Dawn Unleashed

"Your mom is coming up the stairs. This wasn't exactly how I wanted to her to find us." Cole patted himself down. His shirt was on, the cuffs flapped around his wrists and the buttons weren't lined up. His belt was undone, pants pulled up into place, fly zipped, the wool hopelessly wrinkled. He had his gun buckled in its shoulder holster around his hip and he'd remembered the calf holsters and daggers. His shoes were untied, floppy and loose on his feet. He had his jacket. A wad of badly wrinkled wool tucked under one arm.

He scowled and looked toward the front door of Maggie's apartment. Her mother's feet made a hollow sound on the first stair. This wasn't how he wanted her mother to find them, not at all. He'd hoped to work Maggie's reluctant parents into a gradual acceptance of him. Not have them flinging open the door and see him in bed with their little girl. What was he going to say "Hi, I'm fucking your daughter, but its okay, I love her." Not hardly. Her mother was fiercely protective of her and she probably had a nice, sharp, long wooden stake with his name on the shaft just waiting for him. He didn't want to end his night. Hopefully the first in a series of many, many, countless more, in a hurried, frenzied rush. But, he didn't know what else to do. Quickly, he snuck a kiss and dodged out the window, barely squeezing through the narrow space. "Love you," he whispered. He balanced on the ledge, before he jumped to the soft grass, wet with early morning dew, two stories below.

"Crap," Maggie exclaimed. She heard her mother scale the last step and pause on the landing. Keys jangled and the lock turned. Maggie scrambled off the bed and fumbled with an oversized t-shirt and shorts. She hopped back into the bed and pulled the covers up high, faking sleep.

Ginger felt guilty about waking her daughter up so early on the morning after prom night. Not so guilty though that she wasn't letting herself in at six in the morning. She had an early shift today and had to be at the hospital at seven. Impatience was one of her weak points and she could simply not wait twelve and a half hours to get all the details about the prom from Maggie. Maggie could go back to sleep and sleep all day after she shared the deets and sent her poor mother work. Besides, Ginger had stacks of prom pictures from last night printed and ready to go into a scrapbook. She wanted Maggie to see them and pick out the very best to share with the girls on the unit over coffee this morning. "Maggie honey, you awake?"

Maggie pretended to awaken, yawning and turning in the bed. "Mom?" she said sleepily. "What are you doing here?" Her mom was dressed in scrubs and white leather tennis shoes. Thank God, she wouldn't be visiting long. Maggie glanced at the clock. It was six fifteen in the morning. This would be a brief interrogation. She pushed her weary body up on the pillows and snapped on the lamp on her nightstand. "It's early."

Ginger flopped on the edge of the bed, pictures clamped in her fingers. "Well, I couldn't wait all day for you to wake up. I have to be at the hospital by seven. I've got prom pictures and you've just simply got to tell me everything. I want to hear every little detail from last night. How'd it go?"

Ginger's mother sense was ringing on high alert. Maggie's bed was a mess. Her daughter was a sound sleeper, she hardly moved once she fell asleep. But, the blankets were wadded up at the foot of the bed and the bottom sheet was curled up into a heap at the head. A stack of pillows was strewn across the floor. The prom dress was hung neatly on a hanger. But, the pile of shoes and stockings in the living room, the bra wadded up on the dresser, and the panties, heaped on the floor were enough to tip her off. She stifled the lecture building on the tip of her tongue and reached down to pick up the bow tie, a man's bow tie, haphazardly tucked underneath a clump of covers. "You got something you want to tell me?" she asked, holding the tie in between her fingertips.

Maggie shrank under the covers, staring at Cole's bow tie. She didn't think her mom would go for a quick 'um not really' kind of answer. She didn't even buy that answer herself. Her mom knew. Her mom always knew in that uncanny way that moms always know what their kids are up to. Maggie had nothing to hide. What reason did she have to cower in shame? She was almost nineteen, old enough to make her own path in this life and although she wanted her mother's support and guidance in everything she did, she could get by without it if she had to. "I love him."

Ginger wadded the tie tightly in her fists. She had at least a thousand prepared and practiced speeches in her head on why Maggie should not fall in love with this vampire. Most of them she'd already tried on Lori and failed miserably. If anything, she should be thrilled that her daughters would live on into immortality long, long after she was dust in her grave. But, there was a downside, a harsh downside. A price paid for cheating nature out of its prize. Her daughters would never have children. Her penance for introducing them into this dark underworld that existed alongside the world of the living was that each one of her daughters had fallen in love with a vampire. Her punishment was more severe than she could have dreamed. She'd never, ever get to hold a grandchild in her arms.

Ginger could accept Maggie's decisions and pray for the best or she could fight her daughter with bitter, biting argument after argument and risk alienating her, losing her all together. She chose to accept and pray. "I guess the talk about the birds and the bees is a bit unnecessary then isn't it."

Maggie exhaled the worried breath trapped in her throat. She expected her mom to rant and rave, threaten and argue till she was blue in the face. Instead, she sat perched on the edge of the bed, with the tie and the envelope full of prom pictures clutched in her hands. "Mom, I really, really love him."

Ginger sighed and handed the prom pictures and the tie to Maggie. "If he ever hurts my baby girl, I've got an old broken broom handle in the basement that'll do the job nicely. So, tell me about the prom."

Maggie grinned and flipped through the pictures as she recanted the details about the decorations, the dresses, the tuxes, and all the details about the prom. She left nothing, no matter how insignificant out. The snapshots of Cole hardly did him justice. But, they made her heart stutter wildly in her chest. He was so perfect, so amazingly beautiful. She helped her mom pick out the best of the candid poses to brag over and set the rest aside for the scrapbooks. They talked, filling every minute of the brief time before her mom reluctantly pushed off from the bed. "Thanks, mom."

Ginger looked down at her daughter, slightly confused. Maggie was a glow with the possibilities of young love. Her expression bloomed with optimism and hope for what tomorrow and the day after might bring. "For what?"

"Sometimes, I need my mom and sometimes I need a friend. Thanks for knowing that this morning, I needed a friend."

Ginger nodded and took the pictures carefully chosen by Maggie for bragging rights. "My pleasure." Her instincts wanted to rant and rave, lecture and cajole Maggie into daughterly compliance. She'd chosen to be a friend, to quietly listen and share a sacred piece of Maggie's heart instead. "Maggie, if I could offer a piece of motherly and friendly advice."

"Sure."

"Don't be in a hurry to grow up. Take your time. Life is uncertain, as uncertain and as much of a gamble as love. Don't give yours, your love or your life, away too quickly." Ginger glanced at the clock and frowned. Thirty minutes might as well have been thirty seconds. "I've got to go to work." She left her daughter with the remainder of the prom pictures and plenty to think about. She hoped her words, whether they were the good intentioned advice of a good friend or the sage wisdom of a mother, took root.

Maggie drew her knees up under her chin and took a long time staring at the pictures from last night, long after her mom pulled out of the drive for work. She had things she wanted out of this life, goals yet to be achieved. She loved Cole with all her heart and soul and had no idea of exactly how he'd fit into her plans. There was time, plenty of it, to work on things and for things to work out all on their own.

Cole crouched on the border of the woods. The wrinkled tux and the highly polished black leather shoes weren't exactly ideal hunting apparel. The early morning light was a blinding splendor through the trees, driving him back to the depths of the woods to seek out shade of thicker, low hanging branches. Prey grazed nearby on tender shoots of corn. He could hear the deer chewing. Smell their musky scent on the freshness of the morning breeze. In the dawn, out here in the woods, he could give in and let his predator off the chain and he did, barefoot, bare chested, relieved of the burden of the dress shirt and impractical shoes. He ran, hunted, and drank his fill.

Chapter 123

Robert waited for his son to return. Cole had been out all night. Robert could only imagine how many hearts his son had broken over the course of his teenage years. Cole was a good looking kid. He had an easy, effortless style that drew girls to him like bees to blossoms. Robert was hardly a candidate for father of the year. But, he had to have this talk, the talk, with his son. Hell, what did he know about sex? Not much. He didn't want to think about how long it had been since he held a woman in his arms and felt the warmth of a body in the bed next to him.

Cole took the long way through the compound. Padding along darkened tunnels seldom used. His feet bare, he carried the shoes. He did not want to run into Janine. The tux was a disheveled wreck and he had no desire to explain how it got so wrinkled or so badly abused. He did not want to run into John Mark and account for his absence last night. John Mark sometimes, hell often, crossed the line between mentor and friend into that of a surrogate father. Cole already had one dad and this morning he wanted to avoid him too. He didn't want to talk about last night. He wanted to relish in the marvel of being in love and hold it in deep secret, his secret, for as long as he could.

Didn't look like his luck was going to hold out. He scented his father the minute he rounded the corner to his room. Stiffening, Cole crossed the distance and opened the door. "Hi."

Robert took one look at his son and knew the talk was too late. He didn't have to touch Cole to know. His boy was in love. "Hi." He took one look at the disheveled suit and filled in the blanks. He floundered for something to say as Cole peeled off the jacket and did his best to smooth out the wrinkled fabric. "You just getting back?"

Cole raised his eyebrows at his dad and continued to pick bits of lint off the jacket. He didn't see the need in confirming the obvious. "Don't you think we're long past the point of a father-son lecture?"

Robert nodded. "I wasn't going to lecture you." He picked up the shoes and brushed off a layer of mud with the hem of his shirt. "Just answer me this. Do you love her?"

Cole's hand stopped their meticulous grooming of the jacket and he paused, deep in thought. "I do."

"Then you'll give her time."

"Dad, that's one thing I have plenty of." Cole began working the belt through the loops of his slacks. One thing hung in the air between his father and he. The fact, the painful obvious fact that he had plenty of time while Maggie and his father did not. "No matter what happens, I won't force this on anybody. I would if she asked it of me. But, if she doesn't, if she never does, I won't force her. I love her. I love her enough to let her make the decision on her own. It's not an easy thing, Dad. Knowing I'll never change. Watching those around me that I love age. Eventually, I'll watch them grow old and die, while I remain essentially like this. In a way, I was jealous of those kids at the prom last night. They'll grow up and move on, while I stay stuck like this, in a state of perpetual suspended animation. I don't want to let her go. But, I love her too much to trap her at my side against her will."

"You sound like you've already thought this through," Robert said. Someplace in the recesses of his mind his son would be perpetually ten years old. Looking at him now, he saw not the boy, but the man his son was evolving into. He was prouder than he'd ever have words to say of that man.

"I turned someone for the sake of love. For David and Nora, it was the right decision. For Maggie and me, maybe someday, it might be. It might not be. I'd love her for who she is, no matter if she's ninety and I'm perpetually nineteen."

Robert nodded, "Good." He shrugged, "So you don't need the birds and the bees talk?"

Cole snickered. He'd gotten more of a glimpse into his dad's life than he ever wanted to know through the sharing of his blood. The old man was a hermit, practically a monk. If anyone needed the talk, it was his father. "Nah, I got it covered. But, if you need some pointers, I'd be glad to help you out."

Robert grinned at his kid. "Think the old man doesn't have it where it counts?" He hid his embarrassment at his lack of sexual prowess behind a well aimed, playful punch at Cole's shoulder.

Cole faked injury, rubbing his shoulder. "You know what they say, Dad. If you don't use it you lose it."

"Whatever kid," Robert snickered. "You'd better get a shower. John Mark has been looking for you."

"Great," Cole muttered under his breath and rolled his eyes. He hurried into the shower and changed into workout gear. His dad sat patiently on the sofa waiting for him. "Dad, what would you want done if...when..."

Robert looked up at his son and the seriousness on his expression. Would he want to be a vampire? Would he really want it? "I'm just getting to know you. I don't want to lose you so soon. I've deprived you of your father for too long. Yes, if you had no other choice. Yes. I'd rather be drinking blood at your side than rotting in my grave before we fully got to know each other again."

"Ok." Cole finished pulling on his boots and lacing them as his dad left him alone in the room. He hoped his dad would live a long, full life, but if something happened. At least he knew. He could do something about it. He didn't have to watch his father die needlessly. He was a man, but in so many ways, he was still a boy who needed and wanted his father by his side, always.

Chapter 124

Daniel spent a lot of time hiding in his room. He avoided everyone. He couldn't stand their pitying stares. The way they carefully guarded their conversations when they were around him. Couldn't mention the city. Couldn't mention the battle or the ones lost for fear of upsetting him.

They treated him as if he were made of glass, hollow and unstable as if a strong wind would topple him over and shatter him. His brother Tristen came to see him often. His dad tried to reassure him. Gina tried to console him. Mouse tried to divert him with her boundless energy. His grandfather tried to encourage him to move past what had happened. The only thing anyone wanted for him was for him to live. He wasn't sure what it meant anymore to be alive. He existed day to day. His emotions sealed off from the world and from himself. The only thing he felt, was hunger, a cold, empty gnawing hunger that no matter if he ate or didn't was never satisfied. This wasn't the hunger of the wolf, but it was somehow more visceral, a deep starvation. Yesette's hunger. The hunger of the vampire.

Drew rubbed Tala's stomach tenderly. She was beginning to show the first signs of pregnancy. What had happened, the fact that she'd gotten pregnant at all or what the baby growing inside of her was destined to be baffled Dr. Thomas Sterling and the Shaman. Drew had faith in the child's fate. He regretted that O'Sullivan had killed to get his hands on the gift, the faint promise of what might be. The baby would be guarded its whole life. Protected deep within the confines of the compound. The baby would be a secret that no other would learn.

Eric kept a low profile. He hunted in the same woods as the wolves. He hid and watched, ever patient in his waiting for the right moment to strike. The Sons were looking for him. The wolves were on high alert to even the slightest trace of his scent. They searched everywhere but the one place they should be looking. He hid in plain sight right under their noses and laughed at their apparent blindness. Soon enough, he'd have what he wanted. He had plenty of time for patiently playing the game.

He did nothing to tip his hand. No missing persons. No drained carcasses. He hunted in absolute discretion. Like a thief in the night, he'd travel for hundreds of miles, stalk his prey and feed in complete avarice then return home, to wait and to watch.

Bianca did her best to play house with Michael. He hadn't given in to the subtleties of her advances. Always dodging the bullet with that creative way of his. He wanted her. He loved her. This she knew. But, the days and nights of waiting for them to come together, the solitude and silence of the woods, and the deep cavernous tomb that he called home, all took their toll. He kept her secrets and she his. She was safe, thanks to him. She owed him a great deal, but not her life.

His life was not for her. She could tolerate this isolation and inertia no more than he could be content in the pulsing heart of the city that was home to her and her guardians. Without a backward glance, she packed her bags one night and left, the woods, the compound, and hope for love behind her and returned to the place where her heart craved to be, the city.

Shayla rested in the solace of Tracker's love. She ducked away from his questions before he could speak them. She avoided all talk of a formal mating ceremony or of children. Tracker's affections for her were a bandaid over the wounds that still bled for Carter. She was trying as best she could to love and to move on with Tracker. But, she still wondered, still had the thought nagging at the back of her mind. Would love ever be enough to close the wounds permanently?

Robert found peace at the compound. He offered Cole fatherly input whenever he could. But, mostly he became his friend. He thought often of lost chances and of the clock that could never be rewound. He spoke to Jess on occasion and they shared memories, happy ones of Cole and the life they almost had. He wished Jess well. He wanted only good things for her and her family. He hoped for a few good things for himself. That when time would finally catch up with him and he'd be open to let them come.

Carter guarded Yessette. He watched for the madness that was sure to manifest itself in weeks or months. She was a fragile thing. He did his best to comfort her when the hunger roared like a beast. Reassuring her that this was for the best and the only way. He had difficulty with his own pain. Earning his salvation was an agonizing task and repentance, hard earned with each passing day trapped in this icy wilderness. Soon, he told Yessette and himself. Soon, their suffering would be over.

Chapter 125

Cole spent the weeks of summer, fleeting and urgent as a lover's kiss, with Maggie. Her family accepted him, bit by bit. Their love grew stronger with each rise of the sun and fall of the moon. Time flew by in too big of a hurry to get where it was going and Orion woke his sleepy head and began his track across the night sky, traveling from east, and creeping closer and closer to the west. Soon the heat of summer vanished and the cool of fall with its clear skies and brilliantly colored leaves began.

Today was the big day, a day of unanswered questions, Maggie packed her meager belongings and Cole helped her load them into the truck. She was going off to college to begin a new chapter in her life. She had no idea what she would learn or where her studies would take her. She decided on an English major, for now. Who knew what the future held?