The Beginning of the End (Madison, Darian, etc...)

[Darian Raniari]

Darian bit back a scathing comment.

He certainly didn't like being told what to do by this ignorant woman, but at the same time he needed Lily alive. So, if assuring that involved taking orders from the good Dr. McClain, Darian would do so. He soothed himself by thinking about what he'd do to her shortly... Smiling cruelly, the vampire shuddered in anticipation.

Growling a bit, he stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest and remaining silent. He cast a baleful glance at Steven, who stood not too far away, looking like a perfect idiot as always. Darian actually felt a bit dirty for turning the cop into a vampire; the truth was, he'd only ever turned someone once or twice before, and they had been far more worth than this particular piece of scum. Still, the man was useful to have around, for now, and Darian fully intended to murder him as soon as possible anyway. So, it all worked out really.

After scowling at Steven for a moment or two, Darian returned his attention to Lily, and to Madison, who was working frantically to save her. He decided right then and there that if Lily died, he would tear Steven's head off with his bare hands. He'd been planning this too long to have some rookie waltz in and ruin everything. Killing Steven wouldn't bring Lily back, of course, but it was sure as hell make Darian feel better.

He sort of wanted to kill the man right now anyway, just because...

No, no, that wouldn't do. All in good time. All in good time...

[madison]

It was touch and go in the beginning, the middle, and damn near the end as Madison continued working on Lily. The pain kept trying to push it's way forward but she clamped it down, pushing it away and focusing on the woman who was so close to death's doorstep. She was doing everything in her power, but this wasn't a surgery room and she didn't have half a dozen people helping her, guiding her with vital updates and making sure she had the necessary tools. This was the floor of her living room, and all Madison had was a psychotic vampire breathing down her neck and an ex husband leering at her as she worked.

Still Madison worked furiously, her hands and mind guiding her to the most problematic places, removing bullets, stopping bleeding, stitching up wounds. It seemed an eternity had passed and there were so many times she thought Lily wasn't going to make it. Madison seemingly willed life into the young woman, not wanting her to die for so many reasons. Madison cared about Lily, and she knew for the girl to die in this way would weigh on Sastre's conscience forever. He'd never forgive himself even though Darian is the one who caused it.

Finally, it was done, and Madison was exhausted and trembling. "As long as you don't do anything stupid she should make it." She told Darian, heated venom coming out in every word. She despised the vampire with everything she was. The only person she hated more was Steven, but right now she just didn't have the energy to be scared of either one of them.

The pain came back full force, Madison winced from the sudden sensation. She had nothing to focus on now and she knew it would only get much much worse. Narrowing her gaze she leaned towards Darian, even though she was sitting on the floor and he was standing. "I'm not going to let you win. Whatever you do to me or Lily is not Sastre's fault. You're not going to win Darian. How you could even do this to your own brother is beyond me." She spat at him in disgust. "I'm not going to let you use me against him."

[Darian Raniari]

Darian snarled at the woman and backhanded her, knocking her away from Lily.

"You'd better hold your tongue if you intend on keeping it," he said to her, his voice low and menacing. "This is his fault. His! He took her away from me, and I'm only returning the favor!" By this point his entire body was trembling with rage, and he wondered for a brief moment if he wouldn't feel better just by killing her right now.

Oh it would be so satisfying, and it was so tempting too...

"No," he said quietly, to himself. "No, not yet. She has to suffer, so he can suffer. So he knows how I have suffered... Not yet, but soon. Very soon..." He laughed, an edge of madness to it that lent the sound a nightmarish quality. After a moment, his face took on a strange expression, and the laughter stopped as some small amount of sanity returned to his eyes.

"Steven, take the girl and deliver her to my associates. You know the place. They'll see to it that she's given the utmost care, Madison, I assure you..." Nodding curtly to the other vampire, Darian made sure his orders were followed, and once he was alone with Madison, he knelt down beside her.

"And how, exactly, do you intend on stopping me from using you against him?"

[madison]

Madison laughed at Darian. He was crazy. She wondered if it was simply because he'd been a vampire for so long, or because his mind was just that twisted. She shook her head before looking up at him. "Whatever you do to me. I will never blame him for. I will always love him, and the only person I will ever blame for this is you."

Where this courage was coming from Madison had no idea. The fact was she had long ago arranged it so that if something did happen to her, a letter would be given to Sastre. She was not about to let Darian ruin his life. Not by using her.

"What did he do that was so horrible, Darian? He's your brother and all you want to do is torture him." She looked at him openly with disgust. "Even if you kill me," She told him. "Sastre will kill you. He'll do the world a favor. Maybe even do Darian a favor by putting you out of your misery."

[Darian Raniari]

Darian stood and began pacing anxiously around the room.

"What did he do?" he asked, a touch of madness in his voice. "What did he do?!" spinning around, he flashed Madison a look of pure hatred, his eyes alight with insanity, and maybe a touch of genuine pain as well. "He murdered her! He stole her away from me! And so he must pay for what he did. He must experience the same loss that I have, the same pain!"

Growling under his breath, the vampire reached out and picked up an end table, tossing it across the room as if it weighed nothing. It struck the far wall and exploded into splinters. Clenching his fists, Darian turned on her once again, snarling.

"Again and again and again, I'll continue to stalk him, and I'll continue to tear everything he loves away from him! It will never end, not until he's dead and gone! Then, maybe, I'll finally find a damn bit of peace!" He paused, his chest heaving, his body trembling, and his hate-filled eyes locked onto Madison. "And he, being the sentimental fool that he is, will never be able to kill me. You don't think he's tried, a dozen times or more? He can't do it. He can't bring himself to kill his own dear brother...."

A bit of something else flashed in Darian's eyes just then, and they widened as he slowly unclenched his fists and shook his head. Closing his eyes, he shook his head again and turned his back on her, furrowing his brow in what may have been confusion. He remained silent for a long time, the only sound coming from him his ragged breathing as he slowly caught his breath. When he turned to her and spoke again, his words were soft, barely above a whisper.

"And neither, perhaps, can I," he said distantly, his eyes still wide. "But lucky for me, I don't have to kill him. No... I don't have to kill him at all... Time will take care of that for me, won't it?" Looking down at Madison, he actually frowned a bit before his expression became a mask of anger. Before the woman had a chance to react, Darian delivered a thunderous kick to the side of her head, knocking her out instant. As he bent to pick her up and toss her over his shoulder, he said, "I'm sorry to say, my dear, that time won't have the chance to finish you off."

Without another word, the vampire moved over to the nearest wall and began writing a short message in Lily's blood, as it was the most abundant. Once this task was finished, he walked casually out the door as if nothing had happened, Madison's unconscious form hanging limply over his shoulder.

The next move was Quicksilver's...

[Abigail Faraday-Brennan]

Brennan leaned back in her seat, eyes closed, and smiled as she listened to Sastre reassure her friend.

Everything would be alright now. Justin was safe, Madison was safe, and soon all of them would be on their way to a new life together. Someplace where Steven would never bother the young doctor, and they’d never have to think about hunting again. Sastre would finally get the rest he deserved, and Madison would get the companion she wanted. And Lily and Brennan would finally be able to settle down and start their family together.

Brennan frowned slightly in concern as she thought of her lover… no, not just lover. Not anymore. Now it was wife.

She still couldn’t believe the young woman had agreed to marry her, and she hoped that she could forgive her for not telling her about their plans for today. She hated keeping anything from Lily, or being the subject of her anger, but she had promised Sastre long ago that she would tell no one. She was lucky he had included her in his plan, for that matter. Well, there was nothing for it now. Brennan sighed in dismay and hoped that once Lily heard the whole story, she would understand and wouldn’t be too upset with her. She also hoped that her earlier feeling of dread had nothing to do with–

P A I N

Searing, nauseating pain exploded inside her head, and Brennan could do nothing more than double over, grabbing tight to the seat in front of her and screaming in anguish. Her body jackknifed forward so violently that the safety belt engaged, slamming her to a painful stop. Chaotic power ripped through her mind, burning everything it touched and threatening to overwhelm her completely. For several seconds, the witch could do nothing but submit to the blinding wave of agony cascading over her, through her. It took her several more seconds to identify the source.

“Oh god… Sastre… it’s the wards…” she gasped out, fighting the urge to wretch.

Brennan may have been young, but she was a remarkably accomplished witch for her years. Her mother had taught her well, and the safeguards Brennan had erected around Madison’s house were some of the strongest she had ever woven. With the level of power she’d been pouring into them the last several weeks, there was no way a lone witch had broken them on their own. No, this had to have been the work of a coven, and a nasty one at that. Whatever had torn her wards down had also doubled, tripled the pain they caused by all that power rebounding into her. No white witch would ever have made a charm like this, nor left the oily feel of black magic slithering through her mind.

Clenching her teeth, Brennan gathered what strength she had left and focused the power burning through her, twisting it to her will. The effort sent fresh waves of agony shooting through her skull, but the witch had to do something with the excess power before it killed her. And she knew just what to do. Brennan fought to control the endless wave, and when it felt like she wouldn’t be able to contain it any longer, she twisted it, sending it winging back to its creators, magnified tenfold.

The relief she felt as the magic flowed out of her and ceased its terrible assault on her senses nearly brought her to tears. She managed to hold onto consciousness just long enough to feel the power rip through the black coven, sundering their minds in the backlash. Unable to endure any more, Brennan squeezed her eyes closed and let the darkness take her, unaware of her surroundings or the blood gushing freely from her nose.

She'd done all she could do.

[Florian Raniari]

Sastre's mind didn't even register Brennan's words.

His face lost all color as he sat helpless, listening to the unmistakable sounds of battle on the other end of the phone. Shouts, gun shots, the clear sounds of splintering wood and shattering glass all filled his head, and he could do nothing but sit there and listen. Probably worst of all, though, was that he could tell nothing from the cacophony of who may be winning the battle, or who was even involved.

Though he could guess.

Darian had finally made his move, after so many long weeks and months of inactivity. God, he'd been so clever, to wait until Sastre had been lulled into a false sense of security before striking. He must have known, somehow, about the plan to break Justin out today. It didn't surprise Sastre, though. Not really. Darian had always been watching him, just waiting for the right moment, and he had found it, finally.

I never should have left... The thought repeated over and over again, bringing with it waves of guilt and sickness each time. I never should have put Madison in this kind of danger... I never should have gotten involved... I never should have let my own selfish desire put her in this situation...

His fear for Madison was only half of it, though. Lily was there too, in the house, and Sastre had no idea how she'd fare in single combat against Darian. The vampire was very strong, with a strength fueled by insanity that Sastre had never seen in another creature before, and he'd gone through the same rigorous gauntlet of training that the hunter had, so many years ago. Lily was good--one of the best that Sastre had ever seen, in fact--but was she prepared for the things that Darian might throw at her?

At first, he'd thought that leaving Lily there to protect Madison had been a perfect solution. The girl was incredible; there was no other word to describe her. Undoubtedly a much better hunter than Sastre was himself, she'd proven her worth and ability time and time again. If there was anyone out there who could go toe to toe with Darian, then it was Lily for certain. But she was also his daughter, and if something went wrong and Darian got his hands on her, Sastre knew that what he'd put her through would be an absolute nightmare.

This was his fault...

"Bastian, turn the car around," he said in a shaky voice. "Get us back to Atlanta as fast as you can." Even as he said it, Sastre knew that it would be too late. They were hours away, and unless Lily had managed to take Darian out, there was little that any of them could do now. "Something's happened." Taking a look over his shoulder, Sastre felt relieved to see Justin doing what he could to tend to Brennan, who was completely out cold.

Without another word, the hunter reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew the cell phone that Lily had given him to use so long ago. Dialing a number, he waited in silence as it rang, his body beginning to tremble slightly as he tried to contain his anger and fear. Finally, when a familiar voice entered, Sastre spoke in a tremulous voice.

"Lexi... I need you now."

((Finished))