Battle for Blood Ch. 06

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Reuniting, but first...
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4.84
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Part 6 of the 7 part series

Updated 10/10/2023
Created 05/29/2011
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I'm back. I know you thought I was done, but another year of med school is behind me and I finally have time to come back to this story. I'm still excited about where it's going and I hope those of you who are still with me will enjoy it also. This installment is a bit longer since I wanted to bring Shane and Cole back together after so long apart. I hope it doesn't feel rushed. I had intended to keep them apart a bit longer but sometimes your story surprises even you with where it's going.

To everyone who sent emails the last few years: thank you. I appreciated each and every one of them. A big part of why I came back to this was the motivation I got from your encouragement.

As always, please do tell me what you think of how I did. I haven't sat on this segment for as long as the others so I hope there aren't too many mistakes. Particularly I'm interested if I kept the continuity of the action scenes working even with the discontinuous timeline.

Thanks!

Eliya

******

She felt his fingertips on her calf, pulling the sheet away from her half-sleeping form. She shifted her body, trying to feel his against hers. His lips found the outside of her thigh and pressed feather light kisses up towards her waist. She willed her eyes to open so she could see him but they stayed closed. She felt his hand smooth across her stomach, inching maddeningly towards her breasts. His mouth continued up her body, kissing up her side. She wanted to move against him, feel his body against hers. She wanted him inside her again.

Shane rolled over in the empty bed. She reached out her hand, hoping to catch the last bits of the dream as she came back to full consciousness.

"Shit," she muttered to herself. It had been three days since he left and each day the dreams got more intense. Every moment, just before she woke up she could swear Cole was in the room with her. Shane lay in the tangled sheets a moment more. She was going to lose it down here.

She got up and paced the room, again. She itched to go outside. It was too much. She had tried to do as he said, stay below. She'd hate to admit to him later how she crept out at night, running along the abandoned warehouses, climbing gutters and swinging off of fire escapes. He'd understand, she thought, he must. She was back to strength. She needed room to run, a challenge or two. She winced a little, her fingers going to her side where the remnants of a bruise still lingered. Maybe she was taking too many challenges on. But she had felt so sure of herself. She had never jumped that far before but she saw the other rooftop like a beckoning challenge. She could make it, couldn't she? Shane winced again. She had repaired more than a few broken bones in the last day.

And yet...with all that energy expended she still felt restless. Even exhausting herself in every possible way wasn't enough to keep the dreams from coming, to keep her sleeping through the day. Summer was the worst. The sun never set. Her father had always been so content to close the doors and stay inside. She couldn't. Not now, not now that she felt free for the first time, even with all the cravings. She shook her head as that nagging thought, the one that said she'd feel better if she could have just a taste again, just another drop of Cole's blood. She looked down at her hands and sighed into a chair.

He told her the initial withdrawal would be bad but he'd forgotten that an addiction is more than just the physical need. She was edgy. She knew she didn't want it...she did.

She put her face in her hands. She wanted him back here so badly she could feel the frustration in the back of her throat and deep in her gut with a kind of physical discomfort that was unyielding. She told herself for the thousandth time that it was fine and he would be back. She reminded herself again that he had started it; he had kissed her, which must mean something. She knew, she told herself, that he cared for her and wanted to be with her too. He had only left because he had to. She knew that. She got up again. The swell of uncertainty built in her chest. She couldn't beat it down again. That voice inside her told her she was a fool to expect anything different from anyone. But he had left; he had left her here, just like so many others had. He promised, but others had made promises. She wished he hadn't left so soon. She wanted him back, next to her, above her, inside her. She blushed at the thought. She was pacing again without even realizing she had gotten up. She needed to get outside.

She grabbed the clothing Cole had brought while she was in withdrawal, shoving her bare feet into the canvas sneaker while she pulled a white t-shirt over her plain sports bra. She ran her hands over the jeans he bought for her and smiled. He seemed to have guess anything she wore would need to have a lot of stretch to keep up with her.

Shane reached up with her mind to the outdoors. The sun wasn't up yet. She could still get an hour's worth of time before it got too bright and forced her underground. It was now or never. She didn't even need to think about it. The restlessness of her body pushed her from the room.

Cole's workout room on the second floor had seen a little too much attention she decided immediately upon arriving in the large room. The punching bag was nice but she didn't feel like running drills right now. She told herself she'd just go out for an hour, just a quick run around, back before the sky got light. When the sun came up she would come back inside, she thought, eyeing the walls skeptically.

Moments later the wind was flying around her too fast for her to care. The world was open in front of her. She charged down another alley between warehouses, leapt up against the wall, using the force of her body to propel her onto the lid of a dumpster. With a dizzying move she pushed off, up the wall once more, grabbing the security bars that sloped out from a window on the second story. She swung her feet over her head in a wide arc before releasing, sailing through the air and hitting the ground as lightly as she could manage. She sprung from her spot again, throwing an uncaring laugh at the brightening sky. When she ran she was free of that horrible sensation, that feeling of anxious anticipation and overthinking herself sick.

She continued her flight, up and down, in and out of warehouses, up walls and over obstacles. She paused once or twice, hearing the rumble of cars on the highway across the water begin to pick up as the sky turned ever brighter. People would begin to appear in the stockyard for work. As it was she had to avoid the active night ports. She kept pushing it, a little further in towards the city, a little further towards the sounds of others. She sprang up to the windowsill, perching on the ledge and looking along the length of the building inside. Endless crates stretched out along the length of the building. Above, fixed to the ceiling, was a complicated crisscross of pulleys and cranes that would carry these huge containers to and fro. She gauged the jump and flung herself at a low-lying hook hanging from the rafters from 4 iron cables. Her left hand closed around the metal. She smiled and began making her way up the wavering cables into the rafters of the huge room. Some balancing practice, that's what she needed.

She was just about to make the final few feet of narrow metal beams towards the great doors at the far side of the warehouse when, with a huge groan of metal, the doors began to slide open. Shane cursed and crouched down on that rafter. Panic welled up inside her. What an idiot! The whole stockyard was at work. What time was it? She felt around outside. The sun was up, not too far but there were precious few minutes of shade left and she'd have to go over ground—which was now a huge problem because there were at least 25 people right outside. What had she been thinking? Couldn't she hear them? Wasn't she supposed to be paying attention? So much for heightened senses if you aren't paying attention to them. She stayed low, cursing herself in her head. The men were talking beneath her; machinery was rolling into the warehouse. Their day was beginning.

Shit, shit, shit, shit. Where to go? Can't stay here. Can't go back. They are outside on the left with a truck and arriving from the west corner. Up. Up is the only way. Maybe there is a roof close by, some way to make it over to an empty building.

Shane cast around for someway up to the roof. All she could see was a supervisor's office on her right. It was up a flight of stairs against the wall, overlooking the floor. There must be a window in there. She hoped at least.

Following the rafters, she made her way swiftly but silently towards the office. The men were still at the entrance to the storehouse. If she did this quickly she might still make it back before the sun hit her. She dropped quietly onto the stairs outside the office, crouching on all fours so as to stay as far out of sight as possible, she reached up for the doorknob. Of course it's locked you idiot. She sighed, stood up and put her weight on top of the handle. The lock crumbled in the gear and the door opened. The noise echoed off the roof. She had to move fast.

Above the desk was a small window, just big enough. She'd been heard, now she could feel them coming closer. She ran over, breaking the latch without even noticing it was locked. She pushed the lower edge of the window that slid outward from the wall while the upper edge moved into the room. Damn it. She could just wriggle through. The men were at the bottom of the stairs now. She pulled her upper body through the window, ignoring the pain in her abdomen as she squeezed through the tight space. They were moving up the stairs now, shouting that the door was open. Move! She forced her hips through the tight space, thanking her lucky stars the jeans Cole had procured were well fitted. She cast around for something to grab onto and came up blank. The wall outside was a blank sheet of concrete. No windowsills, no drain pipes, nothing. The men were getting closer. Desperately she looked up and saw a floodlight fixture just above her to the left. The huge square lamp was fixed to the wall with a strong looking bar she prayed would support her weight. It would have to. She swung her legs down, holding onto the sill with her fingers. Her left foot found a bit of purchase in a chip in the wall. She took a deep breath and launched herself at the light with all of her might. The door to the office slammed open as her fingers closed on the lamp's support pole. She heard the voices of the men inside, nearing the window. Oh god, don't look here, she thought. She hung their, holding the bar above her head, her arms screaming with effort to stay there.

"—anything taken! Holy shit not another break-in. Fuckin' boss is gonna kill me." The voice receded farther into the room. He hadn't seen her. She was okay.

She was not okay. There was nowhere to go. Down would surely cause at least multiple fractures that would take too long to heal. Up would only work if she suddenly learned to fly. Brilliant plan Shane, get outside so they don't see you and just hang here like a monkey for the rest of the day. The day! The morning was well on its way. All of her focus had been on the men behind her and she had forgotten about the sun coming down on her head. There it was, just touching the top of the wall above her. Of course she had gone out the only window facing east. She twisted, pulling herself up onto the lamp. She could only give her arms temporary respite, tucking the bar beneath them and hanging there from her chest, the bar digging into her underarm as if she was holding on to the edge of a pool.

Panic filled her. Safe indoors, she could always sense the sun's presence by a small tingling feeling along the back of her neck. Now the sensation ran up and down her spine like an electrical current making it difficult to hold on as she was. She looked across to the warehouse opposite. Don't even thinking about it Shane. Didn't you just try something that stupid not two days ago? You'll never make it. But there was a fire escape, right there, just across the alley. She could pull herself up, balance and leap, maybe catching the railing with outstretched hands. She remembered the sensation of falling after her last leap, just short of the other rooftop. She had been much further closer to the ground, and there weren't human running about the place looking for a thief to fall out of the sky.

The sun, there it was beating down, moving fast, so fast. She had to do something. Despite all her instincts she hauled herself up towards the daylight, positioning herself so she was sitting on the bar sideways. She steadied herself with her hand against the wall, the other clutching her only support. She had to try. She had nowhere to go. The dizzying fall beneath her didn't seem to trouble her as much as the heat she felt rolling off the wall above her. She looked up again. The sunlight continued it's impossible path towards her. In another moment it would rise over the roof of the building shielding her and she would have no protection. Her skin was exposed. She couldn't remember ever being in direct sunlight without some kind of vampire protection. She knew she was more resistant to the sun than they were. It didn't make her tired during the day or take her strength but neither she, nor anyone in charge of her, had ever had the desire to see what the full effects of the sun would be on her. Direct sun would burn a vampire and within moments they would be beyond hope. What would happen to her?

Get up idiot! She shouted at herself, but her hand would not loosen its grip on the lamp. Her legs felt deadened with fear. She had been injured before. She could survive the fall. But the humans would find her. And they would take her away, and Cole would never find her. That fear held her still. She looked over at the building across the alley, her salvation and her undoing. The sun peaked over the roof, blinding her.

She had hesitated too long.

***

Cole looked at Elise on the couch across from him. She had given him a lot to think about. Adriana was proving to be more underhanded than he thought possible. It seems that after his—outburst—in the meeting yesterday she had set herself to sowing seeds of discord. It wasn't hard. He was not popular with the council. She would have to be dealt with at some point, he decided.

Elise stayed quiet for another moment. She wanted to ask him how, and when, he was going to free her. She was getting desperate and if Adriana's scheming continued then he was going to want her to stay and keep tabs on her. Elise quivered. She didn't know how long she was going to last.

"Not long at this rate." His voice surprised her. Of course he could hear her. She had taken off Adriana's charm and now she was unfiltered in front of the most ancient vampire in the world. "When are you scheduled to be with...that vampire...again?" Cole asked, still gazing at the morning sun reaching it's tendrils up over the treetops. He needed some sleep.

Elise shuddered. She knew he was talking about the drainer. Adriana had loaned her out once a month to the horrible creature for nearly half a year now. He was going to kill her.

"Most likely," Cole said again. He seemed unaware he was not responding to her words.

"Tonight," she said quietly. She crossed her arms defensively over her chest. A chill ran through her.

"Then tonight I suppose." Cole turned and looked at her for the first time since she walked in the room. Silver glinted in his eyes. She felt the presence of his mind in his gaze. She felt suddenly reassured, feeling the intention behind his promise. Maybe this will work out for her in the end. She bit down on the hope growing inside her chest. Now was not the time to get overly optimistic.

"What's the plan?" she asked in a small voice.

"I am still working on it. Adriana is proving herself to be a nuisance. I am trying to figure out how I can link her abuse of you to something greater, something that will cause her to be punished and thus out of my way."

This place is hellish. She thought before she could stop herself. The conniving, the back stabbing, it rotted the wood in the walls.

To her shock Cole smiled, breaking the tension in the room somewhat. "You are not wrong Elise. I couldn't have said it better myself." She let the corners of her mouth slide upwards, just for a second. It was hard not to smile back at him. Even with his imposing presence she couldn't help but feel a bit weak in the knees. He was too good looking for a killer. "Tell me more about the vampire. Why did Adriana loan you out? Most vampires are quite territorial here. Your arrangement suggests a motive."

"Aren't you worried she will find out what you are planning from me? She can still press me to tell her things."

Cole sighed. "When you leave this room you will remember only that I fed from you."

Elise bit the inside of her cheek. She nodded. So close, she thought. Maybe she would make it out alive.

"I will leave some of your hope too," Cole said, smiling slightly.

****

Shane took deep breaths. The tingling feeling in her back had shot through her entire body when the sun hit her. Her skin felt like it was sizzling under the direct glare. Her fear had frozen her, her anticipation of pain much worse than the actual pain she felt. She opened her eyes. The sensation was not entirely unpleasant. She blinked, feeling oddly unfamiliar with having to shield her eyes from the sun. She lifted her hand off the pole to bring to her face. The movement, coupled with her focus on the sun, off set her balance and she felt herself sliding forward, off the pole. Her hand flew back to the metal but not before her body started its descent. She gasped, bracing herself, but no fall came. She was hanging off the pole by one arm and finding it strangely easy. She looked up at her skin, newly illuminated by the sun.

Could it be?

Shane pulled herself back to the bar, climbing onto it again and finding the motion infinitely easier than several minutes before. She put both feet on the bar, holding it with her hands as she crouched, finding her balance quickly. She released and stood.

Amazing.

She felt surer suddenly. She held her arms out, swaying slightly as she kept her balance on the narrow bar. Much surer.

The sounds of men's voices called her back to reality. She had to move. Shane looked up at the warehouse across the way. Did she dare? She supposed she had no choice. She could make it, maybe. She steadied herself against the wall like a swimmer before a race. With daring she didn't know she possessed she pushed off, running the two steps along the light fixture, pushing off of the large square light with all her might, and she dove towards the other building, arms outstretched. To her great surprise she sailed across the alley almost too easily. She had to slow down. She grabbed the lower edge of one level of the fire escape, letting the metal tear her hands viciously. But she was moving too fast. She released, falling down and forward to the level below, landing in a roll which ended with her back hitting the wall with a thud, taking her breath away.

She lay still for a moment, breathing hard. The sounds from the warehouse across hadn't changed. Maybe they weren't looking for the thief any longer. She righted herself, looking down at her hands. The skin rebuilt itself without any prompting. Had she even felt any pain? The skin was still shiny with blood but everything beneath it had healed.