The Dead May Rise ✓ (GxG)

Fourteen

"What?" Donnie sounded shocked. Her hand was still interlaced with Bear's. "By who?"

    "I-I don't know," Dagmar responded, sounding somewhat overwhelmed.

     "I'll tell you what… It's probably those conniving krauts…," Pyotr commented. He quickly said to Dagmar, "No offense."

     "Dammit," Bear growled. She closed her eyes for a second as if she was thinking. Finally, she opened her golden eyes once again. "I'll try to track down where they took him."

    Pyotr's gaze dropped down a little, falling upon Bear and Donnie's interlocked fingers before raising his gaze again. "I swear…" Pyotr began, his eyes locked hostilely on Bear, who seemed to be uncomfortable by the look on Pyotr's face. "Warmonger or not, if you get my little sister pregnant, I will kill you."

     Bear flinched, letting go of Donnie's hand. She swallowed. "I should start looking out for where Roman might be." She started to push off in the other direction.

     Donnie looked at Pyotr, shooting a look for his comment. "Bear!" She began to run after the older siren. She reached out, grabbing Bear's arm in hopes of getting her to stop.

    Bear stopped in her tracks turning her head to look back at Donnie. She exhaled.

     "Bear…" Donnie began, softly, stroking Bear's hand.

     "About earlier this night…" Bear swallowed. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have said what I said."

      "No, no," Donnie began to say. "You're okay."

     Bear shook her head, pulling her hand out of Donnie's grasp and stalking away.

─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

     After two weeks had passed, Roman was still missing—-and Bear was still beating herself up for his disappearance.

    Bear wouldn't feed. Every time she was offered blood to feast upon, she turned it away.

   Bear wouldn't sleep either. She'd lie away both night and day rambling about how she should've watched out for Roman better.

    Bear's behavior was really starting to worry Aedona—-but alas, there was something else on Donnie's mind as well: her mysterious illness.

     A few days ago, Aedona had felt herself feeling nauseous—-it had been persistent since then.

      It's weird, Donnie began to think to herself. I thought by being converted over to sirenism that I wouldn't deal with illness like this… She shrugged that thought off as she shifted in her seat.

    Donnie sat for a couple of seconds in silence fighting bouts of nausea before thinking about the topic once again. "Val," she called out as she saw her adopted son pass by.

     "Yeah?" Valeryan responded. He seemed to be a bit nervous—-most likely due to Roman's disappearance.

     "What day is it?" The red haired siren asked Valeryan. Truthfully, due to her being wrapped up with this whole 'siren business', Donnie had lost track of time.

     "September 2nd… Why?" Valeryan answered, sounding somewhat confused.

       The second? Wait… That makes no sense. Did I miss my… Aedona's mind trailed off as her heart began to sink. It can't be… Unless... She swallowed before thinking back to Pyotr's comment he had made weeks ago when Roman had first disappeared.

     "Are you okay?" Valeryan asked as he approached his adoptive mother. He took a seat by her.

       Can sirens even produce offspring after they're turned? Is that something that's possible?, Donnie internally questioned herself. "Um," She began to answer Valeryan's query. "I-" She exhaled. "Can you give me a moment, Valeryan?"

     Valeryan nodded as Donnie got up.

     Aedona headed toward Bear who was scrunched up, far away from everyone else in camp. "Bear!" She called out.

      "Leave me be," Bear groaned.

      "Bear," Aedona repeated solemnly. "I need to ask you something… It's serious."

      Bear exhaled before looking up at Donnie from where she sat, leaning against a tree. "What?"

      "I know this is going to sound weird but…" Aedona trailed off before sucking in a breath. "Can sirens… produce offspring even after their converted over?" She bit her lip.

      Bear seemed confused by the question, thinking that it seemed to come out of nowhere. "Uh… Yeah. They can."

      Donnie's heart skipped a beat. "What?"

      "They're supposed to be the most fertile race in all of the realms," Bear explained.

       Aedona felt her hand rise up and fall upon her abdomen.

       Bear eyed Donnie. "Aedona… Do you need to tell me something?"

       "No," Aedona responded quickly. "It's was just a theoretical question…" She turned, walking away, leaving Bear watching as she went.

     ─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

    Donnie avoided Bear for the next few hours. She confided in Valeryan, who promised he wouldn't tell anyone else.

     Finally, Bear left the place she was wallowing in to move into the center of camp. She cleared her throat, trying to get the attention of everyone else; Bear had to do this a few times to have everyone look over.

     "I know exactly who took Roman," Bear told the group. "His name is Boris Artyomov…" She said the name in a condescending tone. "He's a werewolf."

     "You sound like you know him," Donnie said.

     "And that you hate him," Pyotr added on.

      "Boris hurt my mother… He took my brother," Bear began, solemnly. "And that's why I'm going to kill him."