Stolen Soul

Marcus stepped away from the body of the woman he had just fed from and walked back down the alleyway where he had dragged the drunken whore some five minutes earlier.

He knew it would be days before she would even be missed and so he had no concerns about leaving her carcass there.

As he made his way back to his town house he found his thoughts wandering to the woman who said she was his Watcher. He smiled fleetingly and shook his head as he thought about how absurd it was that a Vampire of his age could have a Witch so inexperienced trailing him.

To add to that absurdity was the strange notion she held that she could return his soul to him.

Why on earth would she think that he wanted the cursed thing back?

Having a soul lead to all sorts of complications. Complications that he had learned to either forget or be resigned to live without.

He entered his home….or should he call it his prison and bolted the door behind him.

He then proceeded to go around the house checking all the rooms, the windows and the door locks. When a vampire lived alone as he did one could not be too careful.

He had long since given up employing servants……centuries ago in fact.

He preferred to live alone, coming and going in the night as he pleased. No-one to question his strange way of living.

His neighbours thought that he worked nights for a reputable newspaper company in the centre of the city, not that he saw them often. They were an elderly couple and Marcus actually found them quite agreeable. He left them alone and they did the same thing for him.

He moved to the master bedroom and stared out of the window at the street below.

Was Maddison out there somewhere now….watching him?

He very much doubted it….he had sensed that her protector had been nearby at the club and though he hadn’t seen the Werewolf there had been no doubting that he had been in the vicinity and had probably dragged Maddison to a safer place by now.

A safe place where he could give her a good ticking off no doubt.

She must have broken so many rules of the Watcher’s sect seeking him out as she had done and for what?

To give him his soul back?

Marcus shook his head and pulled the heavy drapes across the window, ensuring there were no gaps for when the daylight hours came.

It was unusual for him to waste so much of the night but something had disturbed him tonight and he frowned as he thought of the innocent Witch with the brunette hair.

Growling he undressed and climbed into the four-poster bed, drawing the thick protective curtains around himself as he prepared to rest.

------

Michael struggled as he fought the urge to turn into the creature he was and he put his foot down the second Maddison got into the car and shut the door….eager to put as much distance between them and Marcus Baker as was possible.

“What the hell are you playing at?”, he rasped, flexing his fingers on the steering wheel as he began to get his urge to change under control.

“I was having a Saturday night out……is that not allowed?”, Maddison asked, trying to sound casual but she jumped as Michael banged his fist on the dashboard.

“Not in a known vampire hang-out…….for fu……what the hell where you doing in there apart from getting better acquainted with Marcus Baker?”.

“I…….its nothing…..I just wanted to see what he looked like”, Maddison replied and Michael stopped the car abruptly.

“Don’t lie to me Maddison and don’t try and treat me like an idiot. You’re damn lucky that Marcus didn’t snuff you out just now, in fact…..why the hell didn’t he? What did you say to him?”, Michael queried, some of his anger being replaced by curiosity.

“Nothing”, Maddison answered and Michael swore colourfully.

“I will find out what you’re up to”, he told her and Maddison looked at him.

“I’m not up to anything”, she said as he moved the car off again.

“We’ll see”, Michael mumbled not believing his Witch one little bit.

----

Maddison decided to do her very best to keep what she knew of Marcus from Michael for as long as she could. She couldn't risk being taken off from watching him.

"After your little escapade tonight, I will be telling your mother and I will be watching you very closely from now on", said Michael, still pissed at her.

"Fine", said Maddison.

Michael arched his eyebrows and asked.

"No arguments?"

"No", said Maddison simply as she looked out the window.

"Okay then, lets see what your mother has to say. The only reason why I am not going to talk to David about this is because of your mother", said Michael.

"Ok", said Maddison.

----

"Maddison Victoria Chambers! You come here right now!", screeched Marianne, Maddison's mother.

"Yes mother?", asked Maddison resignedly.

"Michael has just told me you went and spoke to Marcus, you know that you are supposed to stay well away from vampires, especially vampires who are as old as him!" shouted Marianne.

"I needed to know what he looked like, I can't track him if I can't find him", said Maddison.

"If you needed that, then why in God's name did you not take Michael with you?", asked Marianne more calmly.

"I... I don't know... honestly, but I promise it won't happen again mum", said Maddison.

"Alright, but if it does happen again, Michael told me he will be telling David. Please don't disappoint me Maddison", said Marianne.

"Ok, I won't I promise", said Maddison.

After leaving her mother's room she cursed to herself. 'Damn its going to be so much harder now, I hope I can still get the information I need about finding Marcus' soul without Michael watching over my shoulder'.

When Maddison entered her room, a glowing light appeared in front of her, it formed into what looked like a ghost from the 18th century and then it spoke to her,

"Maddison, now that you have made contact, I can tell you one more clue. If you are smart enough you will know what it means. Use the lunar cycle”, the ghostly apparition said, then faded away.

'Hmm, the lunar cycle.. the full moon is only two days away, I’ll need to go to the library to see what I can find', thought Maddison

----

"What are you looking at so late?" asked Sarah as she noticed Maddison on the computer.

"I wanted to find out about the lunar cycle", said Maddison.

"Why?", asked Sarah puzzled.

"Michael seemed a little more pissy tonight then usual", said Maddison.

"Ahh, i'll save you the trouble werewolf emotions are amplified during the few days before the full moon. Any emotions they are experiencing is stronger then normal". said Sarah.

"Ahh, thanks no wonder he was cranky tonight", said Maddison.

"Any luck on tracking down Marcus?" asked Sarah.

"Yeah, I know what he looks like now. So I can find him more easily", said Maddison, stopping herself before she spilt the beans on what had actually happened.

"Great, that’s going to make things a lot easier now", said Sarah.

"Yeah it will, goodnight Sarah", said Maddison as she walked back to her room.

"Goodnight", called Sarah.

'I'm going to have to find more about Michael tomorrow, I need to find a way to distract him', thought Maddison as she dropped off to sleep

----

'Use the lunar cycle, I love the cryptic messages. Hope these appearances don't remain cryptic or I’m going to lose quite some time on this', thought Maddison as she walked through the halls of the sect mansion.

'I need to find out who is Michael's girlfriend so I can get them together, I need time to plan my next encounter with Marcus, he won't believe me until I show him the book'. Now to actually getting it out of the mansion..'

The next two days involved intense research through ancient magical tomes scattered throughout the massive archive. She found many tomes on soul binding and returning souls to the dead, i.e. zombie raising.

"Ugh, some of this stuff is so repulsive. No wonder its black magic", mumbled Maddison to herself as she came upon a rather gruesome torture spell.

'I need a break', she thought as she put the book back on the shelf and walked out of the archive.

"Hey Sarah, what have you found out for me?", asked Maddison as she found Sarah sitting at one of the tables in the mansion's eating halls.

"Well, Alexandria is the name of Michael's girlfriend and well strange as it is, she’s your mother's protector", said Sarah.

"Damn, that’s going to complicate things", groaned Maddison.

"I seriously hope you’re not going to go out tomorrow night. Michael can't protect you while he’s forced into his wolf form", said Sarah.

'Damn it, I said that out loud', thought Maddison, cursing herself.

"No I’m not, I just want to go out tomorrow before the sun goes down without Michael hanging over me, but he's been really intrusive lately", she lied.

"Ok, but only if you come back before dusk. If you’re not I’m going to tell your mother. The warlocks that are assigned to her will tell David if you’re found with Marcus", said Sarah.

"I know ok!", exclaimed Maddison.

"Geez, calm it down Maddison. I'm only concerned about you. He's most likely the most oldest vampire in London. He's very old and powerful", said Sarah.

"I know that, but I think he's different", said Maddison.

"How can you know that? He's the first vampire you've ever watched." argued Sarah.

"I just do ok, he saved me when he didn't have to", said Maddison.

"Which wouldn't have happened if you had Michael with you", countered Sarah.

"Alright, fine you win. I came here for a break not a lecture Sarah", said Maddison.

"I'm worried about you, he's a freaking 350 year old vampire. He would have learned a thing or two in the centuries he’s lived", said Sarah.

"Ok, I get the picture." sighed Maddison. 'I need to give her the forgetfulness potion tomorrow, or she'll ruin it', thought Maddison.

After having some food she said goodbye to Sarah and left the hall. 'I need to think of a way to get Alexandria with Michael tomorrow', she thought.

As she turned the corner to go back in the archive, she saw Michael with a large grin on his face. He had a tall raven-haired woman in his arms, her lips around his neck.

As she walked towards the archive entrance, he moaned softly, but still loud enough for her to hear. As the woman brushed her hand over the front of his pants.

Giggling to herself as she walked back into the archive, Maddison thought to herself, 'This is going to be easier than I thought. My tough, hard-faced werewolf turns into putty around her.'

----

'Hmm, I hope I made that right. Don't want to give Sarah amnesia, then I’d be in serious trouble' thought Maddison as she concocted her plan to get Michael and Alexandria together.

Knowing that when the night falls they will be leaving to look for a place to change, she decided to use the spell she had found in one of the books she was looking at.

"This spell is going to be so useful in future" said Maddison aloud. 'Good thing I found something with Alexandra's handwriting on it, now to write the note', thought Maddison.

After writing her messages she secretly placed them in their rooms and waited for them to meet. She went to go track down Sarah so she could make her forget about telling her mother.

"Sarah do you want to go get a drink? I'm thirsty" said Maddison when she found her in one of the mansions many sunrooms.

"Yeah sure, I’d love too" said Sarah as she followed Maddison to the mansion's bar.

When Maddison got the drinks she poured the vial of forgetfulness into Sarah's glass and took them back to the table.

"Here we go", said Maddison as she handed her the spiked drink.

After they had drained their glasses Sarah said,

"Thanks for the drink Maddison, but I have to go now. I got something important to do".

"That's ok, i'll occupy myself with training. I found some really great books in the archives", said Maddison.

Maddison discretely made her way past the general living quarters and as she passed Michael's room she heard grunts and groans of pleasure.

'Now I can set my plan in motion', she thought as she walked towards her room.

After picking up the tome that she had found the information on Marcus in, she headed towards the exits and put the book in her bag. She also had another book in her bag titled 'The Art of Cryomancy' as she really was going to practice her spells while she waited for the sun to set.