• WARNING: GETS MORBID. PLEASE DON'T PUKE OR PASS OUT.


    -:>Leonardo<:-


    I sat in the chair, tapping my fingers impatiently on the wooden arm as I watched Alex sleep. She seemed restless, but the medication from her surgery hadn't worn off completely yet.

    "Mari, you'd better hurry." I murmered urgently, glancing quickly out the rain-streaked window. I couldn't see a thing but the grey sky above and the dark pavement below, but I could feel that Mari was moving quickly through the parking lot to get out of the rain.

    "You're on your own now, Mari. Just be quick about it, please." I whispered. I closed my eyes and listened to the rain drone on, singing a quiet lullaby to me and my stepsister.


    -:>Maribelle<:-


    I shielded Dessy from the large raindrops and scurried toward the door, avoiding the rushing cars that sped toward the few empty parking spots left.

    Finally, after about five minutes of dodging ignorant cars and people -- who I couldn't smell because I forced myself not to breathe -- I stepped through the sliding door entrance to the hospital.

    Once inside, I examined my surroundings; there was a long desk off to the side that curled around to another hallway, padded chairs with gaily dressed backs sat everywhere around the waiting room. The chairs themselves were ironic, a bright happy color in this depressing place.

    The secretary there at the desk smiled welcomely, but tiredly, and ushered me over.

    "I haven't seen you around here before. You must be visiting?" The elderly woman said, eyes crinkling at the edges with the wise smile that set on her face.

    "I am. Do you have a Stephanie Bentington on the list? I'm her mother." I said quietly, remembering Leo's cover he had explained over the phone. I nervously turned to stare at the eyes that bore into my back.

    "Yes, I believe we do. The famous tragedy with the trampoline. Everyone's talking about it. Her father was the most handsome man, too. Won't leave her side for anything, even a little something from the deli." The secretary babbled on while she pulled up a file on the computer, and I slowly realized that this woman's blood wasn't as intriguing as Alexandra's. I willed myself a tiny breath, and then another.

    "Here we are, room 132. That's on the second floor, mind you. The elevator is straight down this hallway, second space to the left. You can't miss it, flashing lights and everything." The woman smiled again at me.

    "Thank you so much, Ma'am." I said and shifted Dessy's bag over my shoulder, then turned to my left and followed the curve of the desk to the hallway the woman had gestured at.


    I stood at the end of the hall after stepping off the elevator, looked both ways, then followed Alexandra's scent to a nearby room. I stepped through the semi-open door, and looked to the bed. Alexandra was sprawled across it as if she could not find a place to be comfortable, and Leo was in the chair, dozing off.

    I closed the door behind me quietly and held Dessy up to Leo's face; she licked Leo's nose, and his eyes blinked open quickly. I smiled smugly at him, and he stood up in a rush.

    "No fatalities?" He asked with a hopeful voice, staring relentlessly at me. I shrugged, then seeing his angry face, I held his shoulders.

    "I behaved. No problem," I glaced to Alexandra who was quietly stirring in her sleep, then looked back to Leo and grinned childfully, "so far."

    "Well, should I wake her up?" Leo offered, following my nervous gaze to the bed. I nodded silently and set Dessy down on the chair Leo had previously evacuated.

    Leo tapped her shoulder twice, then stood back and wrapped his arms around my waist. We watched as she stared at the ceiling for a moment, then turned her gaze to us at the end of her bed.

    Dessy mewled loudly, the sound nervous and knowing.

    "Mari, you came." Alexandra's voice sounded clouded and drunk with sleep, then a startling recognition entered her eyes that made my blood run cold. I could feel the blood from my vampire monthly stir restlessly in my throat at her look, and soon it was dripping down my chin.

    "Did you bite me?!" Alexandra's eyes were wide with utter fear at the blood, and I rubbed hard at the spot.

    "Why would I bite you, dear?" I asked, laughing humorlessly and lightly. She narrowed her eyes at me and struggled to her feet, then towered over Leo and I with her I.V. in her clenched fist.

    "Did you bite me?!" Alexandra repeated angrily, a dark flame implanted in her deadly stare.

    "No! Of course not!" I stammered, my breath coming heavily now. I cowered into Leo's chest under Alexandra's gaze, but nothing changed when she narrowed her eyes.

    "I know what you two are. Stop kidding with me, and tell me, DID YOU BITE ME!!" Alexandra screamed, and I took a step back into Leo.

    "No, but I'll have to if you don't stop!" Leo yelled back, wrapping his arms securely around my shivering arms.

    Alexandra's eyes flickered to Leo, then she returned her stare on me, poison in her now quiet voice.

    "I'm sorry, Leo. But I'll have to kill you two now." Alexandra ripped the I.V. from her arm and she leapt onto us with feline grace despite her ruined leg. She tore Leo from my grasp, then grabbed a pair of scissors from the tray nearby and stabbed them into Leo's jugular.

    "No!" I whimpered and fell to my knees, reaching out for Leo's still hand. Alexandra turned her crazed eyes at me and stood, then started at me. Still stunned, I grasped her wrist and plunged my teeth deep into the tissue. I could feel the poison off my teeth sink into her bloodstream, which was also pouring into my mouth.

    Her expression turned lifeless as she lowered to her knees in front of me. I had to tear myself from her arm before I totally drained her of her life. I struggled to my feet and lunged to Leo's side, and wiped his hair out of his face with my blood-stained hand. He grasped my other hand and smiled, struggling to breathe. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth and of his eyes.

    "Mari, I love you." His grasp tightened, then fell limply from my hand. His eyes glazed over and half-closed, and I could actually feel the tears coming to my eyes.

    "I love you too, Leo." I whimpered quietly and laid by his side, cradling my head against his still chest.

    About five feet away, Alexandra stood with some tipping, and she whirled to me.

    "Kill me!" I challenged, tears blurring my vision. "Kill me now! You can live the rest of your existence in pain and suffering for all I care! Just kill me now!" My challenge was becoming a plea as sobs were ripped from my chest.

    "If that's what you wish." Alexandra said, over-confident, and she lunged at my throat with the scissors.

    I felt the blades sink into my skin, and the pain and sorrow seeped slowly from my veins. The last thing I saw was Alexandra standing victoriously over me with bloody scissors in hand, the poison in her stare gone as she examined what she had done.


    Mari. I heard and whipped around. The darkness was nearly blinding, and it hurt to open my eyes.

    Mari, come with me. You're safe now, Love. My eyes fluttered open, and I took in the scene with amazement. I was at home, on my couch. I looked above me and saw Leo standing over me, his brilliant face smiling.

    "Leo." I murmered, happy tears gathering as I reached out to touch his face.

    "No, Love." His hand grasped my wrist and pushed it toward my chest. "It's your father, Mari."

    The scene began to clear. I wasn't on my couch, I was on an unfamiliar bed, with two people leaning over me now. The other I could recognize as my mother, and soon, my father's face was recognizeable again.

    "Father. Where's Leo?" I sat up quickly, but the blood rushed from my head too quickly and forced me back down.

    "Love, Leo's dead. I thought you knew." My father's face was undeniable now, the sorrow embedded in his lovely silver eyes.

    "Dead?" I whimpered, then clutched my neck where I had felt Alexandra stab me. "And I'm not?"

    My father shook his head sadly. "You didn't lose enough blood to kill you, Love."

    "No..." I stammered, shaking my head roughly, denying the truth I knew. "NO!" The painful scream tore my heart in two, tears were running so fast I couldn't even separate the ceiling from the bedframe.

    "NOO!" I wept and sat up, looking around frantically for the nearest sharp object I could find. Finally, my grasp found a long shard of glass from the broken mirror nearby, and I drew it to my heart.

    "I love you, Father, Mother." I sobbed and drove the glass into my chest. Father and Mother didn't make any move to stop me, but soon, everything ebbed away into a pleasant darkness.


    "Maribelle, I will love you forever and always." Leo dances before me, his crimson eyes boring into mine.

    "Same to you, my love." I respond with a bright smile. He presses his cold lips to mine, then takes my hand and leads me through the bright light that lays before us.