Walking with the Vampire |COMPLETE|

36. Shepherd's Creek

Nicholae checked if the wards were still active before disabling them, allowing Fauna and Cayden into the large apartment complex and into the elevator.

'I finally get to meet the famous Danielle Carter.' His voice held no warmth or emotion, revealing nothing about his true feeling about meeting the woman responsible for his cousin's condition.

'Have you heard a lot about her?' Fauna was the one who asked the question.
Cayden shook his head.
'Not from Osei. He doesn't like talking about her, it was Loki who told me.'

'Don't judge her too harshly. She made a mistake, I'm sure we can all relate.'

'Valentina?' Cayden asked.
It was obviously a guess on Cayden's part but it didn't fail to illicit a surprise response from Nicholae.
They stepped out of the elevator onto the penthouse suit.

Clarissa came rushing out of her room eyes wide obviously not expecting them to have returned so soon.
'Nick! You're here. Already.'

'I've had to push things forward.'
Cayden eyed the girl in the floral jumpsuit and waited for Nicholae to introduce them and tell him who she was and why she was here too.

'Cayden, Fauna this is Clarissa.'
That was all he gave them. Most likely Fauna knew who she was.

'Where is Danielle?' Nicholae asked.

'Hello Cayden. Nice to meet you, Fauna.'
Clarissa offered her hand and shook theirs.
'Make yourself comfortable. Do you need a drink? Anything I can get for you?'

Fauna looked at Cayden who looked right back. She could also sense the nervousness in the girl's voice.

'She's not here, is she?' Nicholae's voice grew cold with hidden emotion.
Clarissa kept her shaky hand plastered on her face, her eyes wide with uncertainty.
Nicholae closed the gap between him and her.

'Tell me where she is.'
He went straight for compulsion.

'Shepherd's Creek.'
Nicholae swore under under his breath.

'My Lord- '
Nicholae silenced Fauna's protests with a wave of his hand.

'Why?' Nicholae asked Clarissa.

'She went home, to see her mother. It's because her mother is sick.'
Clarissa pleaded at the very end.
'You have to understand.'

This is why humans can't be trusted.
Nicholae ran a frustrated hand down his face and rubbed his aching temples.
He thought they understood him when he advised them not to leave the penthouse without letting him know first.
That was a stupid move to make on Danielle's part especially now that the stakes were much higher.
The cramps he'd been trying to ignore in his stomach returned with merciless vengeance.

'Are you okay, man?' Cayden worried from behind.

'I'm good.' He lied.

'So what are we going to now My Lord?'
Nicholae drew his lips in a tight smile.

'We're going to Shepherd's Creek.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nicholae recalled a dark time in his life when he fell off the rails. It had been after Valentina's 'death'. He'd been grieving very hard but in a wrong way, so, in truth he'd done certain things that he wasn't proud of. Things that could have had him detained by the police in the Valley had he not been a Tchkovsky.
In that time of his life, he'd been high on drugs and the drugs made him into a profound mess. Everyone he saw doubled as a blood bag keeping him always thirsting for blood.
Just as the hunger was doing to him now.