Chapter Six: Another One Bites The Dust

"Why are you doing this, Reuben? What did I ever do to deserve this?" Amelia sobs.

"You're just the bait for the one I'm really after." he snarls. Oh God, Romeo was right. The target has been Donovan all along. "Yes, he's the one I've really been after. But I wanted to make him suffer first and what better way to do that then make him watch me kill his wife and unborn child? He'll run to your rescue with nothing else on his mind, making him an easy kill. I wanted to kill you both at your wedding but fucking Romeo had to bring the entire team, making it impossible."

Anger starts to boil over in Amelia. This son of bitch is about to take everything away from her including her own life. "Why? Why do you want to hurt him so badly?" she growls.

"Because he killed my brother! All because of some insignificant human girl."

It dawns on her who he's talking about. "The rouge that killed his fiancée and his best friend." she mutters in disbelief.

"He wasn't a rouge. My brother and I have spent centuries drinking from humans. When the council passed that ridiculous law, we refused to drink from blood bags. Sometimes we got a little carried away. So what if we killed humans along the way. You're the sheep, we're the wolves. It's nature."

"So what?! You were killing innocent people!"

"No, we killed humans, our food. It's no different than humans killing and eating baby cows." My god we're nothing more than cattle to these things. "Enough questions. Your husband should have gotten my little message by now. Time to lure him in."



Donovan stands starring at the wall. His phone starts ringing and he mindlessly answers it and holds it to his ear. Someone starts talking on the other end but he doesn't hear a word they're saying. All he can think about is Amelia. He hears Amelia screaming in his ear. "Amelia!" he yells.

"Do I have you attention now?" says a cold voice on the line.

"What have you done with her?" he screams, letting the rage he feels come to the surface.

"Oh she's fine, a little bloody now but still alive. Do you want to keep her that way?"

"Whatever you want, I'll do it, just don't hurt her again."

"Your life for hers."

"Done." he answers without a second thought.

"Good, I'm glad we have an understanding. You have one hour. If you're not here by then, she dies."

The person on the line gives him an address then hangs up. Don't be stupid. His instincts kick into high gear. He's not going to let her go. Years of training start taking over while he tries to keep his emotions in check. He grabs his silver knife he keeps hidden under the mattress and grabs something off the kitchen counter and runs out the door. While he's in his car racing, through the streets, his phone rings again. He picks it up, it's Romeo.

"Donovan where are you?" He doesn't answer. "Dammit Donovan. I'm at your apartment. I came over here when Amelia hung up on me because someone was at the door and I had a bad feeling. I saw the wall." They are both quiet for a minute. "Is she still alive?"

"Yes."

Romeo lets out a sigh of relief. "You know this is a trap don't you?"

"I figured it was. I prepared for it."

"Where are you?"

"On my way to save my wife."

"Tell me the address. You'll need back up."

"You won't get there in time, I'll have to do this on my own."

"Just tell me the damn address." Donovan gives him the address.

"I'm here." and he hangs up.



Donovan rushes into the building and down to the basement. The first thing he sees is Amelia, lying on the floor. God, no. Please don't let her be dead. Not again. Amelia gives a soft grunt of pain. He runs over to the cell where's she being kept but someone comes out of the shadows, blocking his way to her. "YOU!" Donovan bellows. "I should have killed you that night you came to the apartment."

"No I should have killed you but I was unprepared and weak from lack of feeding. I went there to find out information on the newest member of the team. You have no idea how surprised I was to find you there. But then I saw how upset you got over me asking about Amelia, it dawned on me that you loved her. Which made me rethink my whole plan. Making you suffer as you've made me suffer. That last vampire you killed was my brother. He was all I had left and you took him away from me. So I'm going to take everything you love away from you."

Reuben swiftly started heading towards Amelia, fangs out. Donovan was just as fast, knocking him out the way and pointed his knife to his chest.

"That's impossible."

"Not if I was smart enough to take Brams before I came here."

Reuben circles around Donovan and asks, "How did you get those? Renee said they weren't out of the testing trials yet."

"I guess Renee was misinformed." Donovan races towards Reuben, barreling into him and knocking them both to the ground.



Both men are fighting for their lives. They struggle on the hard, stone floor. But Donovan is fighting for a lot more than just his life, he's fighting for his wife and child too. Reuben tries to wrap his hand around Donovan's throat but Donovan knocks it away with his elbow then brings his knife down into the vampire's chest. He twists it left and then right.



Donovan watches the light go out of Reuben's eyes. "Say hello to your brother for me." Reuben's body starts to shrivel up and within seconds there's nothing left but bones. Donovan get's up and walks over to the cage Amelia is in.



Donovan tries to wake her up but she doesn't move. He starts to panic until he notices her chest is moving. She's still alive. I haven't lost her. I haven't lost them. He's swallowed up by his relief and tears fall down his face. He bends down when he notices her face. It's bloody and bruised. I want to kill that motherfucker all over again. He snaps the chain of the handcuffs and gently picks her up and carries her out of the cage.

"Donovan!!??" he hears Romeo yell. He clears his throat to answer.

"Down here."



Romeo and Vlad come running down the stairs. Both at lightening speeds. When Romeo sees Donovan carrying Amelia he stops dead to say, "Please tell me she's still alive."

"Yes. I can hear her heart beating." Vlad answers.

"Thank God! Donovan what happened? Who did this?" Romeo asks.

"Reuben Littler."

"WHAT!? Why would he do something like this?"

"His brother is the one that killed Danielle and John. He wanted revenge on me for killing him."

"That would make sense." Vlad says.

"How does that make sense!?" Romeo yells.

"I'm not condoning what he has done, but for a vampire who has yet to find his eternal mate, family is all we have left. When he killed Reuben's brother he left him completely alone."

"Well what about Renee? He had her?"

"Oh please, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Vampires marrying someone who is not their mate? It is almost unheard of. I actually suspected he did that to be closer to the team, to find out as much information on all and previous team members."

"My God, I just welcomed him in, didn't even think twice about it." Romeo muttered.

"It's not your fault." Donovan said quietly. It's mine.

"Blaming yourself are we?" asked Vlad.

"It is not your fault either. These things just happen." he continued. Both Donovan and Romeo look at him with disbelief. "What? They do." Vlad says innocently then turns to Donovan to ask, "How did you defeat him?"

"Brams. Amelia lift her bottle of them on the counter, I grabbed them on my way out."

"Those scientists are getting a big bonus this month." Romeo says. Amelia starts shifting in Donovan's arms. She opens her eyes and the first thing she sees is Donovan's face. Romeo and Vlad leave to give them privacy and call in the mess that needs to be cleaned up.



He puts her down and wraps his arms around her burying his face in his hair. "I thought I'd lost you. Are you alright? We should probably take you to the hospital."

"No, I'm fine. My face hurts and I think I have a few fractures but there isn't really anything they can do. It will heal on it's on." Donovan opens his mouth to argue but Amelia interrupts him. "What happened?" she asks. Donovan tells her everything that happened. "I'm glad you had a plan and took Brams. He wasn't expecting that. He figured you would just come rushing over."

"I would have if I hadn't been trained so well. I've seen what happens when you let emotions rule you. You don't think, you just act. John showed me that. I learned from his mistake."



Donovan suddenly panics and reaches down to touch Amelia's stomach. "Is the baby okay?" he asks.

"Yes, the baby's fine."

Donovan smiles in relief. He rubs his hand across her stomach, so thankful that everything turned out alright. "Come on, let's get you home." Donovan leads her up the stairs and out of the building. Romeo and Vlad are no where to be seen so he helps Amelia in the car and drives her home.



When they get home Donovan tells her, "Don't go into the bedroom."

"Why?" "Because I need to clean off the wall."

"Why? What's on it?"

"It's not important, after I'm done, I'll help you take a shower."

Not wanting to push it, she let's it go and decides to ask him about it later. He's still on the edge and she doesn't want to push him off. "Fine, but I can shower by myself, It will only take a minute."

Amelia doesn't give him the chance to argue and she hurries into the bathroom and shuts the door. She turns on the shower. Before she starts undressing she catches a glimpse of her face in the mirror and turns to stare at it. The shock of it makes her start to sob. She tried to be so strong for Donovan but now as she looks at her face all of the fear and anger come out. I could have died. We all could have died. She takes off her clothes and gets in the shower where she sits down and cries.



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NOTES:

Ugh, I had a tough time writing this chapter. I just couldn't get the story out like I wanted. =/ But hopefully you guys don't think it's too horrible! Also I think Amelia is going to have a tough time dealing with her abduction.

Chapter Five: The Writing's On The Wall

Donovan and Amelia wake up early for their day at the beach. He cooks her breakfast and they set down to eat. After they finish eating, he grabs their plates and puts them in the dishwasher when he notices a small bottle of pills on the counter. "Amelia, what are these pills on the counter?"

"What? I can't hear you, I'm in the shower. You'll have to speak louder."

"The pills in the kitchen, what are they?" he asks, raising his voice.

"Oh, those are Brams. I forgot to tell you about those. Romeo gave them to me. The scientists with The Night Hunters figured out a way to make us as strong and fast as vampires."

"Really? Too bad they didn't have these when I was a hunter. It would have saved a lot of lives." he mutters to himself as he finishes with the dishes. Amelia gets out of the shower and starts to get ready. She puts her bathing suit on underneath her clothes while Donovan grabs a shirt to wear with his swimming trunks. "Are you ready?" he asks.

"Yeah, let's go." They drive down to the beach in Donovan's car.



"Mmmmm, this is great. It's just what I needed." Amelia says as she leans back against Donovan's chest.

"Rough night training?"

"Ugh, you have no idea. Romeo has Vlad the Impaler training me. THE Vlad. I'd probably be in awe if he wasn't such an asshole."

"I figured Romeo would ask him to do it. I'm not thrilled about you training with vampires but he's the best. If he can't teach you how to fight with vampires then no one can."

"Yeah, Romeo said he was the best. That's why he asked him to train me. He said you'd probably kill him if he didn't."

"And he's right. It's one thing for you to do this in the first place, it's completely different to be unprepared."

"I guess you're right. Looks like I'll be seeing more of him. Damn." Donovan laughs. They both sit quietly for a few minutes, enjoying the sound of the ocean. Donovan starts to stand up. Amelia asks, "What are you doing?"

"Come here." he says as he grabs her hands and lifts her to her feet.



Donovan gently grabs her face and pulls her closer. "You're the most amazing person I've ever met. I feel whole again when I'm with you and I want to hold on to that for the rest of my life. I love everything about you. The way your eyes light up when you laugh, the wicked little grins you give me when we're about to make love, the way your heart beats faster every time we kiss."

"Donovan I..."

"Wait, let me finish. I've waited a long time to feel something, anything really then the pain and sorrow I've felt for so long. I never imagined I would ever feel anything like this. I almost think it's a dream and I'm about to wake up from it. So before I do, I want to spend every last second of it with you."



"What I'm really trying to get out is, Will you marry me?"

Amelia has tears streaming down her cheeks. She loves this man so much that her heart hurts. "Yes." she finally chokes out. "Yes, I'd love to marry you." He grabs the ring he's been fumbling with in his pocket through his speech and puts it on her finger.



Amelia leaps up and wraps her arms around his neck. He holds on to her like she's a lifesaver and he's been drowning for years. Because that's what she is to him. She's his savior, the one who put him back together and he's going to spend the rest of his life thanking her for it. She nuzzles his neck and starts pressing kisses to it.

"Let's go home and celebrate." she whispers in his ear. She doesn't have to ask him twice, he's already heading for the car.



They spend the next 3 hours in bed. Touching, kissing, holding, and caressing until they can barely move from exhaustion.



A few weeks pass and Amelia has been busy with the wedding details. Flowers, dresses, booking the hall and caterer. She cooks breakfast one morning but the smells make her feel nauseous and she has to run to the bathroom to throw up. As she stares into the toilet, a realization hits her and it hits her hard. She starts counting back the days. Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God. She half brushes her teeth to get the taste out of her mouth and takes the subway to the grocery store to buy a pregnancy test. She gets home as fast as she can to take the test. It's positive. Oh God. How do I tell him? You're going to be a father? I'm knocked up? What will he say? Will he be happy? Angry? When do I tell him? Now, a month from now, when I start showing? Now, I'll tell him when he comes home. He deserves to know. God, This wasn't supposed to happen until AFTER the wedding. Amelia hears the apartment door open. Oh shit. Not yet. I'm not ready. She quickly jumps in the shower and changes clothes. She looks at the clock. Well that bought me an hour to get everything figured out. I know what I'm going to say. Everything will be fine.



"I'm pregnant" she blurts out when she runs into him in the kitchen. Real smooth Amelia.

"What?"

"I know we're not ready for this and I know you're probably scared shitless because I am too. I know we didn't plan on this happening but it is. I...I...please say something to make me shut up."



He kisses her instead. Amelia pulls away to look at his face. "You're not upset?"

"Upset? Why would I be upset? I think this is great news."

"You do?"

"Of course I do." They stand there a moment looking at each other as it really sinks in for Donovan. "Wow, I'm going to be a Father."

"Yes, you are. We're going to be parents. I think that sounds a little scary."

Donovan laughs. "It does a little. But I know we will be fine. Everything will be okay."



"Can I touch it?" he asks.

"What?"

"Can I touch your stomach?"

"Oh. Yes, of course." Donovan gently places his hand on Amelia's stomach. "You won't feel anything though, it's too early."

"I know that. But doing this makes it more real for me. It's hard to believe that I helped create what's growing inside of you." He leans down a places a kiss on her stomach. "Hello Baby, Daddy loves you." he says.

"You're amazing, do you know that?" she says as she starts to get teary eyed.

He straightens up and kisses her. "All because of you."

"What are we going to do about the wedding?"

Donovan thinks about her question for a minute and says, "Let's get married this weekend instead."

"What? We can't. Nothing is ready. My dress hasn't been altered and everything is already booked."

"So? Let's just have a small wedding at the beach."

"Where you proposed?"

"Yeah, I think that would be perfect."

Amelia might not be getting her dream wedding but she's getting her dream guy. Which is all she could hope for. "Me too. I'll make the calls and set it up." Amelia calls Romeo to tell him about the wedding and her big news.

"What?! Doesn't that boy know what safe sex is? I'm just kidding. Congratulations to the both of you. You'll make wonderful parents."

"Thank you Romeo. I'll probably need some time off with the pregnancy and everything, from both of my jobs."

"Not a problem take all the time you need and I'll talk to Bianca."

"Thanks. There's another thing, we've moved up the wedding to this weekend."

"Okay, I tell you what, I'll make all the calls and you just sit back and relax."

"Romeo you don't have to do that. I'm pregnant not paralyzed."

"I won't take no for an answer. Let me do this for the both of you."

"Alright, fine."

"Hey can you have the wedding at night? I think Reuben and William want to come. Oh and I'm going to drag Vlad there too."

"I don't want him there Romeo." Amelia says with disgust.

"Oh come on Amelia the guy is helping save your life. At least let him come to your wedding. I'll keep him in line, I promise."

"Donovan won't be thrilled about this. You know how he feels about vampires."

"I know but I'll smooth things over with him. It will be great."

"Alright then. I'll see you Saturday and thank you again Romeo."

"It's my pleasure. See you then."



Saturday night they all head to the beach where Romeo has set everything up. They have a very small ceremony with Romeo, Bianca, Renee, Reuben, William and Vlad, whom Amelia ignores the entire time. They exchange their vows and rings.



Donovan takes Amelia in his arms and kisses his new bride. Everyone cheers and claps, even Vlad. It was a beautiful ceremony. They sat around talking and walked up and down the beach. The night sky was lit up from the full moon. Everyone gives them their congratulations and wishes them good luck with their marriage. They also congratulate them on their pregnancy since Romeo has a big mouth and told everyone.

"Don't get mad at me. Everyone asked why you were moving the wedding up so early and I didn't know it was suppose to be a secret." Romeo tries to defend himself.

Donovan laughs, "I don't care who you tell. Tell the entire World if you want too."

Donovan looks over and notices a familiar face. Amelia sees the anger in his face so she grabs his hand and walks him away from the crowd.

"What's wrong? I could almost feel the tension coming off of you"

"That vampire, that's the one that came to the apartment looking for you."

"Oh that's right. I forgot about that. That was Renee's husband, Reuben. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you."

"I don't like him Amelia, there's something wrong about him."

"Everything's fine. He's harmless. He's actually very sweet. You should try to smooth things over with him."

"No."

With that one single word, Amelia knew that was never gonna happen. "Alright, then. Are you ready to go home? I'm ready to get out of this dress." She tells him with a smile. He scoops her her, they tell everyone bye and head home as husband and wife.



Two nights later, Romeo and Bianca are called in to a crime scene where someone reported a dead body. When they get to the address and see the scene Romeo immediately calls Amelia.



Amelia puts down the pregnancy book she was reading to answer her cell phone, "Hello?"

"Amelia where are you?" Romeo asks.

"I'm at home. Why?"

"I know you're on maternity leave but we found another dead body. The reason I'm calling you is of where the body was."

"Where was it?"

Romeo pauses and takes in a deep breath. "It was under the arch where you and Donovan just got married. Forensics say it's been here for almost 48 hours. That means this guy was killed right after we left."

"What you thinking Romeo? Couldn't this just be a coincidence?"

"Yes it could, but I want to play it safe. This guy looks a lot like the first victim and it's also been drained of blood. Bianca and I think this vampire is taking out his rage on surrogates before he goes after who he really wants. Brown hair, brown eyes, muscular build. Does that sound like anyone you know Amelia?"

No, it can't be. "It sounds like Donovan. But Romeo you don't think he's the object of this vampire's rage do you?"

"I'm sorry Amelia but I do. Donovan has a long history with vampires and his pissed off plenty of them. Is he there with you?"

"No, he's at work. Wait I think I hear someone at the door, that's probably him. I'll call you back after I talk to him."

"Wait Amelia..." Amelia hangs up on him and heads to the door.


Donovan get's home and opens the door. He smiles as he sees the pregnancy book on the couch. A Father! I still can't believe it. He goes through the apartment looking for Amelia. She's probably already in bed. She sounded tired when I talked to her earlier. Donovan walks back to the bedroom. Amelia's not there but what he does find leaves him completely numb. He can't speak, he can't breath, he can't move. He's paralyzed with fear.




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NOTES:

There was a lot of "D'awwwww" moments in this chapter. There was also a few "OH NO!' moments too. Sorry to leave you guys on a cliffhanger but it felt like the perfect place to stop. Poor Amelia....poor Donovan. That guy just can't catch a break. Oh and Lulz at my Photoshop skills! Hahaha.

Chapter Four: Dracula

When Amelia walks into the crime scene, she has to mentally assure herself she'll be okay. You'll be fine. Don't throw up. Don't faint. It's not like before. You don't know this person. Focus! You can't find out who did this if you can't handle looking at it.

"Are you okay?" asks Romeo, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yes, I'm fine. What do we got?"

"The victim is a male, Caucasian, probably around 25 years old."

Amelia watches Bianca kneel down to examine the body more closely. "Good God, look at his throat. There is barely anything left. Someone was angry when they did this." she said.

"I noticed the blood splatters on the wall. The victim tried to fight off his attacker. When his throat was injured, he was facing this wall where it sprayed. Then when he fell, it pumped out of his throat and onto the floor." said Amelia.

"I agree. The ME just showed up. She'll need a body bag, I'll go grab one for her." said Romeo. A few minutes later he comes back with the ME and body bag and helps her with the body.



"The ME just mentioned something that could take this case in an entire different direction." said Romeo

"What did she say?" asked Bianca.

"That the body had very little blood inside of him."

"Shit."

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Amelia.

"Do you see six quarts of blood on this carpet?" Bianca asked.

"No."

"Then that means it went somewhere and if I had to make an educated guess then I'm guessing it was drunk."

"We've got another rouge." said Romeo.

"Yeah, and a pissed off one at that." agreed Bianca.

"I...I need to sit down."

"Amelia if you can't handle this then maybe you need to rethink joining the Night Hunters."

"God Bianca, give her a break. It's only been a couple of weeks since she found out about all this shit." Romeo said.

"No, I'm fine it's just the smell is making me a little dizzy. I'm just going to go and sit on the couch."



Amelia stands up and walks over to a couch on the other side of the room, as far away from the blood as she can get. Romeo and Bianca follow her. "This changes things for her Romeo. We need to start her training tomorrow night. " said Bianca.

"I know, what else do we know about the body?" asked Romeo.

"Not much. He lived here alone. The downstairs tenant heard screaming so she reported it to the Landlord. He's the one who found the body and called us. From what I've heard from the neighbors, he was a nice guy, everyone liked him. It's a damn shame. I'm going to go out and follow the body back to the ME's office. See what else I can find." said Bianca.

"Alright, call me when you know something." Romeo said. Bianca walked out the door and headed to the ground floor.



"Tomorrow night I'll arrange for your training. I'll have the best I know training you. If I didn't, Donovan would kill me." Romeo said.

Amelia laughs, "Yeah, you're probably right. He is over-protective."

"I know he is but you can't blame him for that, Amelia. That guy has been through some tough shit. I'm surprised he even gets out the bed in the morning. Or at least I was until a tall blonde came into his life. How's that going by the way?"

"Really good actually. I think he going to move in with me."

"Oh really? He tells me nothing. Looks like I'll be looking for a new roommate. But I'm glad he's finally happy and he seems to be at peace with Danielle and Jason's death. He can't hold on to them forever and I'm glad you helped him see that."

Amelia nods her head and says, "He's helped me heal too. I guess fate is trying to make up for the horrible events we went through."

"I'm glad you guys found each other....You're welcome by the way since I'm the one who introduced you."

Amelia grins and rolls her eyes, "Yes thank you so much and please take all the credit for this relationship."

"Oh I will. Well I guess we need to head out and let the crime scene guys do their job. Meet me tomorrow at the subway near your house and we'll take the the tunnel to our training center."

"It's under the city?"

"Yes, that's the best place to hide it from humans."

"Alright, what time should I be there?"

"Around 7:00pm. We have to wait until it gets dark so the vampires can come."

"Vampires are training me?" Amelia asks. Vampires still make her a little nervous and she's not sure her mind is strong enough to resist being compelled.

"Yes, like I said, he's the best I know."



Amelia meets Romeo at the subway station and follows him through tunnels, corridors and even a wall until they finally reach where they're going. "Amelia this is William. He's an officer on the night shift. William this is who I was telling you about, Amelia Burkhart."

"Nice to meet you ma'am."

"Nice to meet you too." she replies with a smile. Okay this isn't so bad. He seems nice.

Romeo walks over and hands her a pill. "Take this. We've already trained with them and know how our bodies react to them. Now it's your turn. Amelia grabs the pill and swallows it down. After a couple of minutes the pill starts to take effect.

"Wow, I feel great. How long does this last?" she asks.

"Roughly about 24 hours." He gives her a small bottle with 10 pills inside. "Here's the rest of yours. Only take them when I call and tell you to." She grabs the bottle and nods her head. She puts the bottle in her pocket just as the door opens.



A man steps in and Romeo introduces them. "Amelia this is Vlad. He'll be the one training you. He's the best we've got." Haha. Vlad? Way to be original Mr. Tall, Dark and Scary.

"It's original if you are the original." says Vlad.

"What? You can't mean you're the original Vlad that Bram Stoker wrote about. Vlad the Impaler?"

"Yes, that is me." Un-freaking-believable. I'm being trained by that crazy guy who killed and tortured thousands of people.

"It was a different time back them. I was protecting my kingdom. The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout... Vlad scowled as he said, "Stop that."

"Well, you stop reading my mind!" she countered.

"I will read your mind any time I wish to."

"Romeo, I can't deal with him. He's arrogant, snarky....Ugh, you're crazy if you think I'm gonna let him train me."

"Amelia listen to me, Do you think I'd ever want to go and tell Donovan you've been killed? Do you think I want to watch you get your throat ripped out? No I don't. He's the best at what he does and he WILL train you whether you like it or not. "

"Fine, let's get this over with."



"Since you've taken Brams you should be as strong and as fast as Vlad." said Romeo.

Vlad steps in front of Amelia. "Are you ready to begin?" he says as he raises an eyebrow.

"I'm ready."



Everyone watches while Amelia and Vlad fight. "No. You are doing it wrong. Hold your hands near your neck to protect it. Our instinct is to go for your neck." Vlad starts starring at Amelia's neck making her uncomfortable.

"Will you stop that? You're giving me the creeps!"

"I am sorry. I was not able to feed before I arrived here."

"Well, I'm not lunch."

"Maybe not yet, but if you don't work on your stances you will be." he said honestly. God, I want to punch him in the face so bad!



"Do you?"

"I told you to stop that."

"And I told you I would not."

"Hey you guys get back to training and quit bickering." Romeo chimes in.

"I will let you punch me in the face as you so wish to do."

Amelia didn't even the think about, she balled her fist up and thrust her arm, aiming right for him mouth. It would have broken his jaw if she landed it but Vlad quickly grabbed her arm and twisted it so fast it probably would have snapped if she hadn't taken that pill. He had her back against his chest grabbed her head and pulled it to the side and leaned down towards her neck.

"Do you see how easily emotions can cause you to make mistakes? Even if you did take that pill, you would bleed out before it could repair the damage I could do to your throat." He let her go quickly, a little too tempted being that close to an artery. They practiced for hours. Stances, blocks, punches, kicks. The only thing she didn't learn was how to fly. She hated to admit it but he was a great teacher, she'd rather die before she'd admit that out loud though. Vlad got a smug look on his face. Dammit. Dammit Dammit. You son of a bitch.

"Romeo I think that is enough practice for this night. I need to go home and get a blood bag unless you want to give Amelia a transfusion?"

"Umm no, no. That's enough. I don't think Amelia would too much care to be fed on. You damn skippy.

"She agrees. So with that I bid you all a good night." You're still a creep. "Until next time, Amelia." he said with an arrogant smile as he left the room.

"I really hate you right now, Romeo."

"I know, but like I said he's the best."

"Well I guess he is. He's had what...almost 600 years of practice. He's an asshole."

"He gets the job done. Plus I hear from others that's he's really mellowed out over the last century."

"My God he was worse? Whatever, I'm sweaty, sticky and tired. I'm going home."

"Are you coming to work tomorrow?" Romeo asks.

"No I have tomorrow off. Donovan and I made plans to go to the beach. I need you to walk me out of this place."

"Alright. Come on." Amelia waves bye to William, who seemed to enjoy himself with Amelia and Vlad's bickering. Romeo walks her out and she heads home to take a shower and go to sleep after a long, exhausting...annoying day.


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NOTES:

Vlad the Impaler, who is actually Vladimir in Bridgeport. I had to do a quick Google search on him because I barely remember anything about him. I'm trying to make him a likeable character in my story which is hard since the real Vlad was such a horrible man. But hopefully I'm succeeding. I really need to find more fighting posing and death scenes but all the ones I like are for Sims 2. So if anyone has some suggestions on those, I'd love to take a look at them. These scenes were taken in my neighborhood copy. The room they are actually in is a remake of Amelia's apartment because I was lazy and didn't feel like building anything. =] Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Chapter Three: Plasma 501

Amelia decided to head down to the book store to purchase a more advanced logic book. Romeo suggested she keep her mind sharp and as strong as possible so she won't fall into a vampire's control. She browses the shelves until she finds what she's looking for and heads over to the cashier to pay for the book and a cup of coffee. Since it's such a nice day, she sits on a bench right outside the book store and starts to skim through it will she sips her coffee.



Amelia's cell starts ringing so she takes it out of her pocket and looks at the Caller ID. "Hey Romeo, what's up?"

"Hey, are you ready to have your first lesson in vampire hunting?" he asks.

"Finally, It's been weeks since you filled me in about vampires. I thought you'd forgotten I joined."

Romeo laughs. "No I didn't forget about you. We've just been busy with the scientists and we've had a break through on a project we were working on. I'll fill you in when you arrive. Meet me at corner of 5th and Main."

"Alright, I need to run home and change and then I'll be on my way."

"Wear something dressy."

"Wait, I thought you said we were training. Why would I need to wear a dress?"

"You'll see when you get here."

"Alright then, Bye." Amelia hangs up and waves for a cab to take her home to change.



After going home to dress and fix her hair, she waves for another cab. She gives the cab driver the address and stares out the window, trying to get her thoughts in order. What the hell kind of training is this if I'm in a short dress and high heels? I thought I'd go through more gun training or knife throwing. What is Romeo up to? The cab driver slams on the breaks and whips the cab down another street. Amelia grabs the door handle to keep herself from sliding across the back seat. Holy shit lady, where did you learn how to drive? A NASCAR track? After 25 more minutes of the cab ride from Hell, they finally arrive at her destination.
"That'll be $48.50." the cab driver tells her. She hands over the money just as she sees Romeo standing on the sidewalk in front of a huge building.



She walks over to join Romeo on the sidewalk. "You made it."

"Yes, barely in one piece though I might add."

"Well you made good time, we have a chance to go over a few things before Renee gets here."

"Who's Renee?" asks Amelia.

"Renee Littler, she's one of the vampires on the team."

"I'm meeting vampires tonight?" Amelia said with obvious stress in her voice.

"Yes. Why are you so worried? I told you not all of them are bad. Some of the most decent people I've ever met were vampires."

"Well, from what I've heard so far, they're no better than rabid animals."

"Ahhh, I see Donovan finally told you his story."

"How did you know about that?"

"He's my roommate, Amelia. Plus, I was on the team when John died. A little of all of us died that day. This is a dangerous job and you can't let your emotions get in the way. They cloud your judgement and will cause you to make stupid mistakes. If you can't do that then maybe you shouldn't be a Night Hunter."

"No, you're right. I'm sorry. I'll keep an open mind and learn to keep my feelings in check."

"Alright then. Come with me, there's something I want to show you."



They walked into the building and took the elevator down to the basement. "What is this place?" asked Amelia.

"This is a vampire club. I wanted to take you down here first to show you these." Romeo points to two stone boxes.

"Are those coffins? They really sleep in coffins?"

"They are sort of like coffins and no, most vampires don't sleep in coffins anymore. Centuries ago, houses weren't built as well as they are today. Sunlight would creep in the cracks and cause the vampires to become weakened, making them easy prey for hunters. They'd sleep in coffins to keep the Sun out. Most of them sleep in beds now except the really old ones, they prefer the old ways."

"These things give me the creeps."

"Yeah, they are kind of creepy. Luckily we don't see them that often. I wanted to tell you a few things before we go up to the club. I need to explain how you can tell if a person is a vampire or not."

"Yes, they would be helpful to know so I don't go around stabbing people that are just a little pale."

Romeo starts laughing. "Yes, that would indeed be bad but you're right vampires are noticeably paler than most humans. But a vampire's most notable feature is their eyes."

"Wouldn't it be, oh I don't know...their long, sharp pointy canines?" Amelia asks with a touch of annoyance.

"No, those can be retracted."

"Retracted?"

"Yes, their fangs will come out for several reasons though."

"Which are?"

"Obviously when they need to feed. But they also come out when they're angry or fighting and when they are in sexual situations."

"God, I feel sorry for their lovers. How does one make out with those things?"

"Carefully....I would imagine. Anyways, that's not the point. The point is their eyes. They have a glow to them. They glow a little brighter when they are controlling someone. Which reminds me, have you been reading and studying those logic books I told you to get?"

"Yes, I just picked up a more advanced one before called"

"Good, you'll need as much knowledge as you can learn. It will keep them from controlling you. You can't fight until that's done. We definitely don't want a rouge to be able to control members of the team."

"That makes sense. They could control us to shoot each other."

"Exactly, now you see why this is so important. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is very important and will completely change the way we fight them. I got a call yesterday that our scientists have figured out a way to put us on an equal level with vampires. Some of the vampires on the team have been donating their blood so our scientists could run tests on it. They created a drug, which we respectfully named Brams. This drug will temporarily give us the speed and strength of a vampire. They just finished the testing trails yesterday and it's ready to be used for the team. Vampire blood is an ingredient in it so our supplies are limited but we should be able to pull off one per person for every fight."

"How much vampire blood are in the pills? We won't turn into vampires after years of using them will we?"

"No, to become a vampire you're blood has to be drained by one, almost to the point of death and then replaced with the vampire's blood. It's a very delicate process and not everyone survives it. In the past we've used their blood on our mortally wounded Night Hunters and it's saved their life. It will heal any cut, broken bone, or gun shot wound but it takes quite a bit to heal them which leaves the vampires weakened. This pill will eliminate that since it takes a small amount to create it."

"Why don't you just use the blood from the rouges you kill?"

"Because there is no blood usually. See, when a vampire dies he returns to his state he should be in."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll give an example, say you kill a rouge who was 400 years old. When he dies his body will look like a 400 year old corpse. Which is basically nothing put bones."

"Oh okay, I got it now."

"Alright, let's head on up to the club."



"Welcome to Plasma 501." Romeo says after they exit the elevator on the top floor of the building.

"You know this looks exactly what I'd expect a vampire club to look like."

"Of course it does. It's all a show. All of these people think the vampires here are nothing more than costume make up, contacts and fake teeth and it needs to stay that way. We would have a city wide panic if they knew differently."

"I'd imagine so."

"Well come on, let's get a drink at the bar while we wait on Renee."

"Good, I need a drink, or seven."



Amelia follows Romeo to the bar where they find two available bar stools. Amelia orders a Falling Forever while Romeo orders a beer. They chat about work for awhile when Romeo excuses himself to the men's room. When he returns he says, "Renee is here are you ready to meet her?"

"After four of those...whatever they were called drinks, yeah I am."



"Renee, this is Amelia Burkhart our newest recruit. Amelia this is Renee Littler." The first thing Amelia notices about Renee is her eyes. My God, her eyes are beautiful. Romeo was right, that's one thing I'd never miss. "Renee you're the only vampire I see, where's Reuben tonight?" asked Romeo.

"How should I know?"

"Well he is your husband after all."

"So? I'm not his keeper."

So Renee has found her eternal lover....husband....person....whatever, thought Amelia. "No I haven't and it's eternal mate dear, do try to keep up." Shit, I forgot about that. Although it's kind of rude for them to just read people's thoughts. "Get use to it."

Amelia ignores her response and asks, "Well, if he isn't your eternal mate then why are you married?"

"Because someone is better than no one. After living for 300 years without an eternal mate, something as simple as a husband helps to keep the loneliness at bay. We enjoy each one another so we decided to marry."

"What happens if one of you find your mate?"

"Then we will divorce and the other will be lonely again. Most vampires will not marry if they are not fated to be. They will continue their search for their mate."

"Actually Amelia, I asked Renee to meet us here not only so you could meet a vampire but also because I want to see if she can control you." Romeo says.

"What?" asks Amelia, not at all excited about this idea.

"It will just let us know where you're at with building your mind, okay? I won't let her control you to do anything drastic." Renee turns to Amelia and looks at her eyes. She can't help but to stare back at the beautiful bronze colored orbs. Please don't work, please don't work, please don't....



The next thing Amelia knew she was sitting at the bar, drinking something in a glass. Well damn. "I guess now you know you've got more studying to do." said Romeo as he walked over.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Amelia answered with a scowl.

"I'm sorry, but I needed to test you. Now you know from experience how bad this could be. The only reason why you even remember what happened to you is because I asked Renee to let you remember. Most people never know when they've been controlled. It's how vampires have lasted so long without everyone knowing about them."

"Well, I know now. Thanks for the lesson." Amelia said with sarcasm.

"Renee needs to discuss something with me so I'll be back in a few."

"Fine take your time."



"Vampires can be a bitch can't they?" said the bartender.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Amelia said.

"Listen lady, I've been a bartender here for 10 years and I'm not stupid. I know these are not humans with contacts and glued in fangs."

"Why do you assume that I know that too?"

"Because I know Romeo and I know what he does. He always brings the new recruits here. You've handled yourself better than some of those. The one before you pissed himself, poor guy. Most of them are all tough to start with, thinking they can handle the job and want to join. But after they actually meet a vampire and see him in action they run home screaming. You might not have seen them brawl yet but you did well with being controlled. That's a scary feeling when you don't have control of your own mind. If you can't trust your own mind then what can you trust?"

"That's true. I've already seen my worst fear, I have nothing left to be afraid of." Amelia said while she downed the rest of her drink. The bartender looked at her with a question in her eyes but Amelia didn't feel like talking about her dead parents. Losing her family was her biggest fear and now they're gone. "Hey can I get another one of these?" she asked.



Meanwhile at Amelia's apartment, Donovan is there waiting on Amelia to come home when he hears the door open and a man walks in. He immediate sees the glow in the stranger's eyes and grabs the gun he keeps in his pants against his lower back. "What the fuck are you doing here?" Donovan says as he aims his gun right at the vampire's heart.

The vampire sees the gun, grins and says, "And what exactly are you going to do with that?"

"I could shoot three silver bullets into your chest. That should be enough to shred your heart."

The vampire is a bit surprised about the silver in the gun. Most humans don't have silver bullets, too expensive. "I'm looking for Miss Burkhart. Is she here?"

"What do you want with Amelia?" Donovan is getting a little scared now. It was one thing for a vampire to wander into a random apartment looking for a snack but this vampire is specifically asking for Amelia.

"My wife is a Night Hunter as well, I came by to welcome Miss Burkhart to the team."

He's lying. Every instinct Donovan had in his entire body was screaming it at him but he was very careful not to think about anything other than the situation in front of him. He had to keep his mind clear. "Get out and never come back. If you do, if you even walk by this fucking apartment building again, I will kill you."

"Do you really think you could kill me so easily? I could kill you by the time you shoot the second bullet." the vampire says as he takes a step closer to Donovan.

"Funny thing about these bullets, they explode on impact. One is all I'll need." That got the vampire's attention.

"Fine. I suppose I'll have to welcome Miss Burkhart when she's somewhere else." the vampire said with a smirk and walked out the door. Donovan immediately grabs his phone to call Amelia. He wants her home now, where's he can keep her safe. He needs to feel her soft, warm skin on his, needs to kiss and touch her to know she's alright. He dials her number as fast as his fingers can manage it and prays she picks up.



Amelia feels her cell buzzing in her purse. She grabs it, excuses herself to the bartender and walks away from the bar. "Hello?" she says. Donovan starts talking too fast and sounds very panicked. "What? Slow down Donovan. I can't hear what you're saying."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at Plasma 501, Why?"

"You're WHERE? I'm leaving to pick you up"

"Why?"

"Because, I'll explain on the way back to your place."

"No wait, I'm just going to catch a cab home, it will be better than you having to drive all the way and all the way back." He says something else she can barely hear. "I'll talk to you when I get home, it's hard to hear over the music. I'm leaving now. Bye." Amelia hangs up, waves bye to Romeo and rides the elevator to the ground floor. She flags down a cab and heads home.



As soon as Amelia walks in the door, Donovan grabs her and kisses her so passionately she's not sure if the room is spinning because of the drinks she had at the bar or this kiss. She pulls her head back to ask, "What's wrong? You sounded so frantic on the phone."



Donovan lets her go and explains everything that happened while she was out. "Did you ask what his name was?" she asked.

"No I didn't ask for his name, Amelia. I was a little concerned that a vampire knows who you are and where you live."

"It's probably Renee's husband, Reuben. I meet her tonight. Not a fan."

"Who is Renee?"

"She's a Night Hunter and a vampire." Maybe he was telling the truth. No....something was off about him. Donovan thinks. "I'll call Romeo tomorrow and ask him why he would just show up at my apartment."

"Alright but I'm bringing more guns over and silver chains in case this happens again."

"Fine, if it will make you feel better then do whatever you want." Donovan still looks worried and upset about this whole situation.



"Hey, look I'm fine. Not a scratch on me." Amelia says as she wraps her arms around his neck.

"I know that. But I will always worry about you. I don't exactly have a great track record with the people I love."

"Love? Are you saying you love me? Amelia asks with a glint of hope in her eyes.

Donovan looks down at her and brushes a his thumb across her lips and smiles. "Yes, I love you."

"I love you too." She says as she brings him closer for an embrace. He lifts her chin up and kiss her. It's soft and loving at first but quickly turns passionate. They start stumbling towards the bedroom, tearing off their clothes on the way.



Amelia lays on the bed and Donovan climbs on top of her. Continuing to kiss her where ever his lips will reach.



He pulls back to look into her eyes and say, "I know you think I'm being overprotective and I am but I protect what I love. I can't lose you, Amelia. It will destroy me enough to where I can't come back from it."

"I know and I understand. I don't want you to lose me either. When I'm with you, I do feel safe. I love you."

"I love you too."



They climb under the covers and make love. Both exhausted, that quickly fall asleep.



Even in sleep, Donovan holds Amelia, terrified someone will come and snatch away the greatest happiness his ever had in his life.



The next morning after breakfast, Amelia asks Donovan if he can help her build up her mind so vampires won't be able to control her. He agrees and they lay on the floor while he reads. "Let's move in together." Donovan says suddenly as he sits the book down beside him and reaches up to touch her.

Amelia is quiet for a minute then says, "Do you want to move in because you want to take the next step or because it's easier to protect me if you live here?"

"Both."

She shakes her head and smiles down at him. "What am I going to do with you?" Before he can answer, her phone rings and she picks it up.



"Hello?" she says as she answers Romeo's call.

"Amelia, you need to get down here now. We just found a body." He gives her the address while she's putting on her uniform. She kisses Donovan bye and rushes down to the crime scene.




________________________________________________________________________________

NOTES:

Looks like Amelia and Donovan are finally going to move in together! I still have 0 of 2 children. Donovan is still working to get to level 5 of the Ghost Hunter career. They also have no properties for my generation goal. My misc fun was It's so you and the apartment is decorated in grey and black, which is their favorite colors.