The Return of Nicholas Collins

A glance at her watch showed she still had around three hours of sunlight left. How she wished she wasn't so damn tired because she would love to explore the path she saw that led into the woods. Maybe one day, she thought as she removed her bag of food from the Jeep, then prayed as she walked toward the house that the door was unlocked. Like normal her luck was bad. The door was locked down tighter than Fort Knox.

Next she tried the windows. So far she had tried all of them that she could reach but one. If it didn't open then she was stuck outside, which meant she was mosquito bait for sure.

Why did she think she could be of any use to Rachel and her friend when she could not even open a damn window one handed, much less fight off some jerk out to kill them. Roni grunted, sweat beaded her brow and when she was about to give in she felt the window shift. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as her excitement grew. "Just a little more, that's all I need," she said through gritted teeth, then at last she was able to wiggle her fingertips beneath the window and forced it up enough for her to climb through.

Inside the house all was quiet except for the low hum of the air conditioner. She went through the rooms and found most of the furniture in them still covered with sheets. In the kitchen she opened the refrigerator door to store her sodas and almost threw up at the sight the numerous plastic bags of blood lying inside.

Feeling the need to rest, she thought about finding a bedroom to use, but all the doors were closed and she was terribly afraid of what she might find if she went into the wrong one.

Bone weary she found the sofa and stretched out. God, it feels wonderful to lie down, was her last thought, as her body sank into the lushness beneath her and sleep claimed her.

***

Rachel woke with a start. Something's wrong. That was the first thing she felt. She parted her lips to tell Nicholas but before she could say a word his hand came down across her mouth. He leaned over her, his eyes glowing with awareness, telling her he knew.

They both moved quickly, their motions blurred as they raced to dress and then stood before the door.

Someone was in the house with them and neither of them knew who or how long they had been there. Rachel got the impression that it was someone very young, possibility a teenager.

Nicholas looked at her with shock when they discovered Roni asleep on the sofa. At almost the moment they found her, Rachel's cell phone vibrated at her waist. In the dining room she answered to the sound of Kelly's fear filled voice. "Rachel, Roni's disappeared and we can't find her."

"Calm down, Kelly, she's right here sleeping on the sofa." Rachel held the phone from her ear as Kelly's voice boomed through the speaker. "I don't know how she got here but when we find out what's going on I'll let you know."

After the call ended, Nicholas and her found her small stash of food and the sodas in the fridge. Roni slept on without moving a muscle. She would have been worried if it hadn't been for her extra sensitive hearing that monitored her heart and breathing.

While they fed, Rachel was unable to meet Nicholas' eyes. She was terrified that he would see just how much it hurt her to hear him say that he loved another woman. She knew that it should not matter what he had done in his past, but it did. Yes, she had many lovers in all those years they had been apart, cared for a few of them deeply, but never loved them. No one came close to making her fall in love like she had with Nick.

Two hours after sundown Roni woke. Rachel and Nicholas were outside on the porch and let her rouse herself before they interrogated her. Fifteen minutes later she found them, a soda and a piece of toast in her hands. "So, how much trouble am I in?"

Rachel rested against the porch railing and crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "As of this moment I think they have you down as only stealing a car."

The young girl's face drained of all color and the toast she was about to bite into fell from her hand. Nicolas went to her side in a second, his strong hand surrounding her good arm and gave her support, leading her to the top step and where he made her sit.

She sat her soda down beside her and then wrapped her arms around her middle, rocking back and forth. "Oh, man, this is bad. Didn't they, didn't they read my note?"

Rachel felt Nicholas' gaze touch her, saw the questions they held. "Actually, Roni, we're all kind of wondering about that note. You didn't say why you were taking the Jeep, or where you were going."

Roni lay her head against the square wooden column and stared straight ahead into the foggy darkness. "I was vague in the note because I didn't want anyone to find me before I got here and take me back to Kelly's." She took a drink of her soda. "And the reason that I'm here is to help watch over you during the day."

"Roni, the reason Rachel and I left town was to protect all of you from whoever is after me."

She twisted around and stared at him. "But who is protecting you when you two sleep. No one. At least I could call the police or do something to stop him."

He shook his head and narrowed his gaze. "He's dangerous to anyone around me, young or old, man or woman, it doesn't matter to him as long as he thinks he is inflicting pain on me." He moved closer and crouched down. "You have to go back to Kelly's. You've been through enough already and I would hate if something were to happen to you because of me."

"But I want to do this. I need to do this." Her voice quivered and Rachel could smell the salt in the air from her tears as she sniffled. "I want to repay everyone for, for what they've done for me and this is one way that I can do that."

"Sweetie, there is nothing to pay back." Rachel sat down beside her and took hold of her hand. "Your being alive to see another day is all the pay back I need."

"That doesn't feel right to me. I owe everyone so much, especially you," she said tearfully."

Rachel wiped her thumb across the young girl's wet cheek. "When someone saves your life, you will always feel like you owe them more than you can ever pay." Her eyes drifted to Nicholas'. "I know from experience that as time passes it becomes easier to deal with that feeling, but you'll never be free of it. What you have to do is accept it and move on."

Roni nodded and Rachel brushed her hair back from her pretty face. "What do you say that we put Nicholas to work by making you some more toast?"

Her voice wobbled as she agreed and got to her feet. Quietly Rachel watched Nicholas hold the door open and follow her into the house. She called Kelly and told her what she had found out about why Roni had taken off with the Jeep.

"God it scares me to think what could of happen to her on the way here." She chewed on her fingernail and then said, "That's why I'm not sending her back until Nicholas' employees get here and can drive her back."

"I just hope she didn't lead the killer straight to you and Nicholas," Kelly said.

"In a way, Kelly, I hope she did because I want this over with. I just pray that she's not here when he decides to show himself." They talked a bit longer and she got some information from John, then hung up.

Nicholas came out on to the porch, dusting his hands off on his jean clad thighs. "Roni's toast is all taken care of and I set up the second bedroom for her to sleep in tonight."

"Great," she said, distracted as she scanned the area around her. "Are you sure it's going to take a couple days for your men to get here?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" He sat beside her, his body hard against her softness.

Damn, she hated how easily her body reacted to him. It felt like electricity danced on her nerves every where they touched. She shivered and kept her eyes focused straight ahead. "I ask because I want to get her as far away from danger as possible and I'm going to need their help to do it." She sighed and rubbed the heels of her palms into her eyes and then said, "You know she probably led the killer right to us don't you?"

He stretched his long legs out in front of him. "Well I doubt that she kept a look out for anyone tailing her on the way here, so I would say that it's highly probable that she did."

She stood, dusting the rear of her jeans off with her hands. "I think I'll go check on Roni and see if she is up to going grocery shopping. John gave me directions to the nearest place and she needs something besides that peanut butter, crackers and bread that she brought with her to eat."

***

Half a mile away, what he thought was a safe enough distance for the vampires not to sense him, he watched them and the young girl, between breaks in the fog, leave through his night vision goggles.

Good luck had been with him in the past few days. After he'd taken care of the burns that he got from setting the vampire bitch's house on fire, he went back later in the day and watched the crowd that had gathered to watch the firemen work on the scene. He didn't think he would find anything special until his eyes set upon one man in that crowd. He looked familiar to him and then it stuck him, the man in the crowd was the groom from the wedding, and he looked extremely worried.

He followed that man after he left the scene and waited outside of his home to see what he could learn and oh what a surprise he got when the man walked out later that afternoon with the girl from the alley that he had attacked. Not only did he have to watch for Nicholas and his bitch to return to the groom's house, but now he had to keep a watch on the girl, and who knows, perhaps get a little revenge for all the pain that he suffered because of her.

He never did see Nicholas and the woman vampire come to the house but he came to attention that morning when he saw the girl acting suspiciously as she left the house and left in a large SUV. Since it was daylight and the vampires would be sleeping he decided to follow the girl and see what she was up to. He was so glad that he did.

Not only had the girl from the alley led him to Nicholas, but she also led him to that whore of his who nearly killed him the night he tried to rape the girl.

They were all going to pay. One by one he would make them all suffer. The first would be that red headed vampire. Yeah, she would get to watch that girl she saved die. Then good old, let me be your daddy, Nicholas would be the next to suffer while his whore drew her last breath. It was a long time in coming but his revenge was going to be sweet.

Chapter 10

For the first time that she could remember, Roni felt safe. These vampires, these two people, had no plans to hurt her or to use her. They had so far treated her better than anyone had in her short life, except for her parents.

The steady drone of the knobby tires against the pavement was like the continuous purr of a kitten to her. It made her forget the danger that surrounded all of them and think about the possibility of living with Rachel.

Could she live cooped up indoors more than a few days at a time, or live with the same person day after day? She wished she knew the answer to those questions, but too much time had passed since she had did either of those two things.

Nearly three years ago she ran away from her last foster home. That translated to nearly three years on the street, going hungry and having to fight for the chance to search a dumpster for clothing, or material to build a shelter with. Her stomach turned with disgust. She'd lost count of the number of times she had thrown up from eating rotten food.

But nothing made her stomach turn more than the memories of what she had done to survive during the harsh winter nights. She swallowed quickly, fighting the bile that rose into her throat. At least when spring arrived that meant the end of letting perverted old men touch and use her body, in exchange for a night of shelter, until late fall when the nights once again became cold.

She jerked back to reality, away from her sickening thoughts, when she heard a cutting curse come from the front seat. The Jeep slowed and she watched Nicholas, saw the concern etched on his face in the glow of the dash lights, as he reached out and captured Rachel's hand. "What's wrong?"

Rachel shook her head, her words clipped, tinged with anger. "Nothing's wrong." The Jeep coasted along the road for several seconds then accelerated.

Inside the store they split up. Nicholas, armed with Roni's list of food items, walked off toward the grocery section while Roni and Rachel looked for clothes. Scanning a rack of t-shirts and crop tops, she picked out a bright yellow top and turned away to find a pair of jeans.

"You need more than one shirt, Roni." Rachel seemed to size her body with one quick glance of her eyes and then grabbed a couple of each style of top, and thrust them into her hands. "Be sure to get yourself at least three pairs of pants and some shorts while you're at it."

Roni opened her mouth to protest the amount of money that Rachel was about to spend, but the look on her face stopped her. "While you're with me, Roni, I intend to see that you're properly cared for, which includes clothing, food and anything else I think you need." She followed Rachel as she marched over to another rack of clothes and angrily flipped through them. "If you do decide to live with me after this mess is taken care of, I promise you, you will never have to sell your body for food or shelter ever again."

"But I never... How did you know about that?" Disbelief and then shame burned her face and turned her insides cold. The muscles in her chest grew tight and her throat tried to squeeze shut. Tears welled up in her eyes and threatened to spill down her face. Roni's head shook violently from side to side as she tried to deny what she had done.

Rachel came to her and placed an arm around her shoulders. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, Roni. You did what you had to do to survive and that is the only thing that matters." Head bowed, she let Rachel lead her through the clothing department. "As to how I know, vampires have the ability to read minds. Now before you blow a gasket, I didn't intentionally read yours. Back in the Jeep your thoughts were broadcasting loud enough to be heard in outer space."

Roni remained quiet. Instincts told her that what Rachel had just said was true. All she really wanted to do now was to get out of the bright lights of the store and into the darkness of the Jeep where she could hide from watchful eyes and deal with the mix of shame and embarrassment that she felt. In the darkness she knew that she could find the control that she'd lost from her past being exposed, and find that place inside herself where nothing could ever hurt her.

Arms loaded with clothes, they met Nicholas near the checkout lanes pushing a cart full of food. Both vamps asked her if there was anything else she needed, and silently, with a shake of her head, she answered no.

In the backseat of the Jeep, Roni stared through the rear window, watching the shopping center grow smaller in the distance. As the light faded from the interior, and the sound of the radio blended with the noise of the road, Roni's body shook with painfully quiet sobs. Sobs that unleashed her hate, her sadness, but most of all unleashed her regrets, opening herself to the hope that she'd found a place to heal and a person to believe in.

***

Rachel watched Roni's sleeping form from the door. She looked so small beneath the thin white sheet that covered her. Even in sleep the young girl's body remained tense, almost as if she were prepared to fight or take flight against danger.

She clenched her teeth in anger. She'd heard Roni's silent sobs on the way back from the store and knew that the girl thought no one was the wiser of her pain. But Rachel's senses allowed her to feel, smell and hear every tear and whimper that came from the back seat.

Nicholas' hands came to rest on her shoulders. "It'll be all right."

Without a word or glance she left him to follow her into the living room. Flopping down on the sofa, she stared at the ceiling and listened to the sound of his footsteps. "I take it that you know what she was thinking about in the car?"

She felt him draw near to the back of the sofa and stopped short of jumping when his hands once again settled on her shoulders. "Yeah, kind of hard not to with all the unguarded emotions that she sent out." His fingers massaged her stiff muscles. "It was like a sledgehammer hitting my head, and the images, god, they made me want to rip off the steering wheel."

Nicholas' touch only made the tension mount inside her. She dug her nails into the cushion beneath her and tried to keep herself in check. "She still hasn't decided if she wants to live with me or not."

"It won't be easy for her to chose, Rachel. She doesn't really know you and doesn't know if she can trust you yet." His hands stilled. "She may never be able to trust anyone again."

Tremors fluttered within her gut and worked their way to the surface to dance along her nerves. "She's what I once use to be Nicolas. She's homeless like I was, had to find shelter and food anyway that she could, just like I did." The words tumbled from her lips. "The only difference is that I was older and had the strength of a vampire to keep anyone from trying to hurt me, unlike that lost little girl in there did."

"Rachel..."

She fought to keep the tears from her voice. "Why, Nicholas? Why did you send me away like that?" When he pulled away from her the lost of his touch seemed to take her heart with it. Coldness swept into her bones. She hadn't felt such a teeth-rattling chill like this since the winter before she became a vampire.

She folded her arms around her middle, rocking herself back and forth on the edge of the sofa. "What did I do Nicholas that made you send me away? You had to know what I felt for you. I stopped hiding my feelings months before you made me leave." Her words knotted in her throat. "You had to know that I loved you."

"I told you why you had to leave then, Rachel." His pacing steps echoed inside her head and grated on her nerves. "There was someone else and I couldn't have you..."

"LIAR!" She shot up from the sofa and whirled around to face him. "I was too angry and hurt to think about it back then, but I know that is a lie." Anger drove the cold from her skin like a blast of heat from a furnace. "How could you have found another when we where always together, twenty-four seven?"

Her scalp tingled as her blood flowed through her veins with the swiftness of a raging river. "Tell me the truth damnit. After all this time I think you owe me that. No, I deserve it."

His eyes glowed a rich red at her. The muscles in his jaw went ridged and jumped with anger. He looked like he wanted to rip her apart, instead he slapped his hands down on the back of the sofa. She watched as his nails drove deep, tearing the material and into the wood frame beneath. "Yes, damn you, I lied. I had to because, if I hadn't, you would have never left me."

Her knees went weak and she sank down hard onto the white painted coffee table behind her. She knew he'd lied to her and for a moment she felt relieved to finally know the truth, but she had to ask, "Why would you hurt me like that, Nicholas? Did I mean so little to you that you couldn't tell me the reason you wanted me gone?"

He drew in a sharp breath and tore the wood frame apart as he pulled his nails free and then jumped over the sofa to stand in front of her. He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, holding her against his chest. "Don't you ever say anything like that again. You meant the world to me back then, Rachel, still do, but I had to protect you and I knew that you wouldn't leave me if I told you the truth."