Diamonds of the Past

Chapter 3 - And so it begins

Karla collapsed on her knees. She didn't register the pain. Flaming red hair fell in chaotic waves around her as she gasped for breath and shivered. Valentine was by her side in a second. He took her into his arms, both kneeling on the marble floor of the living room and he caressed her gently. The redhead grabbed with one hand his upper arm and dug her nails hard without even fully realizing it as she still gasped for precious breath.

"Shh, my little flame, you're safe, I'm here. What are you seeing?" Val's voice was soft, soothing, but it didn't stop the shaking.

"It's... cold.. so... cold." Karla barely whispered the words through gritted teeth. "I see.. him." The shaking was getting worse.

"Who, Karla? Who do you see? Where are you?" Val asked with urgency, yet not raising his voice. The visions about the past rarely affected her that much, but when she experienced visions of the present it was usually violent and it left her weakened for days. Yet those were the precious ones, the ones Val and his siblings cared most about. His body did provide some warmth for Karla since Val had recently fed, however, the cold she was feeling wasn't exactly physical, so it didn't make much of a difference in the end.

"Val, help me." Tears escaped her eyes onto her freckled cheeks. "I can't stand the... the cold." She stuttered one tear after the other flowing from her eyes.

"I'm here, Karla. You can do it. The cold is not real, it's just in your head." His caresses became more rushed on her exposed skin. The cold might have been in her head, but her skin had indeed become dangerously cold for a human. Val still needed to know what she was seeing. "Tell me more, Karla. Focus on where you are and what you're seeing. Listen to my voice and forget about the cold." He gently turned her around so that she was now facing him, her open eyes looking at him, but not seeing her lover at all. He cupped her face and brought his own close to her until their foreheads touched. "Karla, talk to me, my little flame."

The shivering became slightly less pronounced. "A cave. I'm in a cave, on a mountain." There was a pause. Val said nothing out of fear of her snapping out of the vision. "Anshar... he's lying on a stone. It's cold, damp and dark." Her voice was barely even a whisper and Val was the only force keeping her from collapsing to the floor entirely.

"What else, Karla? What more can you tell me?" Val's voice was almost pleading. Karla's tears were trickling down his own arms. She was very cold and her eyelids slowly started covering her blue eyes. Val shifted slightly to catch her in his arms as she finally lost consciousness. The vampire stood, holding the beautiful and unconscious redhead in his arms. He carried her upstairs to her bedroom, calling for Amantha, one of the women working in his house, on the way. Val placed the young woman gently on her bed. He drew the covers over her then turned to Amantha. "Her body temperature is very low. I leave her in your care." 

He turned and left the room. His cell phone was already dialing someone. "Aram, we need to meet. Karla saw something." The conversation was short. She had not seen much, but any information was precious. A cave. Their maker was somewhere in a cave, on some mountain... somewhere. Oddly enough, it still narrowed down their search. 

Val left his lover in the care of someone else. Amantha had taken care of Karla before, she knew what was to be done for she also had been trained as a nurse. It wasn't that Val didn't care about his lover. Oh, he did. He cared about her visions and her potential. He loved the human, but Val's love was not selfless, exclusive or unconditional. It didn't matter much, he had Karla wrapped around his little finger. Her life with him was good, she was cared for, showered with presents and attention and everything she needed was one phone call away... except for Val's heart. She didn't truly have that. Then again, she didn't know that.

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Bach was Amelia's choice for listening while alone with her thoughts. She leaned against the side of the car, looking at the darkened remains of the house. The fire had destroyed most of it, but the years passed since then had allowed some vegetation to invade its ruins. The house Amelia had been born in, the one in which her parents had met their end, that was the object of her visit. There were no other houses in the vicinity, only a grove that surrounded it on three sides. The moon was full, the sky clear and that meant that the night didn't hide as many secrets from human eyes as the rest of the month.