Chapter 05

            When Nick opens the door, he's not surprised to find the woman from the bar staring at him with her silver eyes.  He says, "Amelia, I presume."

            She steps past him and he turns, closing the door. He says, "Just get it over with. I'm tired of the games."

            She looks at him sadly and says, "It's not a game, Nickolas. This is your destiny. You are so close to remembering but you gave it up."

            He looks at her and sees tears hanging on her lashes.  He says, "What did I give up?"

            A single tear falls and she whispers, "Thea."

            A pain slices through his chest that he doesn't understand. He says, "Who is she? Why is this happening? I want to talk to her."

            Amelia says, "You cannot talk to her now, Nickolas. She has hidden herself from us to prepare."

            Feeling an angry gnawing in his stomach, he says, "Prepare for what?"

            She says, "Her death."

            He falls back on the couch and says, "What? She's not...don't tell me she's committing suicide because of me."

            She shakes her head and says, "No, it's not suicide Nick. Her survival is hinged on your taking the journey. She told you she would accept your decision and you chose tonight that you didn't want to continue. Thea is gone. We don't know where."

            Shaking his head, he says, "Amelia, stop with the word games.  Give it to me straight. Who are you? What's this about?"

            She sighs and sits across from him and says, "Almost a thousand years ago, our kind was born. Then we were savages, bent on murder and destruction. Now we contemplate life as a whole and watch as the world changes before our eyes.  Thea was the first of our kind to walk a different path from our ancestors."

            He looks at her confused and says, "What are you?"

            She smiles gently and says, "We are vampires."

            He scoffs at her, "Yeah, right, get real."

            Before he can move, she's on him, pushing him back into the couch and snarling at him. When he sees the fangs twinkling at him in the light he surrenders and his body goes limp. He mutters, "Oh shit."

            She steps back and says, "We do not murder, Nickolas. I have never taken a life. We drink to survive, but we do not kill.  Thea would never allow us to hurt a human."

            He sees the sadness in her eyes and he says, "Why?"

            She says, "Thea killed one human after she chose to walk a different path.  It was her husband. His name was Nickolas." At his stunned expression, she says, "Yes, you in a past life. Every time she's come for you, something has stopped her from succeeding. Finally, we were so close. Then you got engaged and we had to rush it. Now, you've turned her away and she..."

            He says, "Amelia, I don't get it. Why me?"

            She says, "You carry her heart Nickolas. Her soul is linked to yours and the day you marry Lauren, Thea will die because Lauren will take her place in your heart. Thea has accepted this. When you made your decision, I shouldn't have come. But I love Thea. She is my sister and I don't want her to die. Please, Nickolas, don't give up. Accept my gift and save my sister."

            He looks at her and says, "Amelia, I don't know her. I can't...I love Lauren."

            Tears slowly fall from her eyes and she says, "Nickolas, please..."

            He stands and walks over to her, gently wiping the tears from her eyes. He whispers, "I can't promise you anything. But if doing this will get me closer to Thea to talk to her, then I will do it. I don't want anyone to die because of me, but I can't be with someone I don't know and don't love."

            Amelia pulls his face closer to her and says, "After you accept my gift, you will remember, Nickolas. My gift will show you what you have been to Thea and what you were together. Then you will have to make a choice.  I promise you, if you choose to be with Lauren, if you love her more than you loved Thea, we will all walk away."

            He pushes her back against the wall and lowers his head.  She pulls her blouse open, baring her breasts to his seeking lips.  As he drinks from her, his body responds.  When she pushes him from her breasts, he watches a small trickle of blood slide down her skin.  Without thinking, he licks it up, savoring the sweetness of it as she deftly opens his pants.

            When they both are nude, he lifts her legs, pushing her body against the wall as he enters her. She moans and says, "Yes, beloved."

            As with the others, being joined with her drives him wild. He thrusts harder and deeper, causing them both to shudder with lust.  When she screams through her orgasm, he mutters, "Oh Fuck!" before planting himself deeply inside her and cumming.

            Afterwards they collapse on the floor and Amelia says, "Close your eyes, Nickolas.  Remember."

            He doesn't hear her leave. When he closes his eyes, he sees Thea, dressed in white.  A wedding dress. She's walking toward him and he realizes he's remembering their wedding.  When she's standing beside him, she whispers, "Beloved."

            Then his memory changes and he sees Thea leaning over him crying. He feels blood seeping from his body and he remembers. She killed him. She fed on him and he died.  But he never hated her. He loved his Thea and wanted to keep her with him always. She had fed on him many times before, but never so much.

            He opens his eyes to find he's lying in the dark.  Tears are coursing down his face.  He goes to his computer and turns it on.  He whispers, "Thea," but she doesn't show up.  Louder, he says, "Amelia.  Amelia, are you here?"

            The screen opens to the sight of Amelia, Mireya, Kris, Rachel and Marguerite.  All of them are crying. He says, "Where is she? Where is Thea?"

            Amelia says, "We don't know. She's hidden from us. We don't sense her thoughts with ours. We can't find her now, Nickolas. She's gone."

            Growling with anger and fear, he says, "NO! I will not lose her again!"

                        The computer fades to darkness and Nick just stares at it, remembering Thea's face when he said no. He didn't mean it. He was just confused. He didn't understand then what was at stake.

            Thea. His Thea. He remembers their wedding night, hundreds of years ago.  When he made love to her the first time and he knew he'd never feel like that again. And he hasn't. He remembers the night she told him what she was. She had carefully kept it hidden, because she didn't want him to leave her.  At first he was angry, but the tears in her eyes drowned the anger in his heart.  That was the first night she fed from him.

            For ten years, she only drank from him and he loved it. Their lives were one and he knew he'd belong to her forever. Until the night she lost control.  The night he died. On his deathbed he had told her that no matter what the afterlife had in store for him, he would always love her. His Thea.

            Tears fall from his eyes as he thinks of her now.  Suddenly it hits him. He knows where she is. Where she went to die.