Bleeding Love

Chapter Fifty: Four Years Later

Daniella took a deep breath as she stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, it had been four years since the war between the vampires and hunters had begun; four years since she had watched her husband leave to fight.

Daniella couldn’t believe that it had been so long since Gerard had been home to her and their son that it made her wonder if he would ever come home.

“Mama,” called a voice making Daniella smile, Henri looked so much like his father that Daniella knew that Gerard would have been so happy; she shook her head stepping out of the bathroom.

Henri smiled up at his mother as she appeared, he loved her so much and she did everything to make sure that he knew so much about his father.

“Are you nearly ready?” Daniella asked carefully moving to slip on her black square toe court shoes, she smiled at her son sure that everything was okay; he had school today and she was sure that the others would be there.

Henri nodded his head excitedly, he was wearing a blue stripe pocket T-shirt and navy cuffed denim jeans paired with navy velcro strap pumps for school.

The pair no longer lived in the coven house and Daniella hated the divide that had formed between her and Cristina; the two had fallen out and it had fractured the Barcelona coven in a way it could never recover from.

Daniella still spoke with Patricia, Carla and Katie, the foursome growing close because their children were all around the same ages.

Henri, Luca, Lia and Thiago were all in the same school year and it had been a strong bond between the four that had kept the fractured coven together when Daniella had moved out of the coven house and back into her apartment.

***

Daniella smiled as Henri ran a head of her to greet his friends, she stopped watching him for a moment; she had to be at the council soon and she was sure that there was more bad news.

Daniella took a deep breath wondering what Gerard would think if he ever came back, so much had changed in four years and she wasn’t the same person that she had been anymore.

“You look good,” Katie said moving to stand beside Daniella, she eyed the black sleeveless cowl neck blouse and black straight leg jeans paired with a black textured bomber jacket; she had grown used to the more grown up look that her friend carried.

Daniella nodded her head and smiled at Katie, she was her best friend and they had been through so much together; Daniella had been by her side when Thiago had been born and Katie had done the same when Cristina had snapped.

“Any news?” Katia asked carefully, she relied on her friend for news about the war; no one could find anything out unless they were privy to the information.

Daniella shook her head, she only ever heard whispers of death when she was working with her parents; it was never easy and they usually turned out true.

“Nothing…” Daniella said with a sigh, she had heard very little about Gerard and the other members of the coven; news was rare about them and Daniella hoped that this was a good sign.

Katie nodded her head, she hated that Lionel had never met his son; Thiago was so much like his father that sometimes it hurt.

“They’ll be okay,” Daniella said trying to reassure Katie, she didn’t know what else to say and the war had dragged on for four years now; there was little signs of anything ending soon.

Katie nodded her head, she didn’t know what she would do when Lionel finally came home but she knew that she wanted to marry him; she had been engaged for so long that she wanted to be his wife.

“Cristina's moving to Germany… she wants to get away for a few months,” Katie said carefully, she was upset how things had worked out and she had hoped that things would calm down but it wasn’t going to happen.

Cristina blamed the prolonged absence of her husband on the council for declaring the war against the hunters and since Daniella was a council member she held her to blame for what was happening.

“I was wondering if we could stay with you for a while,” Katie asked she didn’t want to stay on her own in the coven house with Thiago and she knew that there was room in Daniella’s apartment.

Daniella nodded her head as she smiled, Henri waved to her as the children were called in to school; Daniella sighed watching him leave, he was perfect and it was a shame that Gerard didn’t get to see him.

***

It had been one thousand, five hundred and fifty-two days, it had been fifty-one months, it had been over four years since Gerard had last seen Daniella and he was shocked at how long it had been.

Shaking his head as he walked into his room, Gerard ran a hand through his hair as he peeked at the picture of his wife and son; it had arrived in her last letter to him and it broke his heart.

Gerard had no idea what his son looked like now but he was sure that Henri was perfect; he could barely sense his bond with the little boy and his bond with Daniella had weakened.

Gerard didn’t know what was happening in Barcelona but he hoped that his wife and son was safe; he dreaded to think what he would do if he returned to discover that they had been killed.

Gerard shook his head as Lionel walked into the room that they shared, it had been a tough four years and the cracks were starting to show.

Gerard took a shaky breath sitting down, he eyed the scars that Lionel now carried; the human world had no idea what had happened to the footballers only that they had retired before disappearing.

Gerard hated how warped everything had become, he wanted to be at home with Daniella and Henri; he wanted to contact them to make sure they were safe.

“You okay?” Lionel asked looking over at Gerard, the two had been room-mates for a while now and it hadn’t been easy; they had grown stronger as had David and Cesc who they saw around the base.

Pep was the only one that they didn’t see a lot of, they weren’t even sure what had happened to their coven leader; he had been distant with them when they had last saw him but that had been months ago.

Gerard nodded his head, he lay back on his bed wondering how much longer this would go on; he didn’t like that it had dragged out for so long and he just wanted to go home.

Cesc burst into the room with a smile on his face, he looked at his two friends preparing to share the news that he had just heard.

Lionel shared a look with Gerard, they had all been through so much and they had never seen Cesc this excited in years; something was happening and it had clearly been good news.

“What is it Cesc?” Gerard said sitting up, his blue eyes watching his friend as he tried to sound bored; he didn’t get his hopes up anymore, he had no idea what to expect anymore.

Cesc grinned looking between his friends, he was so glad that he had been around when the call had come in; they would be the first to hear the wonderful news.

“We’re going home,” Cesc said making Lionel and Gerard stare at him, they couldn’t believe that this was actually happening.