The Hero

*A/N I couldn't believe the response I got for The Hero. Thank you so much, it really means a lot to me! I have been working on this next instalment since I wrote the first one but I had to scrap it and start over because it just didn't work. I hope you like part two.*

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The woman, fast asleep in her hospital bed never woke that night. Having just given birth to two beautiful babies. Twins, a boy and a girl who were also sleeping soundly in their little hospital issued cots. Due to be taken home tomorrow. No one noticed the door creep open, and the small hooded figure enter the room, almost gliding over to the cot. Under the hood was a beautiful but strange looking woman, bright violet eyes and strikingly pale skin. Her braided white blonde hair hidden by the material of the hooded cape.

She smiled down at the sleeping baby girl and with a long, slender index finger she felt the soft skin of the infant's cheek. Within seconds the hooded woman was gone and so was the baby girl in the bassinet. Replaced with a just as beautiful but not as human baby, the only thing that set her apart from the other baby was her maternal mother's violet eyes.

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It's been over 70 years since I last actually slept. Being a vampire meant I didn't have to. I didn't have to breathe or blink. It sounds stupid but I had to train myself to blink again normally. To do it in a way that seemed human and wouldn't look like I constantly had something lodged in my eyeball. For 70 years I haven't slept and I'd spend my nights either partying or reading. I think I've read just about every decent book there is to read. I'd thought about keeping a journal but that just wasn't my style. Plus who would even read it? The crazed ramblings of a guy who's locked in his 24 year old shell of a body. There had been times that I'd considered ending it all. I felt like I'd seen all there was to see in the world. I'd watched my family grow old and die while I stayed young. It wasn't something I'd wished on anyone and it was the main reason I refused to turn anyone into what I was. It wasn't a life worth living; I was just too much of a pussy to end mine.

This whole thing had started about a month ago I'd left my little brother at the nightclub on the outskirts of town. He wasn't my brother by blood but he was a vampire, just like me. The same bitch that had turned me also turned Emerson about a week after. He'd hated this curse just as much as I did but he had something I'd lost a long time ago. He had a soul, a goodness in him that I didn't seem to possess. He didn't kill people to feed, but I did. I did it all the time and I just happened to be out lurking along the cold dark streets of this small English town looking for someone to eat when I heard the scuffle about a block away from where I'd found them. An older man, probably around 50 years old but he could have been older. He had a young woman pinned to the floor and was just about to land a really fucking hard punch on her face before I'd pulled the scumbag off her small frame. Yeah, I've killed people. Many people but I'd never sexually assaulted anyone, or tried to. I didn't know if this woman was his first victim but she'd sure as shit be his last.

I pinned him against the van that had blocked them from anyone being able to see what would have happened. I watched his murky hazel eyes plead with mine as I held him there. With a quick look to see if the girl was looking and confirming she wasn't because she was busy covering the exposed pale skin and fumbling to wrap her coat around herself. I quickly sank my fangs into his neck. His blood tasted bitter, not to my taste but whatever, beggars couldn't be choosers. I quickly drained him of his blood and then just as quickly threw his body into a tall hedge. I'd sort out the corpse later on.

I quickly turned to her, wiping my mouth on my sleeve as I was went; although I wasn't a messy eater, that was Emerson; dude needed a fucking bib. I took in her appearance as much as I could in the near pitch black darkness. The moon was hidden by clouds so she was basically a shadow with unclear features. I'd asked her if she was okay. She'd said that she was but I could tell from her thoughts that she was lying. I watched as she rummaged through that tiny fucking purse of hers and then held something out to me. I frowned but then couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face. A fucking lolly pop. The action in itself was cute as hell. Really fucking cute. I'd insisted on walking her home because I felt like I needed to make sure she was safe that night. I remember walking to her door in silence. She hadn't even given me her name as we stood on the door step of her house and she'd said goodbye to me.

When turned to face me with the light from above her front door turned on I noticed the colour of her eyes. At first I'd thought they were contact lenses but last night when I ran into her and best friend in the club, I took into account all of the other physical difference in what she looked like. Not particularly disfigurements, because that could mean anything but her skin was very pale and kind of pinkish around the eyes. She had a tiny nose that was slightly upturned and a pair of juicy full lips that were coated in dark red lipstick but I knew that without that dark red coating they'd be almost as pale as her almost transparent skin. She was also fucking tiny and so petite that she looked like a faery for crying out loud.

I hadn't planned to have sex with her that night, or ever in fact. It wasn't my style to let someone stay over either but here she was sound asleep laying next to me as I stared up at the ceiling. The sound of her waking up and yawning caused me to turn my head and look over at her to be met with a pair of sparkling amethyst orbs gazing at me. She smiled slightly and scooted closer, her leg over mine. Leaning forward I placed a soft kiss on her lips and before I knew what was even happening my hands were in her hair and she was straddling my lap as the kiss deepened and her tongue wrestled with mine. My hands went to the shorts I'd loaned her to take them off but she stopped me, pulling away to shake her head only making me moan in protest. Fucking tease.

"I don't think I can go again." She breathed out. That damn blush evident on her cheeks. "I'm really sore from last night."

I couldn't help the self satisfied smirk that appeared on my face. Natasha rolled her eyes at me and then hopped off to lay down beside me. Her hand resting on my stomach to move down and then grip my already hard cock through my boxers. My eyes closed momentarily at the contact. Her hand diving into my boxer shorts to pull it free from it's confines and stroke me slowly as I just laid there letting her do whatever she wanted. I had to commend my own restraint because all I wanted to do was bury myself inside her again but more than that I didn't want to hurt her. Leaning forward she kissed me again. There was something so human about laying down and making out with someone while they give you a hand job and it wasn't long before I was spurting cum all over her hand.

I watched her as she slightly limped her way over to my bathroom to clean up and do whatever it was she needed to do. I watched as the door reopened and she came back out walking on legs that were made of jelly. I watched her as she crawled back into my bed under my covers and snuggled into my side. We hadn't spoken about what our plans would be for the rest of the day. Her friend hadn't even come out of Emerson's bedroom but to be fair it was only about 8am and it was a Sunday. People didn't like to be up too early on a Sunday. When you don't sleep (usually) it doesn't matter what time you're awake.

"Can you go out in the day time?" Natasha asked suddenly, her finger drawing patterns on my bare chest. "Or do you burst into flames like in movies."

"I can go out in the day." I answered and fingered the stone in the pendant around my neck. "Because of this."

"That is so vampire diaries." She giggled. "Are you a Damon or a Stefan?" She looked at me with a playful smile on her face.

"I have no idea what the fuck you're even talking about." I gave her a short laugh and pulled her body closer to mine, enjoying the warmth of her rushing blood a little too much. Shit, I'm fucking hungry. "Although I bet I'm much better looking."

Natasha laughed but didn't deny the fact that I was better looking. In all honesty I had a little idea, because knowing the utter garbage television these days I'm guessing Damon and Stefan were 'hot vampires' or whatever. Yeah, we were usually nice to look at but that was the point. We survive on human blood and there's no way we would be able to get it without force if we didn't look good. In my experience the hotter the vampire the more fucking evil they were.

"I should get going home soon." Natasha sat up in the bed and stretched her arms out at her sides and yawned. "I'll have to wake up sleeping beauty though."

I couldn't exactly make Natasha breakfast because we didn't actually keep any food here. We didn't eat so there was no point in buying any. I sat back against the headboard and watched as Natasha stripped out of the clothes I'd given her to sleep in and then put on the outfit from last night. She'd tied her hair back and was sporting a bare face which showcased a set of freckles sprinkled across her little pixie like nose. This woman was the epitome of cute. Without the make up on she looked almost sick but I knew she wasn't. I knew the real reason she looked like that; but she didn't.

As soon as Natasha left our house I quickly opened the refrigerator and spotted Emerson's stash of blood bags on the bottom shelf in the crisper that he'd painted black so no one could see them. Not like they could just you know, open the drawer or whatever. I grabbed a metal straw. Yes, I may be a vampire but I care about the fucking world thank you! I drank down four they were O negative Capri-sun's and quickly threw them into the fire that was burning away in the living room before going back into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of something a little stronger.

"Dude, we need to talk." Emerson walks into the kitchen where I'm helping myself to glass of scotch. "First of all thanks for drinking four of my blood bags, you dick." He glares at me from the open refrigerator as I merely shrug my shoulders and swirl the amber liquid around in my glass. "Also, since when did you start hanging out with fucking faeries?" He shook his head. "Shit, I didn't even know they existed but you can tell just looking at her."

"I know," I sighed finishing off my drink and placing the glass on the table. "I'd heard stories about them but I thought it was just something that people made up." I chuckled because this whole situation made zero sense. "You know, behave or a fucking faery will come and take you."

"Does she know?" Emerson asked and his eyebrows raised when I shook my head in response. "That's crazy, she doesn't even look normal man."

"What is normal, brother?" I asked and he shrugged his shoulders. "Regardless of how she looks, she's fucking gorgeous but also she thinks that her birth parents are her real parents when they're obviously not." I honestly felt bad for her, and her family. "I can't tell her that, it wouldn't be fair."

"I know you though, Rem." Emerson gave me a cocky look that I rolled my eyes at as he continued to talk. "You have most probably already hinted at something so the idea is in her head already." Then he started to laugh that high pitched dirty laugh of his that comes out when he's about to say something extremely stupid. "Or you'll be balls deep in her all like 'fuck yeah fairy bitch!" Fucker also began humping the kitchen island for emphasis.

"You're a fucking child, Emerson." I rolled my eyes at him and hopped off the stool I was sitting on. "I'm off out anyway."

"Tell Tasha I said hi." He called out before shouting, "I do believe in fairies, I do!"

The last thing I heard before closing the door was Emerson's cackling laughter. I was glad he found this whole thing funny. It wasn't the fact of what she was that was making me feel a little off about things, because I couldn't give a flying fuck. It was the fact that she was a changeling. She got here by being switched at birth by her maternal faery mother. It made me wonder where the original baby girl was now, was she even alive? At the end of the day it wasn't my business to tell her any of that shit.

I hadn't been to her house since that night a month ago and I felt kind of weird about just showing up unannounced but the more I aimlessly walked my feet seemed to take in that direction. I stood at her doorstep for what seemed to be a long ass time without knocking and I was just about to turn away when the front door swung open and a guy around her age stood in the doorway with a confused look on his face.

"Um, Tash!" He called out. "There's a guy standing on your door step."

Natasha came strolling down the hallway from a different room. She was now dressed in a baggy knitted beige jumper that looked more like a dress with a pair of black leggings. Her hair was down and straight and she had a little make up on. I had the feeling that she liked to wear it to hide her non human like paleness. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise and she looked at the guy who was stood before me with his arms folded across his chest in a bid to look confrontational. I had no idea who this guy was and I hoped to hell she didn't actually have a boyfriend I didn't know about.

"Ade, chill out." She rolled her eyes at him. "Hey Remington." She gave me a surprised smile. "What are you doing here?"

"My brother was being a douche and I needed some air." That was kind of true. "I thought I'd see how you were doing." Also kind of true. Sure, she'd left my house on good terms with me but it was also kind of abrupt because she'd said she had no plans for today.

"Arsehole brothers is something I know too well." Natasha commented and gave the guy a pointed look who rolled his eyes in return at her. The relief I felt was unreal to know this dude was actually her brother. "I'm joking man, chill out."

"So you're the Remington." Her brother looked at me and gave me a half smile. "Not quite what I was expecting but thank you for saving my sister that night."

"Anyone would have done the same," I shrugged my shoulders. I'd like to think that was the case. "It was just being in the right place at the right time I guess."

"Even so, thank you." He took a step forward and held his hand out for me to shake. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost this one." I shook his hand and his features changed to concern. "Fucking hell you're freezing!"

"It's a cold one today!" Natasha quickly said and I swear it made me like her even more. "Come on in Remington, I'll make you some tea."

Ade said his goodbyes to his sister and myself. I noticed that he looked nothing like his sister, which I knew the reason why. He had a very tanned complexion, like naturally olive skin that would tan really well. His hair was a deep brown that was almost black and his eyes were a deep hazel green that were more on the green side. His lips weren't as full as his sisters and his nose was more thin and slender than the pixie like nose his sister had. He was also really tall too, about the same as my 6"3.

I followed Natasha into the kitchen taking in my surrounding as I went. Her house was small and very homey. The walls were white but everything else had a kind of bohemian vibe to it, right down to the dining room table. A round beaten wooden looking table with 4 different chairs that didn't match but somehow worked. The whole vibe of this place was kind of pixie like and the irony of the situation was not lost on me. She walked over to the counter top and flicked on the kettle then turned to me, a small smile on her face.

"Do you even drink tea?" She asked, amusement evident in her voice. "We didn't really talk much about the whole vampire thing last night."

"I can drink and eat anything." I shrugged my shoulders. "I just don't need to, I do gain wait if I eat too much crap and don't work out though."

"Ain't that a bitch." She commented as she grabbed two mugs from a cupboard and got to work on making two hot drinks. "I'm guessing you use the whole, 'it's cold outside' excuse a lot."

"Yeah, but it's harder to find excuses in the summer," I gave her a small smile as she handed me a cup of tea. I took a sip, girl makes a good brew. "I tend to just not touch people, if I'm honest with you."

"You touched me." She commented as she took a seat opposite me at the table. "I didn't even question it at first to be honest."

"Because it's cold outside." I pointed out making her pull a face; which of course made me chuckle.

She looked down at the mug in her hands and studied the steam that was rising from the tea. I could hear her thoughts jumbling around in her head but tried my best to tune them out. It was easy to do when you're one on one with someone and for some reason I felt more bad than usual listening to her thoughts.

"My parents always said that when I was a baby I was really hard to handle." Her eye's didn't leave the mug. "My mum said that the only time I'd stop crying was when she was feeding me, she breast fed me for a long time because apparently until I could have solid foods I would refuse to have formula." Eye's still firmly on that damn mug. "As I was growing up I had the worst temper ever, I remember it all so well. Someone could say something and I'd go crazy at them, I wouldn't hurt them or anything but I'd scream at them." She finally looked up at me. "I know I look different. It's not just my eyes. I look strange and believe it or not that guy who just left my house is my twin brother."

I wanted her to stop talking. I didn't want her to come to the realisation that, that guy isn't her brother. Her parents are not her parents. Not by blood anyway.

"All of my family have dark hair and green eyes." Her eyebrows pinched together in a frown. "My natural hair colour is almost white. I tint my eyebrows because they're so light it doesn't look like anything is there. I'm so fucking short and my eye's are purple." She gave me a sigh. "I know I'm not normal, Remington and part of me has known that for a long time but I can't bring myself to find out what is actually wrong with me."

"You have every right to not know." I said, really I had no idea what to say so I just went with what she'd want to hear. "But you also have a right to know, too."

"You know, don't you." It wasn't a question and all I could do was give her a nod. "Is it bad?"

"Oh god no." The look on her face made me feel so fucking bad. I reached over and grabbed her hands, my thumbs rubbing softly across her knuckles. "It's not bad; you're not bad."

"I think I'll be better off not knowing." She said with a half sad smile. "Plus I have a feeling you don't want to tell me, anyway."

"It's not that I don't want to tell you." I squeezed her hands. "To be honest it doesn't make much of a difference if you know or not. You're not in danger and no one you know is in any danger so it's up to you if you want to know but in reality it won't really change anything." I guess if she wanted to know I could tell her what she is, but just leave out the whole switched at birth thing.

"I don't want to know," She finally said after looking down at our hands for a few long moments. "Not right now anyway."

Natasha's Point of View.

I looked at Remington and couldn't help that damn squiggly feeling in my stomach. He did that to me, made me feel like I had a party of little tiny people in my stomach wanting to climb out through my heart, then my throat. How could he do that after knowing him for about a month. I've met him three times now but I can't stop thinking about him. When I got home earlier this morning I took a shower and he was on mind. I got dressed and had coffee with my brother, he was on my mind. Now here he is sitting at my kitchen table holding onto my hands because I feel like I'm having an identity crisis about who or what I am.