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Hey everyone. Another chapter posted. I hope it is a good read. This chapter I did not have time to completely edit so apologies for any mixed up words or sentences. This one is not entirely on the calm side like the past two chapters were. Enjoy! Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. Have a good night everyone. - Author's note Faith Hammett XOXO :-)
Mina's POV
Vlad opens the door for me at my place. I struggle to exhale in the fear that Michael managed to get out of jail even after what he did to me. I drop my bags and go straight to sitting on the edge of my bed. I hear Vlad close the door behind him. His soothing voice gently speaks my name however I feel like I am outside of my body. It is almost like I am so far beyond what I was hoping for when returning from the trip.
I feel as if my body wants to lay back and completely rest; never waking up with the possible chance of the nightmare I never want to be in again. I prayed many times before meeting Vlad that I wished to become numb to the things that would hurt me and now with Michael coming for me at any point, I do not know if I can survive him touching me by just his hand alone or even his eyes staring at me, it makes me want to crawl out of my skin.
I feel my face become hotter due to me wanting to cry my eyes out. Then I suddenly I was becoming hotter than before and sweaty. I can feel my own heart pounding in my chest faster and harder. My breaths were sharp and shallow. My vision is darker than before I feel someone wrap their arms around me. I hear a voice in my head telling me, ‘This must be what death feels like. I must be dying.’
Then a different voice shouts to me, “Breathe in and out. Breathe in and out. It is ok, Mina.”
I lean my head back finally able to breathe in and out. I keep on focusing on my breathing, the more I feel like I can, I cry instead of breathing right. My vision is no longer darker when I see Vlad right in front of me with his hands framing my face to help me stare at him. He keeps on telling me that it is ok but I cannot help in wondering if it really is ok.
I let out the biggest cry I have ever contained in my body. Vlad brings me into his arms allowing me to bury my face into his chest. Vlad rubs his arms up and down my arms and the more he does it, the more I feel like it is helping in some way. I stare at Vlad with my entire red face soaked in my tears. He rubs his fingers against my cheeks to wipe any tears he could away from my face.
“Mina, I know this is all overwhelming and it feels out of control especially due to the fact that what he did should have been more than enough to put him away. If you will allow me, I will help you in any way that I can. I will take to my handler, Luke to see what we can do about a good lawyer for you. And do not worry about paying my back for anything.”
I shake my head no to Vlad since he has already done so much for me. Vlad stops me from about to speak. “I am doing this because Michael needs to be stopped. He has done so much to you. Eventually if he does happen to take his eyes off you, he may find another woman to do all the things he did to you as well. He cannot be allowed to walk another day in public. I am doing this to stop him and for you to possibly move ahead which is what you deserve in your life, seeing what your life away from him can offer.”
I lightly sob in his words, feeling the massive weight in my chest lifted. I cannot help but wonder what he can do to help and even stop Michael. “How can you stop him? He is a district attorney, one of the best in the city and has friends everywhere.”
“Well, I have more.” He tells me in a serious tone. “The upside to being in the kind of business as mine of owning a horse business, and teaching horse lessons is most of the time their parents. One of the students I teach is a lawyer’s son and daughter. She told me that if I needed any favors, I can call her. So I am calling in that favor. She is above Michael. My handler informed her of everything that has happened. I only told her what I saw. I said nothing about the things you said to me because I want you permission. However with all of the evidence at the party and any past possible signs of abuse he has done to you can be enough to get a proper restraining order, possibly more. I do have to meet up with her today to discuss it further.”
“Really? How is that possible?” I am stunned in what he is telling me.
“I do what I do best, negotiate. However I will only do it if you want me to. Just say the word.”
I inhale for a moment then processing all he has told me. I put aside how I am feeling in the knowledge that Vlad is right. If Michael happens to move his attention onto another woman to live the same dreadful terrors that I do, then he does need to be stopped. I will not be able to forgive myself if I do not give all I can to put Michael away for a long time.
“Yes…” I softly tell Vlad then find my voice a bit stronger when telling him the rest I need to say. “Yes. Do anything you can and I will give you all the evidence I have including text messages, photos and notes he left for me himself. Please ensure that the lawyer looks into all of the police reports I made during the time I was with him and after leaving him.”
Vlad gives me a light smile before kissing the top of my hand. I cannot contain my smile when he does this. I have no way to explain it however I feel like I can trust Vlad more than anyone else in my life, almost as if I already have known him for years, possibly in a past life. I do not know and I am already going through many crazy thoughts as it is.
“Alright, I will give them everything they need. I better go and meet her now. I will let you know how it goes after the meeting. Will you be alright for the rest of the day?”
I shake my head yes to him. We sit here in the calmness for a moment before Vlad parts from me and closing the door behind him. I go to the door and lock it. I walk back over to my bed and lay down taking in all that has happened in just a matter of three days. I am still unsure if it is even real or I am still in a nightmare. However I am feeling blessed that Vlad came into my life the way he did.
I know I can go to my friends for help but since Michael knows all of my friends, he has all of them fooled. I cannot go to anyone that knows Michael during the time we were dating and engaged. And my mother is just as fooled as my friends are but worse given that she is willing to say anything to have me go back to him for whatever selfish reasons she has. I close my eyes knowing I need to clear my head of all of this so I change into a simple tank top, pj shorts, brush my teeth then grab my phone. I go into my music app then turn on a song that helps falling asleep on nights that I have trouble doing so.
The song begins to play a hypnotic fireplace sound. I put my phone on the charger the lay back down in just listening to the song playing. I instantly feel calm and my eye lids becoming heavy, feeling exhausted from all that has happened the past three days. I let out a big yawn getting underneath the covers and before I knew it, I was out like a light.
Vlad’s POV
I am waiting at the park bench for my handler, Luke since he has all the information that he dug up. I know that anything else we will need, Mina will have to send to me if anything Luke found is not enough. I brush my left hand against my forehead in worry for Mina since she had a panic attack. I have never seen a panic attack before until Mina had one right in front of me.
I look up then see Luke approaching the bench. I smile at the sight of my long time friend. “Luke, it has already been too long since I last saw you.” I get to my feet and hug him.
“It certainly has.” He says during our hug.
After our hug, we both sit down on the bench, taking in the view of the park to act like we are not here on business. I reach to my left side and hand him a cup of coffee. He thanks me for the coffee then takes a sip of it. During his sip, he discreetly passes over a leather binder with all I need for the lawyer to see. I thank him and kept it hidden.
I stare at Luke knowing that he looks exactly like Lucian, the head priest that help get my son away from the other vampires when I had to bid my son, Ingeras farewell. I am so grateful that Lucian was willing to help me long after I became a vampire. His family and I stay connected over the years that now every first born son becomes my handler with a great payment while in my service. Luke and I have become closer than all of the past others of his family. I actually see him as more than a handler, he is my friend.
“Luke, how did he make bail? There should have been more than enough to keep him there.” I ask him in confusion.
“I learned through some of my sources that someone paid in full for his bail. I tried to see who it was but I do not recognize the woman in the photo of the surveillance at the police station.” He shows me his phone with a picture of a woman with dark brown hair, fair white skin with brown eyes. She looks fit by the look of it.
“She does not look familiar. Was there anything else when she made the bail for him?” I hand his phone back to Luke.
“She did not even speak to Michael. She made his bail then took off. I tried to see if there is anything I could find on Facial recognition but nothing turned up. Whoever that woman is, she must have a clean record or a sealed record by a judge. I will see what I can find but it may take some time.”
My eyes move to the view of the park with some couples passing by holding hands. I lean back in sorrow for what Mina is going through. Luke places his hand on my shoulder. He knows when I am deep in thought. I smile to my friend. “Thank you for all that you do. Do what you can. Call me as soon as you get anything. I will meet up with the lawyer.”
“I will. See you later, Vlad.” He tells me then leaves.
I stay around for a few more minutes before leaving the park to go to the café to meet up with the lawyer. I go into the restroom of café and take out two O Negative blood bags. I rip open the top then suck it dry within a few seconds and do the same with the second bag. I stuff it back into the inside pocket of my coat. I wash my hands then go to an open table.
I put the leather binder in front of me then take a clear look through the files. I happen across some photos that Mina gave to the police with the reports she made. I see photos of her neck with the bruises in the shape of hands like she was choked. I close the binder in anger. I know that if I look in further in the pictures, I will go right for Michael and kill him before he even sees me.
I wait for a few more minutes until she arrives and sits across from me. I cannot resist smiling in seeing the one and only Lucy Westenra. I glare upon my once former bride. She was the last woman I turned to be my bride. I lean back in my seat in seeing how much she has changed compared to when I last saw her a hundred years ago. Her long, dark brown hair is in curls, red lipstick and fingernails, dressed in fancy hot red lace blouse tucked it inside a high waist black leather pencil skirt that fits her skinny fit body that her waist would look like an hourglass shape in a corset. I notice her jewelry is all gold as well as her eye shadow with black eye liner and to complete her outfit is pointed-toe heel pumps.
Lucy was originally fairly tanned and she is fiercely beautiful, angelic looking. She has an adorable laugh that she could even manage to get me to laugh a little. Lucy knew how to have a good time, see things with an open mind. And out of the three brides I had, she is the one that I have and still have to this day a friendship. She is the only one I still speak to from my long past. We always check in on each other over the years. I do like she has traveled the world. She was a doctor, a school teacher, and now a lawyer. She even adopted a girl and a boy which I teach both of them in horseback riding lessons.
‘There was one great tomb more lordly than all the rest; huge it was, and nobly proportioned. On it was but one word, DRACULA….’ Lucy says with a friendly but yet sinister smile while placing her small black leather purse on the right side of her.
“It has been so long, Lucy. You look really good.”
“That makes two of us like always. I am glad that you called me. I was curious when you were going to come back to your wonderful habits.”
I grit my teeth when she says my habits. I push the leather binder toward her. “I do not like to disappoint people however I am right now. I am here for something else entirely. There is a case that I would encourage you to take. This is all I have so far. My handler is digger deeper for anything else needed to cement that rat bastard into the ground.”
Lucy opens the binder and takes a thorough look through it. A server comes over and asks if we would like anything. I tell the server that we are good and give my thanks before they walked away. My attention goes back to Lucy once she is done seeing the whole binder. She pulls up a picture of Michael like she recognizes him from somewhere.
“I feel like I have seen him before.”
“Yeah… There is something else about that. He looks like Sultan Mehmed.” I tell her straight forward.
Lucy freezes at the hearing of these words before her eyes go back to the photo of Michael. She puts it down with no words. She leans back in her seat, not sure what to say about that but these words. “The lengths of reincarnation are astonishing. First, this woman I have heard from others known as Mina and now Michael. Will wonders ever cease?”
“How did you hear about Mina?” I ask in a demanding tone.
“I heard it just from a random vampire after I finished feeding the other night. I had a hard time believing it until you just confirmed it for me. Does it not worry you that reincarnations from your human past are coming back to you now?”
“It worries me greatly. However, they may look like them but they are nothing like them in personality and heart. Except Michael, he is a pompous bastard like his past counterpart was.” I tell her in anger at the mention of Mehmed and Michael in the same sentence.
Lucy taps her fingernails on the binder and tells me, “Well, by looking at what is gathered so far, it seems like cement to put him behind bars. Why is he not caged like the pitiful beast he is?”
“He managed to make bail. Not sure who it is since the woman that paid for it left as soon as it was done. Although, my guess is that it is someone Michael is blackmailing, an old lover, or someone that owes him a favor. Luke is digging more into her so more can be found.”
Lucy puts the photo back in the binder and closes it. “Well, I know that I will be representing Mina Barnes and I know the possible damages of taking the case. My only question is this: what will I get out of it?”
I give a small smile knowing this will please her when I say this. “I know how much you like trouble. I am for you going outside of the box with Michael in order to have the case to be won along with Michael losing his job, status, and creditability. It will have to be to the point that he will have to move away from here, far away. I would like to ask that it is done clean, no innocent blood spilled at any means possible and well covered tracks if things do get a bit nasty in going outside the box. And to top off the blood cake, I will pay all of your fees.”
“Check, check and check to everything else. I am assuming that you do not want any of the details of me going outside the box.”
I shake my head yes but I stop while still smiling. “There is one thing I would like to know. If he screams like the pompous bastard he is, I am all ears.”
Lucy leans forward in pleasure, coming face to face with me. She brushes her fingernails against my neck, whispering in awe, “There he is…”
I cannot help but feel drawn to her like I always do but it stops the moment I get the sense that we are being watched. I let out a small growl in anger however I do not move. “Lucy, do not look. There is a black vehicle parked across the street from us.” Lucy closes her eyes for a moment to use her senses to see them. She shakes her head yes. “I am guessing they are following me and work for Michael.”
“Let me take care of it and you slip away. You will know when to do so.”
“I do appreciate it, Lucy however I would like to handle them. I need to get some frustration out since I cannot bare the sight of Michael without the thought of killing him in front of people.” I say without giving away to the men watching us.
Lucy kisses me on the cheek before getting up from the table with the binder and her purse. “Call me when your handler has more on that pompous bastard and it is good to see you again. I’ll see you soon, Dracula…” She walks away with a strut that would surely catch their attention while she is walking out of the coffee shop.
Within a blink of an eye, I swiftly go around their car, slashing their tires while they are distracted. I stay low when I hear them say, “Hey. Where did he go?”
“I do not know. We are supposed to be watching him.” One says in anger.
“Does it look like I have eyes in the back of my head, asshole?” The other responds.
I approach their driving side window and knock on it with a big grin on my face. They look scared that I am right here instead of being in the coffee café. “Gentlemen, how is it going?”
Before they can even react, I open their door and punch the driver out then grab the other by the throat and squeeze tight enough that he cannot call out for help. I jerk him right out of the car to the ground. I growl in the man’s face. “I have a guess to who ordered you to follow me. Tell them that I do not like being watched and if they send another to do so or to follow Miss Barnes, I will not hesitate to make them disappear. They will be in a fate worse than death and with no trace of being found. Nod if you understand me.”
The man gags in trying to at least gain one inhale and exhale. He manages to nod yes to me. “Lovely…” I say with the same big grin on my face. I choke him to the point that he falls unconscious. I am standing over him while listening to his heart beat racing until it becomes steady. I leave him on the ground and instantly walk away before anyone notices what happened. I know that all I can do is wait and keep waiting until we get more against Michael.
I head home and walk into my bedroom, setting my bags down. I rub my right hand against the back of my neck. I can feel even some tension in my muscles like I have never felt before. I sit on the edge of my bed when my stomach makes a strange noise. I am thrown off because my stomach never makes noises like it just did.
Suddenly I feel awful, queasy. I feel like I am being triggered to head straight for the toilet. I feel shaken in this pressure that is forcing my stomach to squeeze everything right out like it is erupted. My body is retching into the toilet. I feel my eyes becoming wet as this is happening. I start gagging until I no longer can. I am on my knees in shock of what just happened. I grab my black towel hanging behind me, wiping my mouth off.
I stop when I see the look of the toilet. It is covered in something red. I get to my knees in shock of what I am seeing. My eyes study the entire white toilet drenched in blood on the inside and outside. My mouth drops on shock the more I look at my hands and my shirt covered in some of the blood. I gasp in horror. I let out a sob in between gasps taking in that I vomited blood…
I immediately panic in the search for my phone. I finally find it and speed dial for Luke. It rings three times and answers like he always does. Before he can even get a word out, I beg to him, “Luke, hurry! I need you now. I vomited blood!”
“What? Vomited blood?! Why?” He says with a stir of panic in his voice.
“Please get here and get what you need to test me.” I say in panic because this has never happened before, not ever. If there was ever blood that I did not like or tasted like trash, I only took one small taste than spit it out. I have never once drank a whole blood bag and thrown it back up like this. I wonder if Lucy has ever seen this before.
“I’ll be over there in 20 minutes. Do not clean anything up. I want to get samples from the blood you thrown up. Ensure your house is on lock down until I get there.” He tells me while I hear him wrestling things together.
I think hard in my decision to call Lucy over here. I know that I cannot call Draven. I am unsure what he would do if he knew about this or who he would tell as well. No one else can know about this if this is something major serious happening. I nod my head to myself to give Lucy a call.
“Ok. I am going to call Lucy here.”
“Are you sure that is a good idea, Vlad? I know that she is on a decent track compared to others from your long life. However, can she be trusted with this? It is a yes or no, right now.” Luke questions me.
I am feeling desperate and if I can trust Lucy with Mina’s case against Michael, I believe I can trust her with this. “Yes, she can be trusted with this.”
“Ok. Good answer. I’m getting in the car now. Be there soon.” He hangs up the phone.
I go through my contacts and pull up Lucy’s contact number. I call her and she answers on the fourth ring. “Well well, Dracula talking to me twice in one day. Will wonders ever cease in this century?”
“Lucy, I need you here now. I need your help. Something is wrong with me.” I sob to her, not able to contain how my body feels after throwing up. It is aching and still hurting from my stomach erupting like it did.
“Tell me where and I will be there in a two minutes.” Her voice tone changes to complete concern.
I tell her my address. Before I knew it, our phones disconnect. I stand up pacing back and forth in panic in what feels like years even centuries until a knock happens at my front door. I swiftly go to the door and see that it is Lucy. I tell her to come in. She comes in and closes the door behind her. She stops instantly at the sight of me.
“Vlad… What happened?” She comes over in worry. “Sit down. We need to get you cleaned up. Where is the body?”
“There is no body, Lucy!” I raise my voice to her.
Lucy stands up and goes to the bathroom to see for herself. She studies every inch of it then slowly walks back over to me. She kneels down in front of me. “I am assuming that this has never happened before. Do you still have the blood bag you drank from?”
I point to my jacket on the table by the front door. She goes over and searches for the blood bag. “It is an O negative blood donor. Did it taste funny when you drank it?”
“No. It tasted normal with flavor.” I stare at my hands becoming stained with blood. Luke needs to get here fast. I cannot help but wonder if it is not the blood. “What if it is something else? What if it is me?”
Lucy sets down the blood bag, sitting next to me grabbing my hand. “It has to be the blood. Maybe it was a bad batch. It cannot be you, Vlad. How can it be you?”
I begin to question my existence and in fear that in turning away from the Master Vampire himself, it is causing this. I cannot help but wonder that if I refuse to be his pawn, I could be dying in return for not serving him. It must be me; it has to be me. There is no other explanation for it if it is not the blood.
“If it is not the blood then something is wrong with me, Lucy.” I say in feeling cold and not the usual cold on a daily basis. I feel cold as if ice cold piercing water is stabbing every inch of my body. Lucy places her right hand on the back of my neck when feeling how cold I am. She had no words to say but the look on her face is enough to know that it is me. There is something wrong with me.
“If it is you, I am sure your handler will figure it out.”
“I could be dying, Lucy. There may be nothing he can do.” I tell her about to stand up but she forces me to sit back down.
“No, you are not dying. Just relax and wait until your handler gets here. If I am right, your handler and another have been studying vampire DNA for years. If there is one thing that can possibly figure out what is going on, it is the astonishing works of science that the 21st century has made.”
I feel panic building up inside me in the fear that I am possibly dying. My mind floods with the thought of Mina. If I am dying, how will she protect herself against Michael and possibly any of my enemies that know about her in the Supernatural World? I cannot risk leaving her alone.
Lucy’s voice snaps me out of my flooded thoughts, having me look at her with her hands framing my face. She brushes her fingers against my cheeks with a soft look on her face toward me. I have not seen her look at me like this before. She truly is concerned for me as she softly whispers, “You are going to be fine. You hear me? You are going to be ok. I will make sure of it.”
I cannot help but take in her words, wanting to believe every word she is saying to me. My eyes go down in letting out a few sobs in terror of what could be happening to me. Lucy rests her forehead against mine, trying to comfort me in the possible unknown of all of this.
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