Angel of Hope (con't)

* * * * *
PART 29:

"Touch him, Soterios, and die," LeAnne Wong warned as she stepped into the clearing in the woods behind the amphitheater. When the handsome vampire immediately halted himself in mid-motion, she also added, "Not to mention the fact that I’d hate you forever, but I wasn’t sure how effective that would be and it was kinda verbose, so I saved it for later."

Slowly turning to face his soulmate, The Pharaoh said quietly without hesitation, "LeAnne, you know the latter would be a much more crushing blow to me than the former. I swear upon Hunter Redfern’s grave that I care much more about you than my life." Behind him, a number of vampires and werewolves emerged from the woods, making the blue-eyed vampire’s statement seem false and even mocking.

"If only I could believe such an oath, Soterios," LeAnne countered without emotion, "But I don’t trust conniving leeches like you. Besides, everyone knows that Hunter Redfern is still alive. Therefore he has no grave and what you swear upon is false. You don’t love me, Soterios. You never did. You lied to ME and used ME. Tier’s right, you’re just like the crazy conception of myself in your head." Behind the Asian Dark Angel, the other Daybreakers came forth, completing the circle of battle.

Glancing once behind herself, LeAnne turned again towards her gorgeous and deadly soulmate, simply stating, "Give me Tier."

Looking straight into her hazel eyes with his own fathomless blue ones, Braeden replied, "First, call off your men. I’ll do the same for mine. I have to talk to you. I won’t hurt you, I promise."

A perfectly shaped eyebrow was raised by the Asian girl, as if to say, ‘What are you swearing upon this time?’ But with a wave of her slender hand, she dismissed Destiny and the rest of her back-up. "He won’t hurt me," was all the explanation she provided, calling this out without looking back.

Silently, The Pharaoh did the same. Then, looking around as if to make sure nothing and no one was in range to hear their conversation, he started, "LeAnne, look, you have to believe me when I say I didn’t want to do this." Behind the vampire, Tier snorted in disbelief.

"You shut up, boy," Braeden warned venomously.

A mocking laugh came from LeAnne’s lips. "Oh yes, I believe you. First, you claim you don’t want to hurt Tier and then right after, you tell him to shut up for making a little noise. You are just SO convincing, Soterios. I expect the Academy to be calling you any second now and tell you you’ve just won the Best Villain Award."

The chestnut haired vampire just looked sick and tired as he gazed back at her, ocean-blue orbs unwavering. "LeAnne, this isn’t a joke. I know I’m not perfect, far from it. But I love you. I NEED you." His eyes were filled with such hurt and longing, not to mention honesty that she was almost subject to believe him.

But at the last second before she said something really stupid, LeAnne regained her control. "Braeden, what kind of fool do you think I am? You’ve been toying with my mind since day one," she pointed out, voice full of accusation and venom, but still not as harsh as she wished it could be. Suddenly, a light seemed to turn on in her mind with a great revelation. "God! I can’t believe I didn’t see it before! You must be putting these emotions in my head. Influencing me! I can’t believe I even entertained the THOUGHT of you being my soulmate! This must all be another cruel game you’ve come up with to torment me! It has to me," she added almost to herself. The spark of discovery in her eyes had now been replaced by an unnatural and almost insane gleam.

Braeden’s heart skipped a painful beat as he laid eyes on the crazy glow he’d caused his true love to feel. Goddess, she must really hate him if she was trying so desperately to find a way out of being his soulmate. Then again, he couldn’t blame her. Considering his past, this was what he deserved, even if he would never say THAT out loud.

Of course, there was no way to just ERASE one’s soulmate, but Braeden was beginning to wonder if he should just give up altogether. Let her have the happiness she was entitled to and her perfect boyfriend. It didn’t matter that HE’D be totally miserable, never complete again and probably want to kill himself, as long as she WASN’T.

Seeing that LeAnne had calmed down a little, Braeden decided to give this one last try. For anyone other than her, he wouldn’t even have tried, but she was worth anything in the world. Anything, even his life or in this case, his hideously huge ego that had been deflating rapidly since this afternoon and was now practically as flat as a leaky water bed. So hey, now that he thought about it, what was there to lose other than his heart, something that had seemed utterly useless to him until that very moment? "LeAnne, love, I don’t know what I can say-"

"So don’t say ANYTHING."

"- except that I’ll change. I swear upon...upon..." For a moment, Braeden stood there, wondering what he could swear upon that would mean everything to him, other than LeAnne, that is. Then he knew. "Upon-" Deep breath. No tears. "Lenora’s grave that I’ll never intentionally hurt you again."

Behind LeAnne, a quiet gasp sounded from a very astonished vampire.

"Quinn, what the hell are you gasping for?" Delano whispered furtively into the tiny microphone on his shirt collar. "We can hear you from here and they’re not supposed to know we’re still in ear-shot."

"Well it’s a bit too late now isn’t it?" Rashel pointed put bitterly.

"Oh be quiet," Quinn scolded, not exactly following his own advice. "Knowing Braeden, he sensed you were there the whole time."

Curious to know what had surprised the stony vampire so much that he had gasped in shock, Destiny changed the subject. "So, why did you blow our cover in the first place?"

"Are you joking with me?" Quinn asked, truly amazed.

"No."

"Lenora was Braeden’s first - and only - love before LeAnne came along. He hasn’t spoken that name in 600 hundred years. Haven’t you ever heard the story?"

"Well, the story yes, but not the name. But Goddess, if he would swear upon HER GRAVE. Wow, maybe he does care just a bit about LeAnne after all." Destiny speculated.

"Don’t count on it," Delano muttered, indicating the scene before them.

Both the vampire and Dark Angel had not noticed the Daybreakers at all and continued in their fight.

Despite the fact that all her friends now knew who Lenora was, LeAnne still had no idea. And she didn’t seem to care. "What’s the name Lenora to me, Braeden Soterios? She’s probably just one of the many whores you’ve used, then thrown away over the years." At this, the natural brightness of Braeden’s eyes became brighter, not by any fault of the moon and he winced, recoiling as if he’d been slapped. However, all these signs escaped his soulmate totally, as she barged on, tearing up his very soul. "How many times have I told you, Braeden? Do I have to spell it out for you? I don’t want you. I don’t love you. And I don’t CARE!"

Braeden tightly closed his eyes, his eyelashes extremely defined against his suddenly snow-white skin. What looked like two small diamonds caught the moonlight as they escaped the dark canopy of his thick lashes and cascaded down his beautifully chiseled face. He looked as if on the verge of a breakdown, but all he said almost inaudibly, with his eyes still unseeing, was, "I don’t believe you."

LeAnne was made speechless as a flood of emotions washed into her, making her both see and feel her soulmate’s pain, despair and denial. This wasn’t on purpose, but the feelings seemed too much for Braeden to handle all by himself. Surprisingly though, through this storm of agony and dark thoughts, a small light shone like an island beckoning for LeAnne to come to safety and explore it. Hope and absolute certainty of her love made this island their home and they flourished here, to LeAnne’s utter amazement.

Pulling herself free of Braeden’s captivating mind with a bit of effort, she looked at his equally captivating face in a new light. Maybe there was something more to this handsome boy than evil. Maybe he cared just a little. Maybe... But LeAnne didn’t get a chance to think it through.

While Braeden had been shamelessly confessing his love for LeAnne, and to no avail, his men had been slowly sliding back towards their leader. Hearing what The Pharaoh had said to a young HUMAN girl and seeing his reaction to her rejection alarmed them deeply. How could this be happening? The Pharaoh, behind only Hunter Redfern on the most feared vampires list and even more cruel than the previously-infamous-now-turned-lovey-dovey-Daybreaker John Quinn was falling apart right before their eyes. And for a damn vermin girl!

This couldn’t be allowed to transpire. No. Braeden Soterios was now Hunter Redfern’s heir, despite their many disputes on just about every subject. If Hunter lost another heir , another malicious killer to Circle Daybreak and a vermin soulmate, he’s be mad enough to kill. And who better to go after than the agents serving The Pharaoh when all this took place? Hunter would see them as incompetent for not being able to prevent such a disaster and all incompetent Night Worlders these days died a slow, painful and ‘mysterious’ death.

Conversing by means of psychic words, unsensed by the Daybreakers and the deeply distressed Braeden, they came up with a quick plan.

Suddenly all the Night Worlders, about 7 in total, sprung from the trees while LeAnne was still staring at the beautiful, pale-faced vampire before her in awe and he drowned in his anguish. Their sudden attack made his cobalt eyes snap to attention and alarm.

Immediately, the Daybreakers also burst from their cover, seeking to protect their Dark Angel at all costs. In an instant, Delano was calling for back-up, though they were, no doubt, already on their way.

Admist all the fighting and chaos, Braeden was torn between what he knew he was supposed to do and what his heart wanted and what was right. Distantly, he could hear LeAnne screaming his and Tier’s names interchangeably. What the hell. Why not just go to her an protect her? That way, he could later argue his case ether way.

However, before he could take a step in her direction, a loud splash sounded right behind Braeden, followed by his true love screaming, "TIER!"

Braeden whirled around on his heel, to see Brad, the tall, bulky vampire who had earlier been at the mall, twirling a roll of duct tape around the end of a wooden baseball bat, a silver knife in his other hand. Above him was the maple tree Tier Brandon was SUPPOSED to be hanging from.

Understanding swelled up into Braeden’s eyes. Brad was now advancing towards him with the baseball bat, a malicious but pitying look on his face.

His heart might have been broken, but The Pharaoh inside of him still knew how to fight. In one swift motion, Braeden had wrenched the bat out of his opponent’s hands and knocked him to the ground, out cold.

Quickly, Braeden turned towards the forest trail following the river and sprinted down it with all his predatory grace and speed. How long had it taken him to get away? A few seconds at most, but Tier’s wrists were tied and Brad had no doubt taped his ankles and mouth as well as knocked him out. How long could a human last without air and their lungs filling up with water? Braeden wondered frantically. Guess he’d just have to count on luck, which hadn’t been shining on him in favour, mind you.

Well, if he couldn’t be LeAnne’s boyfriend, he could at least try and be a hero, right?

* * * * *
PART 30:

Tier Brandon regained consciousness while bobbing in the fast flowing current; sometimes above water, sometimes below and always slamming against something. Beneath him, the riverbed was filled with jagged rocks, ready to make him bleed to death at any given moment. On all sides, shear stone walls lined the shoreline, impossible to breech even if he wasn’t bound and gagged. And on top of everything else, it was so COLD.

Instinctively, he took a breath, but instead of air, icy water flooded into his lungs.

*Shit!* Even in his confused state, Tier was able to curse - in his head of course - as the inhaled water tried to find the passageway out of his body and found it blocked.

Desperately, the human boy tugged at the piece of tape stuck to his mouth with his tied and freezing hands, trying to get it off before he passed out. Underneath him, the rocks clawed at his back.

After what seemed like hours, but was only a few seconds, the tape came off just as the current carried him to the surface for a brief gulp of air. Then he found himself once more submerged in the river water. No matter how hard he tried to surface again, it was to no avail. With his wrists and ankles bound, he might as well have been a dead log, bouncing around in the river.

Right before Tier thought he would pass out, his head broke through the water again, allowing him to take a blissful gasp of air. He heard someone calling his name before falling again and his first thought was, *LeAnne.* But wait, there had been two voices, both deeper and more, well, he guessed chocolate-y would have to do, than hers.

*Who could it be?* Tier speculated, feeling fainter every second he stayed underwater. Suddenly, something sharp struck the back of his head, making him gasp in a lung-full of water. As he was choking on the cold, horrible tasting liquid in his mouth and swallowing more in the process, Tier vaguely felt something warm seeping from the back of his head before his whole world plunged into darkness.

@~~>~~>~~~

LeAnne was panicked enough to begin with, but now she was really freaking out. First, Tier had plunged, bound and gagged into the river, and now Braeden was also gone! Where the hell had that clumsy oaf of a soulmate gone to?

She felt like a chicken with it’s head cut off, even if she did have a main objective, to get to the riverbank trail. She was running around frantic and frightened in the middle of a battlefield filled with sounds of weapons clashing against weapons, yelled out obscenities and the occasional scream of pain when a stake or silver knife found it’s target. Slowly, LeAnne made her way towards the trail, dodging stakes and fists and once in a while breaking into the middle of a fight to see if one of the combatants was Braeden.

Just as she was at her last pair of opponents, which just happened to be Destiny and Brad, the Asian girl felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Instinctively, she grabbed the person’s wrist and something shot forth from her mind, much like an invisible bolt of lightening directed at her assailant. LeAnne had no idea where this had come from, but in a second realized this must be the power Destiny had claimed she had as a Dark Angel. LeAnne was pretty sure the dark-haired witch had also said that the power was deadly, so the petite Asian girl assumed her assailant should at least be out cold by now.

Surprisingly though, the invisible lightening bolt that was her mental energy seemed to hit a wall and bounce right back at her. LeAnne staggered as her own power sailed straight back towards her, her adrenaline reaching a goal setting high. Who could resist her power? Destiny had said no one! Then what monster was this?! But one look at the person before her and LeAnne immediately calmed down.

"LeAnne, girl, you have REALLY got to work on that shot of yours. It’s barely strong enough to harm a baby!" Nicholas Corona said snootily to his fellow Dark Angel, eyes playful behind the veil of golden hair falling messily into them, making him look like a mischievous sprite despite the dried blood encrusted in it. "Of course, that opinion might only be carried by me, one of the only people that can defend myself against it," he added.

"Nick! Oh God! You scared me!" LeAnne cried as she picked herself up off the ground with the help of the hand Nick offered.

"Where are you going?" He demanded, his thickly lashed sea-green growing serious. "You can’t just run away like this. Someone might follow you and then what’ll you do?"

"You know perfectly well where I’m going, Corona! And if you’re so worried about me getting hurt, come with me!" LeAnne replied, taking his hand and dragging him towards the trail. Truthfully, she would be a lot happier if he DID come along. He was right, anyone could follow her and it would be easy to throw a dagger at her unprotected back without her even realizing until too late. LeAnne made a mental note to ask Destiny later to teach her how to fight and all the other stuff she would need to know, now that she was one of the Night World’s most wanted.

"LeAnne! They need me here!" Nick protested, gesturing behind him.

"From my point of view they’re fine!" The sable-haired girl shot back, hazel eyes saying, ‘Have a look for yourself. You’ll see.’ It was true, Circle Daybreak was kicking butt. She also added, starting down the path. "You know I’m going to find Tier and Braeden no matter what I have to face and what might be waiting for me at the end. It’s your choice if you’re coming or not." With that, see turned her back on him, hoping he would follow.

LeAnne could almost see him roll his eyes in exasperation and a moment afterward she heard him mutter, "Oh FINE!" Seconds later, Nick had caught up to LeAnne, who was now jogging down the trail. As soon as the blond shapeshifter was in sight, LeAnne switched to an all out run. She had wasted enough time already. Who knew where Tier was or if he was still alive.

"Hey, I hear something!" Nick called back to LeAnne who was now a short ways behind him.

Instantly, her almond-shaped eyes tore off the trail and peered at Nick expectantly. "What? Where?"

"Not too far off! Come one! Hurry up!" Then, he bolted down the dirt path, seemingly oblivious to the stones and tree roots sticking up here and there.

"I gotta get Destiny to teach me how to run like that too," LeAnne muttered breathlessly as she tried to match Nick’s speed, if not grace, as he darted in and out of sight. "Humph, and I thought this was MY rescue mission." But LeAnne couldn’t resist a tiny smile as she thought of the prospect of seeing Tier and Braeden again. If Tier was still alive that is and if Braeden would ever look into her eye again after all she had said to him. Sure, he loved her, but could he ever forgive her? The thought banished any trace of a smile she might of had.

Up ahead, LeAnne now spotted Nick and Braeden, both shouting - in vain, might I add - Tier’s name into the river. Suddenly, a dark shaped broke through the surface of the raging water, just for a moment, then was swallowed again by the current.

Seeing this, Braeden swiftly took off his jacket and dived into the water.

As soon as Braeden hit the water, LeAnne felt a chill come over her body, making her shiver uncontrollably. Well, that was the problem with the damn soulmate link.

Nick obviously wanted to follow suite, but knew it was a foolish idea. Instead, he hurriedly picked up Braeden’s jacket, beckoned to LeAnne to quicken her pace and once again followed the course of the river.

When LeAnne had first sighted Braeden and Nick, she had stopped to take a breather. Now, with a groan, she started sprinting again, a mixture of hope, excitement and fear welling up inside her.

@~~>~~>~~~

"Goddess, I must be crazy," Braeden muttered as Tier’s head bobbed through the water, then fell once more into it’s depths.

The young shapeshifter beside him just smiled, hearing every word and already guessing what Braeden intended to do.

"Don’t give me that know-it-all look, bird," Braeden growled as he quickly shed his light jacket. He didn’t really need it, but today, he had felt like acting just a bit more human.

An amused expression flitted across Nick’s handsome features. "Well, now we know why LeAnne’s in love with you, don’t we? You’re ever SO charming."

Braeden didn’t answer the sarcastic youth behind him. He was already half-way in the river, his immediate reaction being, *I wish I hadn’t left my jacket on-shore.* Not that it would help him much, but traditionally, coats WERE supposed to keep one warm.

Braeden was a bit puzzled that he even felt cold in the first place. Harsher conditions, he had faced without a flinch. Vaguely, he wondered if this change had to do with LeAnne, but put it out of his mind as the river brought him into sight of Tier. Blood was flowing steadily from a wound on the back of his head and Braeden was disappointed though not surprised to see the human boy was unconscious.

Right before the vampire could reach Tier, he surfaced for a breath of air and his eyes widened at the sight before him. Sure, he’d noticed the pounding water getting louder and louder, but he wouldn’t have imagined this!

On shore, Nick and LeAnne could barely be heard above the roaring water, shouting a warning. But of course, Braeden didn’t really need it.

"Goddess," he breathed, feeling faint in his dread. How was he supposed to get out of this now?

* * * * *
PART 31:

*Damn that damn dam!* Braeden Soterios cursed in his mind, then almost laughed aloud at how silly the phrase was. Luckily for him, he didn’t. He was now back under the river-water, the pounding liquid the only sound to be heard, almost drowning out even his loudest thoughts.

A second later, Braeden caught a handful of Tier’s shirt. By now, he could prominently feel the undertow the dam was creating and it was impossible to deny it was quickly pulling he and Tier in.

Desperately, the vampire fought against the strong undertow, Tier’s limp body soon becoming a very unwelcome burden. Braeden might have been strong, but this was really testing his strength. His muscles were screaming from the effort and his lungs felt as if on fire. He could only hold his breath for so long, even if he was a vampire. The icy water wasn’t doing much to help the situation either.

Just as black spots were dancing across his vision, Braeden burst through the surface of the freezing water, pulling Tier up with him and gasping for precious breath. To his horror, they had drawn much nearer to the dam and being almost in the middle of the wide river, it finally dawned on Braeden that they weren’t going to make it. It was like trying to jump over a pit full of alligators, then stopping in mid-air and trying to go back to point A because you suddenly realized you couldn’t do it. Impossible.

By now, Braeden’s limbs were pretty much frozen, he didn’t know if he could swim even if he wanted to. But his body still hadn’t gotten the message that it was going to die and was still shivering, working to warm itself. He drew his breaths through lungs that caused icicles to pierce them every time he breathed.

The frozen popsical of a vampire hardly noticed that he was drawing closer to his death every mind-numbing second and was slowly sinking once again.

He heard distant shouting from the shore or maybe he heard it in his mind, saying something like, "Braeden, oh God, Braeden I’m sorry. Come on, don’t give up. Please. Braeden, please. I need you, I was wrong. I’m sorry, I was wrong. I love you, Braeden." But whatever the voice was truly saying, he figured the person was too far away to really matter. The vampire was too cold to care or think or do anything, not even wonder why he was feeling this way in the first place. LeAnne, Tier and Nick had all slipped from his mind, with everything else.

When Tier started to stir in the grasp of his now blue-hued fingers only seconds later, Braeden hardly noticed. That is, until the equally frozen human boy summoned enough strength to give his girlfriend’s soulmate a hard slap across the face.

In an instant, Braeden was alert again and now sinking fast. With Tier no longer being just a blob he had to drag up from the river bottom, Braeden managed, with some effort, to keep himself and the human boy afloat. Of course, this little victory in no way helped the two boys to prolong their short time left on Earth.

Suddenly, in the corner of his peripheral vision, Tier caught sight of a flash of bright blue. "Braeden," He whispered weakly, sure he was going to black out again sometime soon, "Look."

The vampire, looking just as weary as Tier felt, followed his line of vision and saw a bright blue macaw flying their way, a long rope in its beak. Right above Braeden’s head, the bird dropped the rope and after a long moment, the blue-eyed vampire gained the energy to pick it up. The macaw abruptly flew back to land, it’s job done for the moment.

For the first time, both boys glanced towards shore. Now, it was not just LeAnne and Nick that was there. Almost all of the Daybreakers were holding onto the lengthy rope and were now just starting to pull it towards land.

With an arm firmly wrapped around Tier, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, Braeden held on tightly to the rope with his other hand and prayed furtively to every God or Goddess he had ever heard of over the years that it wouldn’t break.

And it almost worked too. Just as the Daybreakers were pulling Tier and Braeden out of the water and over the shear rock cliff that lined the river, the rope suddenly snapped. Without warning, the two boys again started plunging towards the icy water, nothing on the rock surface able to keep them from the river.

If an arm had not shot out of the stunned line of Daybreakers, they surely would have hit the water. Nevertheless, Braeden was sure later that falling in the water wouldn’t have been too bad, considering the little gifts he had gotten from the sudden halt of his descent. His arm quickly jerked up and was almost pulled out of it’s socket while Tier kept falling and was almost lost before Braeden could catch hold of his wrist. Braeden was sure he must of cried out in pain as Tier’s weight pulled his arm one way while the rest of his body moved in another direction. But he had been so dazed, it was hard to remember.

Above, he could hear the other Daybreakers scurry to help whoever had a hold of his arm.

In his mind, Braeden again heard the same voice as he had while in the river. However, this time, it was much more soothing, though it still had a panicked edge to it. He could now place it. The voice belonged to LeAnne, his soulmate, the first human girl he’d loved in 600 years.

But all this was forgotten as soon as the Daybreakers started hoisting him to shore again. All Braeden could focus on then was the pain. Crimson tainted his vision and he was reminded of the time when he had been staked in the shoulder by a vampire hunter when he had just been made. Goddess, he was weak.

But all through this, he painfully and tenaciously held onto Tier, thinking how hurt LeAnne would be if her boyfriend plunged to his death so close within her grasp.

When he had almost breached the rock cliff, it finally occurred to Braeden to see who his rescuer -and torturer, depending on how you wanted to look at it- was. Wearily lifting his head, his tired slate-blue eyes met large almond-shaped hazel ones gazing back at him in loving concern.

A small smile tugged at his purple-tinted lips, impressed and amused that little LeAnne could hold onto he and Tier even for a few seconds by herself. His heart flooded with much needed warmth when he saw her mouth the words ‘I Love You.’ This was right before the Daybreakers managed to pull he and Tier ashore and his exhausted body decided it was finally time to rest.

* * * * *

Fanfic Page
Home