Vanessa and Veronica

Louise looked around the foyer of Patrick's house. She had never seen the like other than in magazines and on television, but this was real. It struck her for the first time that people really did live like some of the people on television. She looked at the immaculate floor and kicked her shoes off then looked at the walls that were covered with beautiful paintings that had to be replicates.

"Louise?" Patrick called, "You don't have to take your shoes off unless you want to."

"You live here?" she asked seeming not to hear the statement about the shoes.

"Yes this is Kevyn's and my home and now yours for as long as you wish it to be." Patrick replied taking her bag from her. "Come on, I'll show you where things are and introduce you to any staff that's still here."

Louise looked over at Kevyn who seemed as surprised as she was but was doing a better job at hiding it. The sisters held hands as they followed Patrick through the house stopping any staff person that he saw. Finally, they were at the bottom of the stairs.

"Louise, your rooms are upstairs but you are free to go to any part of the house. If you need something and we don't have it just ask and it'll be taken care of."

Louise could only nod as she looked around her still not believing that she would be living here at least for a while with Kevyn and Patrick. They followed Patrick up the stairs where he waited for them to catch up before going into a room.

"This is your bedroom." Patrick said setting her bag down. "If you don't like how it's decorated, feel free to change anything that you don't like."

Louise and Kevyn looked around the room that would have held Louise's bedroom at least five times. The walls were an eggshell white with white borders and had paintings on the wall. The king-sized bed was already turned back with chocolates on the pillow.

"There's plenty of closet and dresser space and as I said, make yourself at home." Patrick said as he walked through the room. "The bathroom is here and it's fully stocked with towels and thing s like that."

"This is all so beautiful!" Louise exclaimed as she took in the large tub complete with jets and the shower that looked as if it could hold six people without a problem.

"I'm glad that you like it." Patrick said with a smile, "Are you alright for a few moments? I would like to show Kevyn our rooms."

"I'm fine." Louise replied as she continued to look around the room as if she was in a dream.

Patrick took Kevyn's hand and led her from Louise's room to the stairs.

"Our rooms are downstairs in the basement if you want to call it that." Patrick said as they walked. "Tomorrow I'll give a more thorough tour but there is a room that I want to show you."

Up until this point Kevyn hadn't spoken. She like Louise knew that people lived like this but she had never seen it in person. She allowed Patrick to lead her into a room that looked like a small movie theater complete with a concession stand just like at a real movie theater.

"Remember those championship parties that you talked about having?" he asked.

"Yes." Kevyn whispered.

"This is where they would happen, the screen goes up and there's a large screen television behind it."

"You lived here alone?" Kevyn asked.

"I did until you and Louise." Patrick replied taking her into his arms, "What's wrong?" he asked when Kevyn didn't say anything.

"Nothing, I just... this is all new to me I guess." she replied.

"You're lying." Patrick said kissing her, "tell me the truth."

Kevyn hesitated before speaking, "I just don't want you thinking that I'm here because you have money."

"Kevyn, I know that." Patrick said.

"And Louise, she really likes you and she's not here because of your money either...."

Patrick interrupted her with a kiss, "Stop worrying, I know that you love me and that even if I had no money that you would still be with me. As far as Louise goes, I like her too; she's as easy to read as you are. Now let's go to our rooms.

He led her from the theater to a set of stairs that led downstairs.

"Lights" he said softly and the stairway was illuminated with the soft glow of the overhead lights. They made a right at the bottom of the stairs and walked until they reached an ornately decorated door.

"This is the entrance to our rooms." Patrick said as he opened the door. He took Kevyn's hand and pulled her inside. "If there's anything that you don't like just say the word and it will be taken care of." he said as he watched her look around the room.

The room was even bigger than Louise's and had an office in addition to a small kitchenette. The bathroom was larger as well. The counter had all of the skin and hair care products that she used lined up in a row.

"Did I forget anything?" Patrick asked.

"No." Kevyn whispered.

Patrick put his arms around her from behind and nibbled at her neck, "I can't wait to get you into that bed....."

Patrick swore when his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Ethan. With one arm around Kevyn, he listened as Ethan told him about Veronica's kidnapping. Kevyn turned in his arms, wrapped her arms around his waist, and waited.

Patrick hung up and blew out a breath. He hadn't wanted Kevyn and Louise to meet their new family like this....

"Patrick what's happening?" Kevyn asked.

"My niece Veronica has been kidnapped."

"Oh my god! Do you know by whom?" she asked.

Patrick hesitated, "Yes... not his name but, Kevyn, it's the mate to one of the women that one of us raped."

"What? Why did he take Veronica?" she asked confused.

"He wants us to suffer as he has...."

"He's going to kill her?" Kevyn asked shocked.

"Unless we find her first." Patrick replied, "I'm sorry baby but I've got to get over there, you can stay here with Louise if you want...."

"I'm going with you." Kevyn interrupted and I'm sure that Louise will want to as well."

When Patrick started to protest, Kevyn interrupted him, "What did you tell me about mates and being able to depend on each other?"

"Kevyn, I'm sorry." Patrick said.

"It's alright now let's get Louise and go."

******

Thirty minutes later Patrick, Kevyn and Louise were walking into Ethan's front door. Louise looked around once again amazed by the fact that people really lived as the Sinclaires obviously did. Kevyn paid the house no mind as she held Patrick's hand as he walked into the living roomy where a large group of people was congregated. The fact that they were all vampire didn't faze Kevyn but she did wonder what Louise's reaction would have been had she known.

She immediately noticed the anxious atmosphere in the room and saw that some of it was directed at a little girl sitting on a couch. Kevyn jumped when the girl jumped off the couch, took a running start and leapt up into Patrick's arms with a squeal of delight.

A few minutes later, the introductions were over and Katrina told Ethan that Victoria thought that she could talk to the vampire that had Veronica. Patrick's reaction was the same as Ethan's and Katrina; he wanted Victoria nowhere near the vampire but he did wonder if it was possible to find out the name of the vampire.

After making Victoria promise not to attempt to contact the vampire, Ethan and Katrina finally agreed to let her contact Veronica again. Several minutes later, she had the information.

"His name is Bradford Jefferson and the woman was his mate Rosie." Victoria said, "And she said to tell papa that Uncle Patrick knew her."

Patrick felt as if the floor just dropped from beneath him, the woman had been one of his victims and now her mate wanted vengeance. He sat in a couch pulling Kevyn down into his lap and hugged her, what needed to happen was clear, he needed to talk to the vampire. There was nothing that he could say or do that would change what happened but he had to try. He hugged Kevyn closer to him and asked Victoria to tell Veronica that he wanted to talk to Bradford; he had his answer in seconds, "no".

"Contact her again!" Patrick insisted.

Victoria tried and couldn't get through, "she won't let me in." she said as she tried again.

Kevyn didn't know what to do for him other than offer any moral support that she could. She saw Louise talking to a handsome man in a corner and wondered who he was. Now wasn't the time to ask, Patrick and his family was hurting and Louise seemed to be comfortable with the man.

Kevyn gripped his hands in hers, "tell me what to do to help." she said.

"You're doing it." Patrick replied as he returned the tight grip on her hands.

They all jumped when Victoria announced, "I know where she is!"

All eyes went to Victoria when she announced for the second time that she knew where Veronica was.

"Where?" Rik asked urgently.

"It's far from here; I think that he used to live there." Victoria replied.

"How far?" Ethan asked.

"Three hundred miles, maybe." Victoria replied.

Ethan, Patrick, Rik, Luc and Martin all got ready to vanish but Victoria stopped them, "but you won't find them." she said dejectedly.

"Why not?" Rik asked confused. "You just said that you knew where she was."

Victoria started to cry partly from exhaustion and partly because she couldn't be any more specific than she was. Jamie moved closer to her on the couch and toyed with a braid as he looked at Rik.

"I'm sorry that your mate is missing but she is exhausted, she has done the work of someone much older than she."

"I'm ok." Victoria said tiredly, "I can try again."

"No you won't." Ethan said firmly. "Just tell us what direction to go and we'll take it from here."

"But papa..."

"No buts baby." Ethan said sitting on the other side of her and hugging her, "Jamie is right, you're exhausted and you were absolutely phenomenal! But you need to rest now."

Victoria finally gave up. She was beyond tired. She resigned herself to waiting and praying along with the others who would also be waiting.

They were about to vanish again when she stopped them.

"Wait!" she called out.

"You have to take her and her." she said pointing at Kevyn and Louise who was still in the corner talking with Nathan Sinclaire.

"What?" Patrick asked, "No...."

"You have to." Victoria insisted.

"Why?" Patrick asked, "Why do we need them?"

"I.... I don't know." Victoria confessed. "I only know that you do."

Everyone looked at each other not sure of what to do. By this time Nathan realized that something was happening and that it somehow involved Louise and he didn't like it. He stood behind her not quite touching her but close enough that he could feel the heat radiating from her body.

"What's happening?" he asked.

"You want to take a hu.... Woman along to rescue Veronica?" he asked when he was brought up to speed.

"Want to? No." Patrick replied, "I want both her and Kevyn to stay here where it's safe but Victoria says that they have to go with us."

The debate as to whether Louise and Kevyn should go went on for almost ten minutes before Kevyn spoke up.

"I'm going and that's all there is to it, I can't and won't speak for Louise but even though we don't know each other, we're family and if I can help in some way, then I will."

Louise not wanting to be alone with people that she didn't know decided to go with Kevyn.

"Then I'm going too." Nathan said putting his hands on Louise's shoulders.

"Is there enough time to drive?" Rik asked anxiously.

"Rik, " Ethan said, "You, me, Luc and Patrick will go ahead and see if we can find him, the rest of you get there as fast as you can."

Seconds later, four of the rescue party was gone leaving Nathan and Martin his father to get Kevyn and Louise to the designated area.

Remembering that Louise didn't know that her new family was vampire, the four of them vanished from the garage.

Louise looked at the remaining group realizing that there was something very different about them. For one thing, they were all drop dead gorgeous and the woman who was supposed to be Patrick's mother looked not much older than her sons....

"Come on Louise, time to go." Kevyn said interrupting her musings.

*******

Veronica didn't flinch as Bradford approached her at what seemed to be a snail's pace. She didn't know if the intent was to rattle her or not but it wasn't working and she told him so.

"Are you trying to scare me?" she asked, "because if you are, it isn't working."

Bradford stopped in his tracks and eyed her for several long minutes before he began to move again.

"So brave." he murmured as he inched closer to her.

Veronica watched his approach not sure of what he was going to do. The idea of telling him that she knew who raped Rosie crossed her mind but she discarded it. It would have done nothing except buy the others a little more time to find her and it wouldn't have been long before Bradford figured out that she had no plans to tell him anyway.

"Tell me what you were like before this." she said surprising him.

"An attempt to stall for time?" he asked again pausing.

"Curiosity." she replied. "I'm sure that you know that my sister and I are scientists and that we're trying to figure things out..."

"You mean that you're trying to find a reason to exonerate your family for what they did." Bradford interrupted.

"I can see why you would think that." Veronica replied, "And maybe you're right to some degree but as I've mentioned before, there are other families that teach the same thing, we're trying to help everyone."

"It's too late for that...."

"For God's sake!" Veronica exclaimed, "Don't you think that I know that? Rosie isn't the only one who died because of what my family did and you aren't the only vampire without a mate because of it! If I could have been born earlier or if I had someway to go back in time to fix this and to save her and others I would! However, the reality of it is that I can't change what happened any more than you can.

Look, I'm sorry and yes, I know that my apologies mean nothing to you but I have to tell you that what sympathy I have for you is wearing thin. I'm going to make my offer to you one more time, unchain me and if I escape you disappear and we never hear from you again and that includes sending anyone in your place."

"And I am just supposed to fall to my knees in thanks?" Bradford asked amused.

"It's either that or you die." Veronica said nonchalantly, "but consider this, what's going to happen if my family finds me dead chained to a chair? By the way... what kind of material is this?"

She didn't give him a change to continue, "As I was saying and correct me if I'm wrong but you're planning on a quick death aren't you? If you kill me like this, the chances of that happening are nil and it's not even my father who you really need to be afraid of."

"How quickly I die is of no consequence." Bradford replied with a small smile, "and if it is a slow painful death it will only be an extension of the pain that I have felt for decades and then the centuries before I found Rosie and then lost her."

"A martyr? You want to be a martyr?" Veronica asked. "You want to go down in history as another victim of the Sinclaire's is that it?"

"No!"

"Really? Are you going to tell me that you don't have what you were planning to do documented somewhere?" she asked. "Are you going to tell me that you didn't give a copy or copies to someone to make public when this is over?

"For someone who is chained to a chair you are how should I say this..."

"Mouthy?" Veronica offered. "Yes well, I've been told that but that doesn't address what we're going to do here does it? Do we have a deal?"

If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, he would have laughed. He had to admit that he liked the young woman that he had chained to the chair even if she was a Sinclaire. For the first time he wondered what it must have felt like for her and her sister to know what their family was, they were victims of a sort too.

That didn't change anything because they still ended up happy, well adjusted and with mates while he suffered in pain and loneliness. By rights, he should have ended his life when Rosie died but the desire to see the Sinclaires suffer overrode that desire, it just took awhile in coming.

Was he a martyr? She had been right on one point; he did have his plans documented so that everyone would know what happened to him...

"Brad!" Veronica called, "what are we doing here?"

He considered his options. He could just let her go and leave, kill her and then himself or do as she proposed which was the fair thing to do. That was another thing that she had been right about, it was about fairness, one life for another.

Veronica saw the indecision in his eyes but didn't comment as she tried to work her hands out of the chains. As of yet she had made little progress but given enough time... if she could get him to let her go she could vanish.

Bradford looked at her and smiled, "alright, I agree to your terms."

Veronica stilled her hands, she really hadn't expected him to agree and she wanted to know why he was.

"It's as you say," he replied, "I am a fair man."

"No," Veronica said, "there's more to it than that. "You don't think that I can get away, that's why you agreed. You wouldn't take the risk otherwise."

"I'm agreeing to your terms, what more do you want?" he asked.

"Yes you are and really? The reasons don't matter although I have my suspicions. So let's do this shall we?" Veronica said and waited.

*******

The drive to where Ethan and the others were waiting seemed to take forever. Kevyn looked out into the darkness her mind on Patrick. She had to wonder to what lengths he would go in order to ease his sense of guilt, would he offer himself in Veronica's place? He would... she knew it, she could feel it, and she could almost hear his thoughts although they sounded fuzzy. She also knew that they had to hurry... she could hear the thoughts of someone else as well; Veronica was running out of time.

She didn't want to say anything, she knew that Martin understood that they needed to get to wherever they were going but she thought it, "hurry, hurry, hurry...."

"I'm going as fast as I can." Martin replied without thinking about the fact that she hadn't spoken aloud. The realization came about 10 minutes later.

"Kevyn, can you hear me?" Martin thought to her.

Kevyn looked over at Martin shocked, "how did I do that?" she asked verbally.

"You must be a telepath and a strong one in order for you to hear me, have you tried it with Patrick?"

"No, I didn't know that I could even do it with you." Kevyn replied. "What does this mean?"

"It means that I think that I understand why you needed to come with us." Martin replied, "It also means that once this is over Patrick needs to teach you how to block out the thoughts of others."

"Do you think that I can talk to people that way too?" she asked.

"Yes, I know you can, I heard you." Martin replied. "Have you tried to hear Patrick?"

"I can hear him but it's fuzzy, how can I do this?" Kevyn asked.

"My guess is that it's a latent psychic gift, being Patrick's mate woke it." Martin replied.

"You think that I'll be able to talk to the vampire that has Veronica don't you?" Kevyn asked telepathically.

"Yes but what I don't understand is why your sister had to come." Martin replied.

Kevyn didn't understand it anymore than Martin did and she worried for Louise's safety. She glanced in the back to see Louise looking out of the window and Nathan watching her. Taking a chance, Kevyn decided to see if she could read Nathan's thoughts. Immediately Nathan's gaze went from Louise to Kevyn's, there was no warmth in them as he spoke to her telepathically.

"I understand that you are new to all of this but what you are doing is nothing more than eaves dropping."