Dark Connections: The Other Half

Disclaimer: This is an original story, all characters have been made up by me and in no way represent any people that are alive or dead. This is my story, I created it and have not ripped it off of anyone.



Warnings: Angst, Death, Language, MC,N/C, OC, Tort, UST, WIP



Chapter 21



When dawn had come and the vampires at the gathering could no longer stay awake, the shifters guarded over them as if their lives depeneded on it. In a way they did. If the vampires died, especially Elizabeth, they would have no place to go. No place for safety. They also watched over Paige and her new baby. Nothing was to happen to them at any cost.

Night finally arrived and one by one the vampires began to rise. Elizabeth awoke before Brant. She stood up from where she slept and stretched. Paige was sitting up against the wall holding Dylan.

"Good morning, well, good evening." Paige said with a smile.

"How are you two doing tonight?" Elizabeth asked.

"We\'re fine. Just getting used to each other." Elizabeth smiled at her.

"He\'s a beautiful boy. I know you\'ll be a good mother to him. And that Brant will be a good father figure." Paige couldn\'t help but smile.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked sheepishly.

"Sweetie, I could tell when you started yelling at him." Paige looked at Dylan and her smile slowly faded. "Paige?"

"I just wish that Evan could have seen him. You know? He was what kept me going when I had no one else. Now he\'s gone." Tears started to fall down her cheeks. Elizabeth brushed them away.

"You\'re not alone. You have me and Brant."

"I know, but he was my brother."

"Not was, is your brother. You said yourself that he was still alive. We will get him back. I give you my word."

"And mine." Brand said walking over to them.

"Thank you. Both of you, but I know better than to believe those words, as much as I want to. I know full well what the Laviathin will do to someone. He won\'t live through it."

"Then we\'ll just have to get moving then, won\'t we?" Elizabeth said standing up. She turned to face the others.

"Who knows where the Laviathin is?" she asked. No one moved. They just stared at her dumbfounded. "Anyone? Any takers?"

"They won\'t tell you for fear of being found out somehow. None wish to have the cruel hands of the Laviathin on them." Brant told her.

"I don\'t care. I promised to take everyone with me. That includes Evan. I won\'t leave him there to die."

"I know." Erin said quietly. Whisperes sprang up through the group and everyone looked at Erin.

"What did you say?" Paige asked.

"I know where to find the Laviathin." she repeated.

"Specifically? Everyone knows where it\'s hidden but to actually find it and return is impossible. No one has survived the Laviathin. Ever." Brant said sternly.

"I know there," Erin said standing up. "I also died in that room. I was brought back from death when my body had been disposed of. You don\'t have to believe me. But it did happen." Everyone was quiet.

"Alright. Okay, you\'re going to take me there, Erin. We\'re going to get Evan back." Elizabeth told her.

"No, even if you make it in you won\'t make it out again." Paige said.

"I\'ll go with her." Brant said.

"Nobodys asking you to come with me." Liz told him.

"I know but I\'m not letting you go alone." He eyed Erin coldly. He didn\'t trust her. Not at all. And he wouldn\'t let their only chance at freedom die. There was one day left until the full moon. Brant knew how shifters started to change durning that day.

"Paige, you have to go back." Elizabeth told her.

"What? Are you crazy?" Brant said on the verge of shouting.

"She\'s right. Tyler will be expecting me. If I\'m not there when he returns...you know what he\'ll do once he finds me."

"What about Dylan? Where are you going to take him?" Brant asked furiously.

"I will watch him. If Miss Paige does not mind." A male shifter said coming from the crowd. Paige\'s face broke into a smile.

"Andrew, I would love it if you watched over Dylan for me. I know you\'ll keep him as safe as you have me."

"I do not agree with your going back but I know it is the right thing to do." Paige nodded and stood up with Brant\'s help. She kissed Dylan\'s forehead before handing him to Andrew.

"Keep him safe." She told him.

"Anything for you, Miss Paige." he said.

"Will you get there alright?" Brant asked.

"Yes, I think I will. I\'ll try to come back here as soon as I can." Brant grabbed her and pulled her into him, cradling her body in his arms. He did not want to let her go. "Come back, you hear me?" she said.

"I couldn\'t stay away from you if I wanted." he kissed the trop of her head and reluctantly let her go.

"Come on, Liz. Let\'s go get him." the three of them left together, leaving Paige to return to her master.



Brant, Erin, and Elizabeth stood at the base of a large oak tree that was hidden in the forest. It had taken them three hours of human walking, zig-zagging through the maze of trees to finally reach it.

The night held an eerie quietness that unnerved Elizabeth. There was no breeze, no animals moving around. It was all to...weird.

"So the Laviathin lives in an oak tree?" Brans asked sarcastically.

"No," Erin snapped, "This is merely the entrance. Beyond that is the final way," she paused, "Just remember what I told you. Act as helpless as possible and you do not know how you arrived here. You remember nothing when the Laviathin first gets you."

"How do we get in?" Liz asked.

"Walk into the tree. You will fall a ways but do not worry. You will be fine." she proceeded to walk into the tree. She just faded into it. Disappearing from their sight. Elizabeth walked forward. Brant grabbed her arm.

"Don\'t, Liz, this doesn\'t feel right."

"I know. Somethings not right, but I\'m not going to leave him there." He let her go and watched her disppear. He took a deep breath before going in after her.



Paige arrived at Tyler\'s lair with just enough time to remove her clothes an lay on the bed before he burst into the room like an angry storm. Apparently his trip hadn\'t been a good one. "Troubles?" she asked coyly. There was a certain way that he wanted her to act in his presence. It grew tiresome very quickly for her. Tyler laughed manically. It scared her to her very core.

"Troubles? Does getting shot in the face count as troubles? Fuck! I\'m going to kill that bitch!" he roared. He started throwing anything his hands touched. Paige froze. She did not want to be one of the things throw. She was weak enough already.

"What happened?" she asked loudly over all the screaming and crashing.

"I went to Oregon to fix what Seth had done. Instead of destroying their pard, Edward\'s \'other\' shot me in the face and half my people were injured." Paige started to laugh. Someone had finally given him what he needed. Tyler was suddenly on her squeezing her throat. "And what are you laughing at? Do you want a silver coated bullet jammed into your head?"

"No," Paige said straining for air, "I was laughing at what you\'ll do to that bitch for attacking you. You should rip her apart." Tyler\'s hand started to relax against her throat.

"You mean that?"

"You know I do." his hand dropped away.

"That\'s my girl," he traced his fingers against her stomach, "So, when can I expect a son from you?" he asked her softly.

"As soon as you get me pregnant." she told him.

"How do you know you\'re not now?" Paige smiled.

"I think I would know if I had a baby growing inside me." He back handed her.

"Don\'t be snippy. So you\'re saying if I listen closely I won\'t hear another heart beat?"

"Nope." She said calmly. He lowered his head until his head rested on her stomach. Paige wanted to scream, wanted him off her, wanted to get away with Dylan, Brant, and Evan. Tyler pulled his head up.

"No heart beat. But, you do smell different." he said carefully.

"Different? How?" she asked not moving.

"You smell...like you\'ve been near a baby. They have their own smell. And it\'s covering you." his eyes darkened.

"A baby? I haven\'t been around any babies." she said.

"I know what I smell. Where is it?" he asked.

"Look, I haven\'t had a baby. I haven\'t been around any either." she tried to push him off of her to get up. He shoved her down.

"You\'re lying." he breathed in her face. "If you don\'t tell me then I\'ll have to make you. And I know you don\'t want that." She stared at him for a long time before she lowered her eyes and sighed. Tears started to form causing her eyes to look glassy.

"The baby was still born. Is that what you wanted to hear? That the baby died?" Tyler looked physically shaken.

"Why didn\'t you tell me that you were pregnant?"

"I wanted to make sure that the baby was doing alright before I told you. It\'s hard enough for a shifter to get pregnant, let alone give birth." Tyler didn\'t move. He was shock stricken. She had been pregnant? How had he not known? He got up from the bed and opened the closet. He pulled out a silk robe and handed it to her.

"I want you to stay in this room and get some rest. You need it. Later tonight we\'ll try again. Don\'t be afriad to tell me when you get pregnant again, alright?" Paige could only nod her head. Tyler smiled at her and left the room.

Paige didn\'t move. Did that just happen? Did Tyler show compassion, in any amount, towards her? What the hell was going on? She slid the robe on and laid back against the pillows. She was really going to need sleep. Tyler would be more wound up tonight on account of the full moon in one night. Paige closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.



When Brant\'s free fall stopped and his feet touched the ground, he was instantly on edge. Erin and Elizabeth weren\'t in sight. There were three different tunnels that he could go down and none of them looked inviting. He didn\'t have anywhere else to go. He couldn\'t jump back up and there wasn\'t a way behind him.

"Elizabeth?" he called. Silence answered him. "Oh, this is just great." He muttered. "Elizabeth?" he called louder this time.

"Brant!" he heard her yell. He couldn\'t tell if her voice was frantic or if it was just her distance from him.

"Where are you?" He asked. He didn\'t want to get the wrong tunnel. His only answer was the sound of her screaming. Tunnel to the right it was.

He started running as fast he could. The tunnel was only as wide as his shoulders but he managed not to touch the walls. At the end of the tunnel was a fifty foot drop. He didn\'t hesitate to jump. He landed softly on his feet. Ahead of him, lying on the floor, was Elizabeth\'s unmoving body. Blood pooled around her head, making her red hair look black. Brant rushed over to her. He picked her up in his arms. He was going to get them out of here. One way or another. Brant turned around and jumped out of skin. Erin was standing in front him of looking calm and innocent.

"Where have you been? Nevermind. Get us out here, now."

"I\'m afraid I can\'t do that. You see, you were right to be weary of me. I\'m not who you think I am, Baby Brant." A grin spread on her lips. Baby Brant? There had been only one person to call him that. The realization hit him hard. Bradley had taken over Erin\'s body. Which meant he knew how everyone wanted to leave and where they were. He knew about Paige\'s baby and how Evan had helped Elizabeth escape from Tyler\'s prison. Bradley was the worst master vampire that he had ever laid eyes on. He had been working with Tyler to destroy the strongest pard in Oregon and get to Maurice by hurting his family and Edward\'s kiss.

"Why are you going this?" Brant asked.

"Because you need punished. You have been a very, very bad vampire, Baby Brant." Behind him, Brant could hear feet dragging across the ground. Heavy feet. He turned around to find the Laviathin walking towards him.