108 A Team Effort

I contemplated throwing the cellphone across the room when the alarm went off. As it was, I got up with a snarl, snatching the phone off the nightstand. Alexandre's gentle hands took it from me before I could do anything drastic.

"You should at least let me kill it." I growled and Alexandre chuckled, kissing my shoulder. Mina began to fuss, apparently disturbed as much by me as the alarm.

"I'll get that momma, you go get dressed." Alexandre soothed, kissing my neck. I sighed. I didn't want to do this, which set off another wave of anger, stemming from my anxiety. I fumed my way out of the room to bump into Cornelius on his way up the stairs.

"Breakfast delivery!" He called happily.

"Where?" I grumbled. Cornelius pulled me into his arms, loosening his shirt collar.

"Right here." He said softly, turning his head. I normally would have objected, but I was angry. I ripped into him and felt my heart begin to sync with his as his blood poured into my mouth. There was a sting in my thigh.

"No fair using trickery." I complained as Cornelius pulled a syringe from my leg.

"I just thought you might need a little sedative this morning. Now finish your breakfast." Cornelius instructed, pushing my head back towards his neck. My temper began to cool as my body calmed. I licked at Cornelius' neck and he moaned, holding me closer to him. I laid my head against his shoulder when I was done.

"Thank you." I mumbled.

"Anytime little nymph." He tilted my head up. "And I mean that." He kissed me gently on the lips. "Now get going." I stumbled down the stairs, feeling a little sluggish now.

"What was that you gave me Cornelius?" I asked nobody in particular as I dressed in the closet. I had chosen some rather bland casual clothes. They were forcing me to go-they weren't gonna force me to dress up.

I had fed Mina an hour or two before the alarm went off-isn't that the way things usually work-so I headed back towards the door. Rory met me outside the bedroom.

"What do you want?" I griped, checking him for hidden syringes.

"Oh, I'm your escort today!" Rory grinned happily.

"Do what?" I asked

"Alexandre worked it out-every day one of us goes with you. You didn't think we'd send our precious girl in there alone did you? You're the glue that holds this family together!" Rory squeezed me tightly. I frowned, but inside, I was secretly pleased. Rory stuck his hands back in his pockets as we walked towards the door. Alexandre was waiting by the front door with Mina, and I had a feeling that was why.

"See you soon." Alexandre said softly, and gave me a kiss. I grabbed him around the neck and deepened the kiss until I was panting.

"Thank you." I told him, leaning my forehead against his. Alexandre smiled softly.

"We all love you very much Carys." Alexandre murmured, kissing me gently.

"Ok, time to get going, lovebirds!" Rory put his hands between us and pushed us apart. Alexandre growled, but I laughed.

"Some bodyguard you've hired." I remarked.

"Yes, he's soon to be unemployed." Alexandre snarled as Rory tugged me towards the door. Rory stuck his tongue out at him. "And mute!" Yelled Alexandre. I laughed again. Rory dropped a pair of sunglasses on my face. There was a long black car with tinted windows in front of us at the bottom of the front stairs.

"What the hell-please tell me you're not planing to drive!" I moaned.

"Oh no-Alexandre got a driver." Rory laughed, and opened the back passenger door for me.

"Ok.." I slid in and saw the backseat had two long seats facing each other and directly across from me sat two armed men in suits. I stiffened. Rory opened the door on the other side of the car and slid in.

"Oh yeah-I forgot to mention-Alexandre hired bodyguards." Rory shrugged, and looped a protective arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to his side. One of the guards tapped the tinted glass behind him twice, and the car rolled forward.

"But Rory-we don't need bodyguards.." I whispered, hoping he'd understand what I meant.

"Huh? Yeah you do. You can't very well vamp out in front of a bunch of news-people and civilians now can you?" Rory laughed and shook his head. The bodyguards were observing us with dead eyes. I cuddled closer to Rory.

"Wow. Creepy." I muttered. One guard cracked a small smile. Ok, well at least one had a sense of humor somewhere in there.

Because the court case was being held in another sate, we would be driving for several hours. I was already dreading it, as I knew Mina's normal feeding time would arrive before we did. I leaned on Rory more heavily, trying to ignore my problems, along with the dead stare of the guards. Rory was, as ever, at ease.

"Ok, how do you do it?" I demanded, jabbing him in the ribs.

"Ow! Do what, exactly?" Rory asked.

"Just sit all comfortable anywhere and everywhere?" I pouted.

"I had really great parents." Rory laughed. I wondered how much truth was behind his joking statement. Rory gazed out the window while the drive went on, and I found myself slowly being lulled to sleep. Rory's honeysuckle scent reminded me of home, and the gentle rocking of the car reminded me of long trips when I was a child. So it was no wonder to me when I fell into a dream of my childhood.

My sister and I were swinging on a playground. This swing-set had such high metal poles, that were so deeply set, you could swing SO high. We were challenging each other to see how far we could jump from the swings. The feeling of weightlessness after leaving the swings for that brief moment before you plummeted back to the ground was exhilarating. Breathlessly, we laughed and raced each other back to the swings, but I suddenly turned and she was gone. I spun in a circle, where had she gone?!

"Kate? Katilyn? KATILYN!?" I yelled, still turning circles, I began running around the playground. "Katie!" Mom and Dad would kill me if she got hurt! What if she was kidnapped? What if she died? My heart was pounding.

"Katie where are you?!" I screamed. "Katie!!" The sand of the playground was suddenly turning to quicksand, sucking me down and holding me back. I struggled. Is this what happened to Katilyn? I screamed in fear this time. Something under the sand grabbed my ankles.

"No! NO!!" I screeched, kicking as hard as I could. I got one foot free, but it was quickly trapped again. My wrists were grabbed in a vice-like grip and I smelled honeysuckle. It was a honeysuckle vine wrapping around my arms and chest! I tried to break it.

"Lemme go!" I screamed.

"...rys honey. Carys! You have to wake UP!" Rory's voice was right beside my ear. I jerked awake. Rory had a hold of my arms and the two guards had my legs. One had a bloody nose. They were all panting almost as hard as I was.

"My God she's a strong one-no wonder she survived that murder attempt." It was the guard who grinned earlier. Coincidentally not the one with bloody nose. Rory grinned at him.

"I'm so sorry-did I do that to your nose?" I asked the other guard who huffed and let my leg go.

"You kicked him right in the nose. Splendid shot for someone asleep. It was like you aimed for him!" The other guard laughed. "He'll never tell anyone around the office a sleeping girl busted his nose. But I'm itching to!"

"Ugh I'm sorry!" I moaned and leaned forward helplessly. Rory pulled me to him as the other guard let me go too.

"What happened Carys? You suddenly started screaming and thrashing around. Once you started getting violent we had to hold you down." Rory asked.

"Nightmare." I muttered.

"Musta been a doozey." Said the friendlier guard

"They usually are." I sighed. "I usually don't get them anymore, well if Alexandre's around." I grimaced.

"Ah." Remarked Rory.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean? 'Ah'?" I asked swatting him.

"Nothing, just makes a bit of sense now, why you stick so tightly to him." Rory shrugged.

"What the heck is THAT supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"Don't worry about it-I think we're here." Rory replied, looking out the window.