moved for the office in an angry step, opened and slammed the door behind her.
She flipped the light switch and gasped, startled. On top of Craig's desk, Gerard sat, one leg folded over the other wearing long, black stiletto boots and a look of total innocence. When he saw her enter, he smiled wide and hopped down.
"Are you Genesta, sweetheart?"
"Y-y-y-y-yes…" She managed to stammer out, her face turning scarlet with every freakish syllable.
"Alright." He said, his eyes closing as he pulled his tight black tee-shirt over his head, shaking out his shaggy black hair after he did so.
Genesta's jaw fell.
"W-what are you d-d-doing??" She asked, stumbling back against the door frame.
"I was told this was 'evening out the score'?" He said in a questioning tone as he began to unlace his boots.
She didn't answer. She was too busy gawking at his pearly white skin, rippling muscles, and pierced nipple.
"Okay. They said you might react this way." He said, giggling.
Genesta stood, her eyes fixed upon him unblinkingly as he stripped down to nothing before her, all her girlish fantasies matched and surpassed.
"I'm all done sweetie." He said, smiling. She blinked finally, shaking her head, and refusing to allow herself to look downward at his exposed manhood. She shut her eyes, reaching for the doorknob blindly, and screamed when she felt it moving before she'd found it. He was inches from her, smiling just as amused as before. She could have kicked her own ass at that moment. The hottest man she'd ever seen, totally naked, and all she can do is stare like a pervert.
Jaimie would have had something classic to say. Damn her….
She bolted for the other side of the door, slamming it back into place and folding onto the floor on the side where Jaimie and Craig stood, looking shocked as her legs folded to her chest, her skirt pooling around her thighs.
"Holy shit…" She said into her arms. Jaimie giggled.
"All better?" She asked, flipping a lock of hair over her shoulder.
"Much better." She said, again into her arms. Craig looked confused.
"Did he-"
"Oh yeah."
"And you saw-"
"Everything."
"Geez. Cocky little bastard… I told him to take his shirt off. He must have really thought you were enjoying yourself."
Genesta's head shot up, a shocked expression on her face as Craig stepped over her, opening the door and shutting it against her back again.
"What… an asshole." Genesta deduced, shaking her head and leaning it against the door.
"Are we cool?" Jaimie asked, cocking her head sideways.
"You asked him to do that for me, huh? I mean like… after Craig did. More… explicitly?" Genesta asked, her eyes suspicious.
"Of course! I even told him to take extra time with the boots so you could gaze longingly at the rest of him."
Genesta smiled.
"You're a perv, Jaimie."
"Yeah, but I'm the best kind."
"The wicked kind?"
"No, the DECEPTIVE kind." She said, extending her hand and winking. Genesta rolled her eyes and accepted, as her sister pulled her to her feet.
"Whatever. As long as I don't find out what they're doing behind that door."
Jaimie looked wide eyed from the door to Genesta, and smiled mischievously.
"He didn't lock it…" She said, chuckling. Genesta nodded, reading her sister's thoughts.
"Do it."
Jaimie poised herself into a position much like a ninja, and kicked in the already very unstable door.
They took off for the car when they heard the screams, each laughing uncontrollably.
"Fucking A, Jaimie!" They heard Craig say as he picked up the door and stuck it loosely back in the frame.
The two giggled for another few minutes in the car, before Jaimie started it and listened to it purr for a while.
"So, how was it?" She asked after they had calmed down.
"Very nice." Genesta admitted, brushing a stand of hair from her eye.
"Yeah??"
"Oh yeah."
"Yeah…. The kiss was pretty good too."
"I bet. Tongue?"
"HA! I wish…"
"So, what do you think?"
"Of what?"
"These people… should we hang around?"
"You mean, Jessica and Monique… Storm and Gerard and Craig?"
"Right."
"After all that's happened this summer… I don't see how we COULDN'T."
Genesta smiled as her sister pulled the car into Drive, and drove them softly out of the parking lot.
A few moments went by before Jaimie spoke again.
"Did you see his teeth?" She asked coyly. Genesta's eyebrows furrowed.
"Whose? Gerard's? Yeah. They're… nice? What about them."
Jaimie merely shook her head at her sister's naivety and continued driving.
"I guess some things take more than a few months to come out…."
The End. For now. So long, farewell. I PROMISE to keep writing!
Stay Tuned for: And Then There Were Traitors