You thought you had found a good girl- One to love you and give you the world
Now you find that you've been misused. Talk to me, I'll do what you choose
I want you to... Tell Mama all about it
Tell Mama what you need... Tell Mama what you want
And I'll make everything alright
-Lyrics to 'Tell Mama' performed by The Civil Wars
Crimson Bonds Part 56
John Chang was, quite literally, the happiest creature in existence.
Locked in a tangle of limbs with his Chosen hours following their intense coupling, the Vampire stared at the drawn curtains over the large window a few feet away from the side of the bed in her private dorm room. Through the cracks, he could see the shift of colors hinting to the impending sunrise.
In her sleep, Angela curled up all the tighter around him with a soft sigh. Gently brushing back a few strands of her blonde hair that had fallen over his face and his shoulder where her head was nestled, the youngling contented himself to watch her for a little while longer before he reluctantly pressed a cool kiss against her forehead to wake her.
Heavy-lidded, blue eyes blinked open as the law student raised her gaze enough to meet the one staring back. "G'morning," she smiled, voice mumbled and thick with sleep.
"Good morning," John chuckled softly. Frowning, he gestured to the window and announced, "I hate to do this, but I need to get going. The sun's almost up and my family will be looking for me if I don't leave soon." He leaned in for a sound kiss before adding, "Much as I'd love to stay here with you like this for the whole day."
Angela sighed again as she pushed herself up without bothering to cover her naked body. "Well, I did promise you I'd let you go by the morning," she muttered. Tilting her head, her cheeks burned with a blush while she commented, "Thank you for last night. It was... amazing."
The Vampire pushed himself upright, cupping her cheeks and breathing sincerely, "Amazing doesn't even seem a strong enough word for what it was." Beaming, his Other closed the gap between their mouths for a passionate kiss as they desperately clung onto each other.
Only breaking for air, the living bit her lip in her hesitant release of her lover so that he could climb out of bed to reclaim his clothes that were piled at the side of the bed. Admiring the view of his perfect body in the dim light as he dressed, she asked, "Do you think it'll be a while before we see each other again?"
"I'll call every day and night until we can meet up just like before," John was quick to promise, peering at her over his shoulder while pulling on the drawstring of his navy hoodie. "Hopefully it wouldn't be longer than a week this time."
Even though she would have loved to spend every waking second with him, Angela understood family came first. And she only admired her partner all the more for how much time he devoted to seeing them through whatever crisis they were dealing with.
Running a hand through her mussed hair, she thought aloud, "I guess I better shower and get ready to meet my friends in the cafeteria for breakfast." Climbing to her feet, she grinned warmly as she was pulled into another fierce embrace and kiss. Happy to reciprocate, she took the moment in for all that it was worth to get her through the next few days that they would be apart.
John rested their foreheads together when he feared that continuing might make it impossible for him to leave. "I love you," he whispered reverently to the face gazing up at him.
"I love you, too," Angela replied in kind, the deep emotions that came with it catching up enough to make her eyes start to shimmer. Clearing her throat, she lightly pushed against her lover's strong chest and insisted, "You better go or I'll start working out ways to keep you here."
Snickering, the Infected winked and began to turn on his heels to face the door. Along his way past the dresser, closet and desk, he came to a sudden halt when he caught a glimpse of one of the framed photos displayed beside his Chosen's closed laptop. Such details of his surroundings had been lost to him since he had set foot into the dorm room given what had taken place between him and Angela...
...but now that he had his head about him, every bit of his being seized up when he saw the image of none other than Senator Nancy McAdams with an arm draped around a slightly younger, graduation capped and gowned Angela. Their faces brilliant with excited smiles, they each had a free hand up to be forever captured in a wave to the world.
Only John's world had come to a grinding halt as he took in the similar features between the pair. Only partially aware that he was moving, he reached out to take hold of the frame as he raised it ever so slightly.
From the bathroom door, Angela who was now wearing a terrycloth towel, called, "Oh, I never did have the chance to tell you... I'm Angela McAdams, Senator McAdams' daughter." Checking the clock on the wall over her desk, she muttered a curse. "I better hurry. We'll talk later tonight. Love you." That said, she closed the adjoining room off behind her.
Still numb from the overwhelming discovery that his Chosen was related to the woman responsible for the changes to the Vampire registration... a woman who made every effort to express her hatred and distrust of all Infected... the youngling could only mutter under his breath, "Love you, too."
* * * * * *
The pain killers offered to Mark were not nearly enough to take all of the edge off. And it was irritating him that Doctor Berg had outright refused to give him more.
His arms folded across his chest, the old man glared behind his glasses at his patient, snapping, "You're lucky I gave you anything after what you pulled. Septum didn't have to worry about ordering me to give you the minimal care you require."
Since his left eye was closed shut by a nasty black-and-blue bruise, Barnett's right eye widened in disbelief when he shot up straight. The swift movement of his aching joints was immediately regretted as he growled out the pain. "Afpher everytin' I done, he said dat?" he mumbled past his swollen lip, a rise in his voice being the only means he could express his rage.
Behind Berg, the only doors to the sealed off room opened to Millers. "Yes, I said that," the researcher snarled lowly, a heated glare from his own eyes weighing down on the Hunter that he stalked towards. Without looking over to his fellow scientist, he requested, "I'm going to need a moment alone with him." Lowering his head in a respectful bow, the white-haired man made good on a swift and quiet escape.
Once the doors closed him away with his apprentice, Septum paused just short of the table that Matt was sitting on. "So, Mister nobody is the boss of you. And to think that I tried to convince Broderick that there was nothing to worry about with you," he gritted out, much to the other living's shock.
"If he hadn't insisted on having an alarm set to Anna's cell to alert him whenever anyone besides he entered..." Unable to continue, he shook his head and shouted, "What the hell were you thinking?!"
Every bit as furious over the situation, Barnett yelled back, "Givn' dat bitch wha she dezzerv'd! She wanted it!" In the next breath, his airway was cut off by a tight grip over his throat that had his mouth falling open to a series of raspy coughs.
Leaning towards his Hunter, Millers' eyes contained a dangerous fire that none of his associates had ever seen in him before. Suddenly very dark and sinister, the tall man all but whispered, "You listen to me now, you son of a bitch. If you caused any harm to the babies that Vampire is carrying, I won't hesitate to kill you. Their existences are far more important than your worthless little life."
Struggle as he did, Mark could not break himself free of the choke hold. In his urgent need to breathe, his eyes spilled over with burning tears while he stared in complete horror at his boss.
Then, just as his vision was being closed up by a darkness that worked its way in from the edges, the hand sealing his fate fell away. Curling in on himself, the Hunter coughed and sucked up air in ragged gasps.
Unaffected by the miserable sight his minion made, Septum deadpanned, "From this day forward, you are denied access into the lab and holding cells. The security team has already changed every code and access card patch so that you won't be able to enter on your own."
Raising an eyebrow, he vowed, "The moment you try to get in, or give me any grief over this, so help me I'll have you dropped off in Warsaw with a tip to the police that they should ask you some questions about Rina Kalish's death."
To the growing eye watching him, Millers snorted, "I hope you didn't believe that I bought your story of how you got her diary. And I am well aware of Poland's handling of convicted murders. You'll wish that I hadn't let go of your neck if I have to resort to such a measure. If you wish to avoid that, you just stay quiet in your little corner until Berg and I have finished our work. Am I clear?"
"C-clear," Barnett managed, nodding enthusiastically. Long gone was his cocky smile, the smug way he carried himself. He had been reduced to a quivering servant that had been given his last warning to obey his master... something that he would abide by to the letter to save his hide.
In a sharp huff, Septum barked, "Good. As soon as you can move, get your sorry ass out of this room and back to your living quarters. I don't want to see your face again for a very long time."
Swallowing hard, the Hunter murmured nervously, "Y-yesss sssir." With a sharp turn away, the researcher stormed back out of the room. Body trembling against a cold that had settled in him, Barnett bit his swollen lip and let out a scared whimper.
Just beneath his feet, there was a growing pool of his urine.
* * * * * *
Dry-washing his face as he headed down the next wing of the medical ward, Septum composed himself once more for the sake of the staff walking about. Shoulders rolled back and an air of calm returning, he made his way towards the tall guard standing by the only closed off room.
Grinning sadly, he greeted, "Thank you for standing by to escort Anna into her visit with Doctor Gloria. When she's back in her cell, please feel free to take the remainder of the day off to rest. You've had a long night."
"I'm fine," Broderick shrugged. "To be honest, I would have a hard time getting much sleep after what just happened. If you hadn't fixed her cell with that alarm for me to run in there..." Holding back the anger that wanted to build, he grumbled, "I hope you don't expect me to apologize for how I handled that little prick."
Chuckling, Millers replied, "Not at all. Beating him within an inch of his life for what he had endangered was a fitting punishment. And you have my word that he's not going to be a problem for anyone here again. Measures have already been set into motion to see to that." He patted his Hunter's arm, stating, "Now, I would like a moment to converse with the good doctor and her patient."
There was something about the request that didn't sit right with Dawson. Keeping the frown from his face, he nodded and stepped aside from the single door so that the Boss could enter. After a brief and tense wait, the door opened once more to Adodera. Hugging her digital medical pad against her side in one arm, she reached up with her free hand to remove her glasses with a deep sigh.
Her visibly shaken state only worked to make her counterpart all the more nervous. Once the door closed, Broderick eyed up and down the hall to confirm that there was no one anywhere near earshot and he leaned close to ask softly, "How's Anna?"
Gloria took a deep breath and answered just as quietly, "Fortunately, you got to her before any real harm was done. Other than a couple bruises from how she was handled that are nearly healed already, there's not a mark on her. Mentally, she's as strong as ever, though she was understandably worried until I ran the ultrasound to show that the babies are perfectly fine."
Head falling back, the Hunter let out the air that he had been holding onto. "Thank God for that," he muttered, rubbing his face with a large hand. "She would never have gotten over it if anything happened to them."
A silence fell for a long moment when the doctor murmured, "I know that you care about her. It's plainly obvious to me after how you go out of your way to look after her beyond what's required of you as her guard." Taken aback at that, Broderick quickly sobered with a look of panic in his urgency to try and ebb any threat his reaction may have become to his cover.
However, before he could defend himself, Adodera stepped closer as she whispered, "I cannot sit back and watch this anymore. My intentions were good when I came onboard to study the first ever pregnant Vampire... but I never agreed to the treatment and torture that I've witnessed."
Gloria shook her head, concluding, "My conscience won't stand for me to go on with this willingly any longer. If you're at all the person I think you are, and you're trying to find a way to help those poor souls in the holding room escape, I want in on it."
Eyes widening, Dawson blinked. Then he smiled, promising, "We'll talk as soon as we can, then."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Meanwhile, inside the medical room, Septum had stepped inside just as his redheaded prisoner was pulling the light, tan cardigan that complimented the orange sundress she wore over her arms. At his appearance, she closed the woolen fabric around her front as far as she could in a rare act of self-consciousness after what she had been through. "What do you want?" she asked none too kindly.
"I just wanted to apologize for my associate's actions," the researcher answered, bowing his head with an arm draped across his middle. "Mark's actions have not gone unpunished by me, so you won't ever be seeing him again for the rest of your existence. The last thing that I want is to see anything become of your pregnancy before its natural end comes."
Anna's mind processed the information she had been provided. At no surprise, she's had her suspicions that her existence was forfeit the moment her nieces or nephews were born confirmed. That only gave her a about two and a half months now.
No doubt Wufei and Heero were out of their minds knowing they were working against that short amount of time with nothing to go on to find her and Duo.
The corner of her mouth curling up in a smirk, the Irish Infected snorted, "Yea, well don't worry. It'll take a hell of a lot more than that to damage me or my faith that you're not going to have a shot at getting your hands on these little ones."
"Yea, I had figured as much," Septum said with a smile that was anything but friendly. "More than any of the others, you've been able to hold onto that spirit of yours that everything will turn out fine for you. And since you have taken every measure to take care of those babies, I thought that I would be kind enough to share what is going to happen to them when I do take them from you."
Her blue-and-gold eyes growing, Anna sucked in a sharp breath as the man across from her informed as flatly as if he was rattling off a grocery list, "You have two boys and a girl in there. One of the boys will be dissected within twenty-four hours so that its parts can be studied for medical advances."
Tilting his head, he went on, "Meanwhile, the other two will be auctioned off to the highest bidder- much like your brothers will be. And I promise you that the men and women interested in obtaining such rare finds will be far more cruel in their treatment than I have ever been. They will know nothing but pain, suffering and hopelessness for however long they're allowed to exist before their owners are finished with them."
A single, thick tear rolled slowly down the Vampire's right cheek while her enlarged eyes stared out ahead without blinking or seeing the living. Tightly wrapping her arms around her swollen belly at the feeling of the kicking that had resumed, she made no sound or another movement while those terrible images burrowed their way into her thoughts.
Content that he had finally managed to get to her, Millers grinned widely. "Well, you just keep that in mind for these next few weeks," he suggested in a cheerful sing-song. "May they give you the same hope you've been clinging onto so stubbornly." Waving, he turned and hummed a bright tune as he stepped out of the room.
Releasing the air that had lodged in her throat, Anna moaned while doubling over on herself. "Dear God... Wufei... Heero... you need to hurry," she sobbed softly to the empty room as the tears flowed freely.
* * * * * *
The frown in Wufei's voice was evident when he asked over the transmitter, "John, are you alright?"
Snapping out of his stupor, the dark-haired youngling stammered, "Y-yea. I'm okay." He winced over hearing his sad attempt to sound convincing. From the corner of his eye, he could tell Charles was not happy when he glanced over at him.
Even though he did not sound entirely sold on the dodge, their father replied, "Alright. But whatever it is, you know you can talk to me about it when you're ready. I won't push you into it. For the time being, we'll conduct our business as usual."
Heero's spoke up to ask, "You're both caught up in the background on your next person of interest to interview?" At the affirmative responses he received, he said, "Good. Trowa will be ready to collect the both of you from the Khushrenada household in a few minutes. Be careful and keep the communication lines open."
Reaching out to turn off the transmitter, Charles focused on his brother. "You've been distracted ever since you showed up from your visit with Angela," he sighed. "We both know you didn't fool Dad into actually believing you're fine, so what's going on?"
"Maybe I don't feel like talking about it right now," John snarled, a rare thing for him to do to any of his siblings. Glaring at the slightly taller Infected, he snapped, "My head's in the game, so you don't need to be worried about that. I just need to be put to work on what's the most important thing here- finding Mom and Uncle Duo."
The redheaded Vampire raised both opened hands in the air, surrendering, "Okay. Okay. I can take a hint to give you some space." Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he suggested, "But you really should take up Dad's advice and talk to him, if it's as bad as it seems from how you're acting."
Suddenly, his brother's cell phone went off to make the both of them jump thanks to the tense silence that had fallen between them.
Digging out the device, John growled at reading the caller ID. Without hesitating, he pressed the 'ignore' option and Angela's name disappeared from the screen. Stuffing his cell back into his pants pocket, he mumbled, "I need a second alone."
Charles hated staying back when he could tell that his sibling was so deeply troubled, but he allowed him the room that he requested and swallowed roughly as he watched the other Vampire step out of the room.
Once he entered the main living room, the dark-haired immortal sank into the plush recliner where he slouched forward with his face in his hands. "I really wish you were here so I could talk with you, Mom," he whispered brokenly through a bout of sobs that he couldn't keep back any longer. "You would know what to say."
* * * * * *
Lying on her side in her bed, Anna kept her back to her fellow prisoners. The hand at her hip was draped over her belly as she remained lost in her dark thoughts placed by Septum's graphic description of what was to become of her nephews and niece. Eyes staring out at nothing, she was lost in the plummeting depths of helplessness that she had avoided up to that day.
Across from her, Duo looked on in profound concern. Having already had made several attempts to talk that went unnoticed, he could only stand back and wonder what brought on the drastic change in his sister. No doubt the attack on her took a greater toll than he had first assumed.
He wanted vengeance, more for what his beloved Anna and his unborn babies were going through than for anything that he was enduring. He wanted blood. He wanted to hear the screams of Septum and everyone loyal to him.
'I want to kill them,' Maxwell growled to himself, his bruised hands clenching into tight fists at his sides. 'I want to kill every last one of them.'
* * * * * *
Dorothy was charging down the hall belonging to the Chang children as Rosie's scream pierced the night. Throwing open the door to her littlest charge, the Companion flipped the light on and rushed for the wailing girl's bed where she was sitting up with tears running down her face and her blanket pulled up tight to her chin.
"Rosie," she urged softly, cupping the child's face in her hands. Gently brushing away the wet trails from the youngling's sniffling face, she asked, "It was just a nightmare, sweetheart. Everything's okay."
Throwing her arms around Dorothy, the small redhead whispered, "I... I saw Unca Duo... he was scary... he was a monster."
TBC...
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