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 35

Elizabeth and Brant led the others through the front door of their house. Liz was so happy to be home. Paige followed close behind with Dylan in her arms, Kyleigh walked beside her in a daze. She still hadn't fully processed that her mother wasn't coming back. The other shifters and vampires walked behind them nervously. Would Maurice really take them all in? Give them a new home that was safe and anything but evil? Evan, Andrew and Randi brought up the rear. They were taking no precautions, even if they were in Liz's home.
"Dad!" Elizabeth yelled as she turned the corner into the living room. Seeing Maurice standing there brought a huge smile to her lips. She didn't care about anyone else in the room, though there were plenty, and ran into Maurice's arms. True, she wasn't his real daughter but she had been apart of the family so long that that's what she thought of him, a father. Liz held him tightly and fought the urge to start crying.
"Elizabeth. I'm so happy to have you home." Maurice said running his hand up and down her back. "Who is that you have brought with you?" He asked her curiously. At least his voice wasn't angry at all the new guests. Elizabeth pulled away and motioned for everyone to enter the room.
"This is Paige Reynolds and her baby Dylan. Of course you know Brant." Elizabeth said. Maurice nodded and shook both of their hands.
"You have a fine baby, Paige." Maurice said with a smile.
"Thank you, sir." She said automatically. She wanted to make a good impression on him. She wanted to stay here. Wanted all of them to stay here.
"The rest of them were being held by Tyler against their will. They are not like him. All they want is a place to call home. And I thought that maybe you would be able to help them with that." Elizabeth said. The group of vampires and shifters parted to let the other three remaining move to the front of them. "Evan Reynolds, Paige's sister. Andrew helped save us from Tyler. And this is Randi, Kyleigh's sister." She said pointing to the last two girls. Maurice's face lit up in a warm smile.
"So you are Randi?" He asked. He stepped forward and took her hands in his. "I have heard alot about you."
"You have?" She said. Who here knew her?
"Yes, we all have." Everyone in the room stood. Daniel, Phillip and Stephan stood open mouthed. Randi was back, and she was alive. Phillip couldn't help himself. He ran forward in a too-fast-too see movement and picked Randi up in his arms and swung her around. Randi held onto him for dear life. She had no idea who this man was! Phillip sat her feet back down on the ground and kissed her forehead.
"Kid, don't ever scare us like that again!" He said laughing.
"Um, I'll try not to." She said nervously.
"Randi, are you alright? Don't you recognize me?" He asked her, furrowing his brows. Randi stared up at him. She wanted to remember so badly that her head hurt. She wanted to know who this man was in front of her and not to this look in his eyes.
"No, I don't. I don't recognize any of you. I have no memory." She said quietly. Phillip's face fell. What had happened to her while she was gone? A hand touched Phillip's shoulder and he moved out of the way and went back to stand by Daniel. Now Edward was standing in front of her. Randi's breath caught in her throat.
"Edward?" She asked cautiously. He reached out with one hand and held her face. The movement was familiar to Randi.
"Yes, it's Edward." He leaned down and gave her the gentlest of kisses on her lips. Her pulse sped up. She was having a movent of de ja vu. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "It'll come back in time. I promise." He told her. He let his hand fall from her face and took her hand. "Come, I want to introduce you, again, to some friends of yours." Randi only nodded. "This is Daniel, Stephan and Phillip. They have been your friends longer than the rest of us. The girl sleeping on this couch is Faye, the other is Savannah."
"Hello." She said timidly to the three men. They all smiled at her. Edward moved her to more people.
"This is my sister, Jaicyn, and this is Melanie." They both nodded at Randi. The rest of them Edward knew that Randi didn't know, but it was best to introduce her while everyone was here. "Corey, Dennis and Whitney." He said indicating to which ones that he was talking about. "And this is Maurice. He is the leader of this house, of this state." Edward said, bringing her back around full circle to the man she had started out with.
"Alright, now that everyone is here we need to get this meeting under way." He turned to Elizabeth before she could say anything. "Your guests are welcome here as long as they like. Once we have this situation taken care of, then we will discuss them further." Elizabeth smiled. "You can either find an empty chair, stand or sit on the floor. This room hasn't seen this many people in it in a long time." Most of them sat down on the floor. Paige sat with Dylan in an empty chair. Andrew and Brant sat down on the floor on either side of her legs. Edward and Randi sat down on the table with Kyleigh next to Randi. Evan sat down on the other side of Edward with Elizabeth sitting on the floor at his feet, facing Maurice. Everyone else sat down where they had been sitting.
"I believe that everyone is ready." Edward said to Maurice.
"I know that many of you here are new," He said, indicating the ones brought in with Edward and the ones that Elizabeth brought. "What had been happening here in my territory is not expanded on to you. But I am asking for your help. Truthfully, all those who live in Oregon, that are vampires, are under my rule. But I choose not to force you to do anything that would cause you harm unless you knew exactly what I was asking. Lately someone has been trying to kill members of my family and reak havoc on my territory and I want it stopped at any cost. If who ever is doing this cannot be stopped it may come down to a war. And if that is the case, I would like your help at defeating them. It is not just my home that you are defending, it is yours as well. You should be free to walk and not have to worry about someone coming along and trying to kill you, to take your home away. That is why I am asking for your help, if it is ever needed." Maurice said to them.
Everyone was silent. No one was quite sure what to make of what Maurice had just said. For Edward, the answer was a simple one, as it was for Jaicyn. Maurice had saved their lives on more than one occasion. Now it was there turn to do some of the saving. Edward met eyes with his sister. They held an understanding. Both of them would help Maurice, but they would leave the decision for the others up to themselves. It would be discussed after this main meeting and would report back to Maurice within the day.
Daniel thought the same way, but for a different reason. He had belonged to Maurice's family once before and now was reunited with it. Savannah was his other half so even if he didn't want to fight, he would have anyway. But Daniel wanted to protect this family, it was another branch to his own. The rest of his pard would have to make their own choices. But he knew where his loyalties lay. His pard came before the vampires, but his family came before anything else. Daniel would protect his pard and his family at any cost. It's just the kind of person that he was.
It was Elizabeth who turned to look at the group she had brought in. All of them were torn between what they should say. They wanted a place to call home. They had been without one for so long. Now they had a chance at a home but someone was trying to take it from the ones who had lived their first. They didn't want to fight, they had been fighting all their lives. They just wanted someplace safe but... if fighting for a place to call home would allow you to have one of the best ones you had ever found in a long time, wouldn't you want to fight for it? In that instant, Elizabeth knew that every single one of them would say yes to Maurice.
That was when Mailynn walked into the room. The look of anger and disapproval was plain to see on her face. Everyone moved out of her way as she entered so that they wouldn't have to be near her. Even at first meeting they knew she was an evil person. It radiated off of her skin, in the way her eyes held darkness. She walked into the room and stopped by the chair that Paige was sitting in. Involuntarily Paige tightened her grip on Dylan. She hadn't even known she'd made the small movement.
"Mailynn, it is very nice of you to join us, finally." Maurice said, all emotion drained from his voice. He was not happy to see her. It would have been better if she had stayed away from here.
"What is going on here?" Mailynn asked. She glanced at everyone in the room. And it was plain to see that she was not happy with this situation either.
"Having a discussion. What does it look like?" Elizabeth said. Mailynn turned dark eyes to her.
"If I wanted you to speak, I would have asked you to."
"I think it would be best if you left now, Mailynn." Maurice told her. Mailynn only shook her head.
"You cannot cast me out of something this important."
"I can when it has nothing to do with you." Maurice said. His anger was starting to fill the room. Mailynn threw her head back and laughed. It made the hair on the back of Phillip's neck stand on end. He had heard this laugh before.
"You..." He breathed, coming to stand on his feet. "It was you."
"I do not have the slightest idea what you are talking about, cat. You better hold your tongue before someone cuts it out."
"That is enough, Mailynn." Maurice said coming to his feet.
"No, you have to know, Maurice. I believe that she was the one who took over Savannah." Everyone in the room went silent. No one moved or dared to breathe.
"What do you mean?" Maurice asked taking a side glance at Phillip.
"He's right." Daniel said, standing to his feet. "Her laugh. It was the same laugh that came out of Savannah's mouth along with her own. It was a distinct sound. I wouldn't mistake it." Daniel told him, not taking his eyes off of Mailynn.
"You have got to be kidding me. You would believe this animal over your own wife?"
"Normally, no. But I would believe my daughters other half." The look on Mailynn's face fell.
"Her what?" She asked, almost disgusted.
"Her other half. They have finally bonded like they should have all those years ago. I do not believe he would lie to me. But you, I believe that you would."
"Do not let her try and tell you any different, father." Sydney said coming into the room. Everyone's attention turned to the vampire who just walked in. She looked like she had been sleeping for years. In the same instant Faye and Savannah flew up from the couches they were laying on. Both of their eyes remained closed, but they raised their right arms and pointed one finger at Mailynn.
Mailynn remained unmoving. She couldn't move if she wanted to. It was as if her feet were made into the floor, preventing her from taking even the slightest of steps. Savannah and Faye opened their eyes to reveal milky eyes. Underneath the milky glaze, their eyes shined a dark gold, almost amber looking.
"Oh my God," Edward said moving himself away from the girls and taking Randi with him. He made everyone near them move away. Maurice stood in shock. This shouldn't be happening. The elders did not make themselves known unless something was terribly wrong. He knew things weren't right, but for things to be this far gone, it wasn't a good sign.
Every vampire in the room who knew what was happening moved as far away from them as they could. The shifters could feel the power emminating off of the girls. It washed over their bodies in a freezing wave. They stepped back until all that remained on that side of the room was Maurice, Savannah, Sydney, Faye and Mailynn.
"What's going on?" Randi asked quietly.
"It's the elders. The most powerful of our kind. To have them here could be very bad. We may not all walk away from this alive." Edward explained to her.
Faye's hand dropped to her side and she stood to her feet. Savannah did the same. "There have been very many rules broken in this territory. Did you think that we would not see?" Faye said. It was her voice, but the person inside her was definitely not Faye.
"I know that, but in order to fix what is going on, I have to first find out who is behind all of this." Maurice said to her. His eyes moved to Sydney. Her eyes were fixed on her mother.
"Do not speak in such insignificant terms." Savannah said. "We know that you have been hidden away from what has truly been happening here. But not anymore. It is true that we do not like to interfere with what happens in the different territories but this has gone too far."
"May I ask a question?" Edward called from across the room. Savannah and Faye's eyes shifted to him.
"Ah, yes, Edward, please. Do ask your question. It has been a long time." Savannah said with a smile.
"Which ones are you?" He asked. Randi looked up at him with furrowed brows. Savannah laughed, deep and rich.
"Oh, I have forgotten how much fun you can be." Savannah said. "Alright, I will answer. I am Lainie." She said from Savannah's mouth. "And this," She said turning toward's Faye. "This is Keiana."
"Well it is nice to kno who we're dealing with." Edward told them. He looked calm on the outside but Edward was panicing on the inside. He was not happy that it was Lainie and Keiana that had come to Oregon.
Randi kept looking at Edward. She could feel his fear. It was almost a touchable thing. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach. "Why are you afraid?" she asked him, a little worried. Lainie turned her eyes to look at her.
"Who is this girl that keeps speaking?" She asked. Edward moved to stand in front of her.
"No one, just a mere human who doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut." Edward told her. Lainie curled a smile on Savannah's lips.
"Now, Edward. I know better than that. You cannot seriously try to hide a bond as close as yours by simple words. Let her come here."
"Don't do this Lainie, not here." Edward said. He hardly ever begged, but he would right now if he had to.
"Why so worried, Edward? All I want to do is give her a little kiss." Lainie said pouting.
"That's all?" He asked raising a brow.
"Yes, that is all." Lainie reassured him. Edward still didn't move. He looked down at Randi.
"Go on, she's not going to hurt you." Edward told her.
"I don't want to go over to her." Randi said sternly.
"I know, but if you don't they're going to force you and it will hurt." Randi just stared up at him.
"He's quite right you know. It will hurt if you don't just walk over here." Lainie said crossing Savannah's arms under her chest. Randi sighed. She'd rather go willingly. Randi walked away from Edward and went to stand in front of Lainie. She couldn't help but look at Mailynn as she passed her. She looked furious but she couldn't move and apparently couldn't talk. Or at least that's what Randi guessed since she hadn't said another word yet.
"So, what is it that you want to do to me?" Randi asked Lainie once she stopped in front of her.
"You'll see." She said with a grin. Lainie stepped forward and put one hand on either side of Randi's head. Randi couldn't help but squirm. She knew that Lainie could easily smash her head with the gentlest of moves from the vampire.
Laine held Randi's head tight. She did not want her to move. She leaned forward and placed her lips gently on Randi's. A kiss, that is all she intended to do, for the most part.
Randi remained perfectly still. If this wasn't awkward. All she wanted was for Lainie to be done with whatever it was she was doing. But Lainie's lips lingered on hers until Randi's started to burn. It wasn't a severe burning, it didn't hurt her, but it was a dull burn that tingled against Randi's lips. Randi's body suddenly relaxed in the vice grip of Lainie's hands. Her eyes closed and she leaned into the kiss. Lainie smiled, still pressed into Randi. Lainie moved her lips against Randi's and was thrilled when she kissed her back. It was easier to get into her mind than she thought it was going to be. Randi slid her hands around Lainie's waist and pulled her forward so that the front of their bodies were touching.
Stephan started to step forward. He would not stand there and let this vampire play games with Randi's head. Daniel grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Don't interfere with them, Stephan." Daniel warned him.
"But you can't let this go on!" Stephan yelled.
"Yes I can, and so can you. If you touch them, you could hurt Randi." Daniel let go of Stephan's arm. Kairi watched him closely. She could tell that he wasn't just going to stand there and let this continue, no matter what Daniel said. Before he could take another step towards them, Kairi grabbed his hands and turned him to face her.
"Do not go over there." Kairi said as demandingly as she could. She relaxed her whole body and tried to use some of her power to keep him from leaving. Stephan stared down at her trying to make sense of what she had just said. He wanted to go and rip Randi out of Lainie's hold but he didn't want to go against what Kairi had said.
"What are you doing to me?" He asked her.
"Trying to keep you and Randi safe. Now don't move." Stephan nodded and didn't move, just kept his eyes locked on Kairi's.
Lainie let her power slide into Randi as gently as she could. She tried to be as kind as she could most of the time, she didn't like to use force and torture like most of the elders did. Lainie was more simple than that. She wanted Randi to walk away from what she was about to do. Lainie's power moved through Randi with tender touches, nothing brutal about it. All she wanted to do was get inside her mind, to know what she was about. It was the easiest, and deadliest way to do it. If anything should go wrong, it could kill her. It didn't take her that long before she was into Randi's mind. But it puzzled her. There was nothing there.
That was impossible. Every person, dead or alive, always had something in their minds. Her mind was hidden away, locked from everyone, including Randi. Alright, so this was just going to have to take a little longer than normal. Lainie turned her power up and this time pushed it into Randi's mind, thrashing against it, trying to break it free. Randi's body jerked, pulling her lips away from Lainie. Her eyes held confusion, what was going on? Why was she standing this close to Lainie? She couldn't remember getting there.
Randi tried to move out of Lainie's grip but Lainie kept her in place. She kept struggling. She wanted away from the vampire. To everyone's surprise, Kyleigh ran forward and grabbed both Randi and Lainie's arms.
"Leave her alone!" Kyleigh demanded. And that was all that Lainie needed. Her power lept into Kyleigh and easily breached her mind. She forced her power and the essence of Kyleigh's mind into Randi. The force was strong enough that Randi was thrown from her feet and landed on the floor. Kyleigh remained where she was unmoving. Her eyes were blank, empty of any knowledge, her face slack of emotion.
Edward was at Randi's side helping her to sit up. "Randi, are you alright?" He asked. She nodded.
"I think so, what happened?"
"I'm not sure." He answered and looked at Lainie. "What did you do to her?"
"Tell me, Randi, what can you remember?" She asked. Randi furrowed her brows and thought. What could she remember? That was an odd question but she thought about it, really thought about it. Her eyes went wide as she stared up at Lainie. She could remember everything. Everything that she hadn't been able to remember earlier. She remembered where she came from, how she ended up where she was. She knew who almost everyone in the room was, really knew them instead of just their names. She could remember Lucas and Aiden back in Astoria along with Michael and Rose kidnapping her from the hospital. And how he had killed Rose and had shot Randi. That's when she had lost her memory and woke up in her grave. It was all back.
"Everything." She said breathlessly. She turned her eyes to Edward who had a smile on his face.
"It's good to have you back." He said and gently gave her a kiss on the top of her head. Randi turned and everyone was smiling at her, even the ones who she really didn't know. Edward took her arm and helped her to stand. Once standing, Randi moved over to Kyleigh, who still wasn't moving. She reached out and touched her shoulder but she didn't respond.
"Kyleigh?" Randi said, coming around to face her sister. "Kyleigh, what is it? What's wrong?" She asked. Randi snapped her fingers in front of her face, nothing happened. Randi started to shake Kyleigh by the shoulders. When she still didn't move she whirrled around on Lainie. "What did you do to her?" She asked her voice full of rage. She started to move towards her but Edward grabbed her around the waist and carried her back a few feet.
"Randi, I am sorry about what happened to your sister. I really am, I did not think this was going to happen to her, I swear to you." Lainie said, sounding very sincere.
"She is not lying." Keiana said moving to stand next to Lainie. It was eerie to Edward to see Faye and Savannah being used as puppets. "It is not normal for something like this to happen. And know that we do not lie, so the both of us are telling the truth. Ask your dear Edward if you do not believe us." Randi struggled in Edward's grip. She twisted her head around to look at him. He nodded at her, reassuring her that they were telling the truth. Randi took a deep breath and let it out, slowly counging to fifteen, ten just wouldn't have been enough. She debated whether or not to go any higher.
"Alright," She said, relaxing little by little in Edward's arm. "Is there anything that you can do to help her?" Randi asked Lainie. Lainie smiled at her and turned her head to look at Mailynn who was still glued in place.
"I believe that we can. But first, we must ask a few favors. I would ask that everyone leave the room except for Jaicyn, Edward, Randi, Maurice and Sydney. There are certains things that must be done right now." Lainie said. It took a few moments for everyone to finally clear the room. Lainie turned to Maurice. "Before anything is done, we must talk. All of us."