Blueblood

Story: Blueblood

Chapter 5 Brett Marshall

Author: Eric McQueen (mcqueen.richarderic@gmail.com)

Adult Readers, Sexual Situations, Sex

Freedom of expression is precious. To do that Nifty needs help. Your donation is greatly desired. Give to https://donate.nifty.org/ or this story ends and all the others! That would be a crime!

Brett Marshall

We landed in Charleston. We went back to the leased house and then Gabriella, Colin and I rode out to Wentworth Manor, pleased to see all the Kudzu and debris gone and now they were pulling up the marble that had been in the entrance foyer. I saw then they were trying to save some of the ornate mantles that had been on many of the fireplaces and other decorative moldings that had given the old plantation mansion its grandeur. The landscaping men and women were now beginning on cleaning up what would be the front lawn and gardens.

"We'll be tearing a lot of this structure down to build the new structure," Colin explained to Gabriella and me as he smiled at what he was seeing so far. "And it will be better than it ever was!"

Gabriella took her father's arm, squeezing it. "I know it will be."

"How long before you think they'll finish?" I asked.

Colin thought. "I was told a couple of years. Tearing down is not that difficult, but with a lot of the salvaging going on..." he shrugged. "The construction will be about a year or more." He smiled leaning in toward me. "Of course, we could get married in the house on Tradd Street."

I grinned but shook my head. "I said we'd marry here and that's what we're doing."

Colin shrugged. "Okay."

Back at the house on Tradd Street that he had leased, things began to smooth into a routine. As I had been a medic, I was giving the injections to Gabriella now and there was the pain, but it seemed less painful now. I instructed her on giving them to herself as well. I still insisted that I give the injections to Colin, which he didn't mind. It was more symbolic for us as a show of trust. Just as before, the serum was a stimulant for both Gabriella and Colin.

"It's almost Thanksgiving," Colin said one night after lovemaking where we enjoyed the afterglow, which was when Colin liked to cuddle. "Invite your mother."

I grinned. "Okay." I rolled over to face him. "When's your birthday?"

Colin looked confused a moment and had to think. "I've not celebrated a birthday in quite a while. November?" He smiled. "That's right, November 7th."

I frowned. "I missed it!"

"And when's yours?" Colin asked.

"October 22nd."

"I missed yours, too." He smiled. "We'll make up for it next year. You're twenty-nine now?"

I smiled. "Becoming an old man, but you..."

Colin pulled me into a kiss. "Don't say it." He growled and rolled us over to be on top of me. He smiled. "I don't recall ever being this happy, Devon."

"That's what happens when you're with the one you're supposed to be with," I said logically. "We make each other happy." I touched his handsome face gently. "I wish there was someone for Gabriella."

He nodded. "She will find someone, but it will be tricky. She will have to win him over first, get him to trust her and be told what she is. He will have to accept it and agree it doesn't matter, just like you have." He sighed. "It's a shame she can't have children. I'd like a grandchild." He chuckled. "It seems a man's duty to pass on through generations his name and property."

"She was married, you said. John Miller. He was killed?"

Colin nodded. "She married him when she was seventeen. He was twenty-two. I was still human then. It was 1850." He frowned. "Birth control back then was not a big concern, and she did get pregnant shortly after the wedding, but she miscarried. Then I was turned and missed anything else."

"They were married a good while before the war, but they never had children," I said.

"Prenatal care back then was not as good as today's and because she did get pregnant, even though she miscarried, I don't know if there were others. John was killed in 1862." He smiled. "But maybe George can figure out how to reverse this and make it possible." He kissed me. "And if you want to...you could have a child."

My eyebrows rose at hearing that. "And are you going to have it?"

Colin chuckled. "No. I mean, there are now ways to have a child and we could look into that. That's why I wanted you to keep your last name."

"The last name would be on the birth certificate; my name could be Smith. That wouldn't matter. If I had a child, I'd like it to be part of you, too."

Colin nodded. "He or she would be because we would raise it. I think your mother would be happy to have a grandchild."

I frowned. "First, we're not even married yet. It's too soon for me to talk about children. I hadn't really thought about it."

Colin nodded kissing me. "I'm just telling you; I'd be fine with the idea."

Mom was thrilled at being invited over for Thanksgiving.

"Mom, you don't need an invitation to come over," I said on the phone to her. I spoke with her every week, sometimes a few times a week and texted her plenty.

"I know," She said with the smile in her voice. "I take it things are going well between you and Colin."

"Very well and I'll tell you all about it when you get here. We have a room for you here, so come Wednesday night."

"I'll be there!" Mom said happily.

Gabriella, Colin, and I met Mom when she arrived that Wednesday night. We were having our usual dinner when Mom put her fork down a little harder than needed.

"Is there something someone's going to say to me?" She asked irritated.

I grinned at Colin who was smiling back.

"I asked Devon to marry me," Colin said. "Mom."

Mom squealed just like Gabriella did. "I just knew it!"

"But I said no." I grinned.

"You did not!" Mom stated knowing that was as impossible as the sun rising in the West. "I could tell that night at dinner at the hotel you two were hitting it off and I knew this was going to happen! Congratulations!" She looked at Gabriella. "You and I will have to plan!"

"See?" Colin said to me. "Didn't I tell you?" He waved at the two women at the table that were now talking and pretty much forgotten us.

"It's in their double X chromosomes." I nodded. "They can't help it."

"Betty," Colin said quietly. "We want you to move in here."

Mom stopped talking and stared at him. "Move in here? I have a house."

I nodded. "Where you live alone." I pointed out. "We're a family and now we have two more members of the family, Colin, and Gabriella. Keep the house but move in here. Please? You're the only parent I have now. I'd like you to."

Mom smiled. "I've never wanted to crowd you. When you told me you were gay, I worried, even though the world had become more accepting, you might not find happiness. I'm glad you have."

I nodded. "I have."

"I see that. I'll think about moving in here." Mom said and looked around the house.

We celebrated Thanksgiving and went on toward Christmas. Mom did move in and was very happy she had. She had her own room with the bathroom and she and Gabriella were planning a wedding that we didn't even have a date for. We were marrying at Wentworth Manor, and we had no specific date when that was going to be finished.

Colin was becoming well known in Charleston. His last name opened doors everywhere here. He was a Wentworth. Gabriella was also becoming more comfortable with the modern world and even learned to use a computer! She even let me show her how to drive. Colin offered to teach her, but she preferred me to show her, fearing her father might be too hard on her.

Christmas was around the corner. Gabriella and I decorated the house on Tradd Street, which Gabriella loved. Especially when I pulled out the lights and garland.

She smiled as she held the strand of lights. "They're like stars! So much better than those candles we used to use."

"You celebrated Christmas?" I asked. "I heard it wasn't that popular until about 1850."

She nodded. "We had one of the first Christmas trees back in the 1840s. It was only becoming more popular then. Not like it is now, but we celebrated it." She touched some of the decorations. I had gotten those glass balls and tinsel and many others including figures of Santa and other decorative decorations. "We made a lot of the decorations ourselves. Popcorn, fruits and things added to the tree." She touched a glass ball we were going to hang. "Now, there are so many ways to decorate. It's..." she shrugged, "...magic." She looked at a figurine of Santa. "We didn't have him. We did celebrate St. Nicholas Day."

"This Santa Claus was someone at Macy's. That's a huge department store. He's also known as St. Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas..." I grinned. "Prepare yourself," I said motioning for her to follow me. "I'm going to introduce you to a whole new world. My Christmas Traditions." I put in a DVD in the player, and we watched Rudolph: The Red-Nosed Reindeer. She was spellbound. I then put in Frosty the Snowman. I ended up popping some popcorn for us as we watched. Colin came home as we were watching The Santa Clause.

"Hi." Colin greeted after standing there a few seconds and we hadn't seemed to notice even noticed he was home.

Gabriella waved to him and gave him the "Shhh" sound to tell him to be quiet as she watched. Colin's eyebrows rose as he walked in and looked at the screen.

I waved him over to sit beside me. "Sit. I'm giving Gabriella lessons about Christmas in the modern world. I started with Rudolph and now we're on The Santa Clause."

Colin nodded, but still looked confused. "Isn't that for children?"

I shrugged. "When it comes to Christmas, I am a child. Every year." I greeted him properly with a kiss hello. "I've always said, if you're too old for Rudolph, you're too old."

Colin again nodded, still uncertain. "And this is a yearly thing for you?"

I nodded.

He shrugged. "Okay. Pass the popcorn." He grinned and sat and watched the rest. When Mom came home she sat with us for the second Santa Clause movie where he has to find a wife.

It was dinner time when that finished.

"I still prefer It's a Wonderful Life." Mom declared. "And Miracle of 34th Street, the original with Natalie Wood."

I nodded. "Mom has her traditions, too," I said to Colin and Gabriella. "There are dozens of movies, and it will take a while to see them all."

Things were pretty good! Until...we had a Christmas party. It was the week of Christmas, and we threw a party at the house on Tradd Street. Colin had become known and there were a lot of people that attended. The house had been decorated and drinks were being served. Everyone was dressed casually but in Christmas colors of red and green. Colin and I made no claim as to what our relationship was, but we didn't hide it either. We greeted everyone together and Colin even introduced me to guests as his fiancé! Anyone that came as a guest and if it bothered them, they kept their mouths shut. Gabriella and Mom were the belles of the ball! And this time, Gabriella put on something that wasn't blue, but green. She and mother were the ladies of the house and mingled. Gabriella was now very comfortable with people, and if she didn't know what people were talking about, she didn't say a word to tell anyone she didn't understand. Christmas music played nicely in the background, and we were talking with some guests when Colin suddenly froze in mid-sentence. His eyes widened and he slowly turned around to look...for something or someone.

An icicle hit me in the heart as I felt sudden dread. Touching Colin on the arm, I said. "Colin."

He was looking at everyone but walked slowly across the room. There on a chair at the end of the room against a wall was a package about the size of a shoebox wrapped festively for Christmas with Colin's name written in fancy calligraphy lettering. Colin picked up the package and read the label and again looked for someone. He ripped the packaging off and opened the box. He began shaking.

"Talk to me," I ordered Colin.

But Colin was too shaken to speak. He picked up what was inside. It was a gun. It was one of those old guns with the long barrel and rounded handle, but it was dirty. "He was here," Colin said in a choked voice that held horror. "This is the pistol Ashley Marshall used when we dueled." He was now moving fast as he headed to the front door and opened it, looking up and down the street for anyone. "I felt him in this house!" He looked at me and then got a new look of horror and pushed me back inside. "You must stay inside."

"I understand that, Colin. Brett Marshall was here. He's still out there and a threat. I get that." I said taking his arms. "A panic is going to do what?" I asked forcing my face into his vision as he was looking everywhere but at me.

"I must keep you safe!" Colin insisted. "He tried to destroy me and my family. He'll strike at anything I have. You're a target!" He began pacing in a circle. "I knew it. I just knew it!" He said to himself.

My mother came up quickly. "What's going on? Where's Gabriella?"

Colin now looked up at the partiers and scanned to find his daughter. "Gabriella!" He called moving through guests who were looking at him questioning as he looked for his daughter.

Mom stopped Colin. "I'm telling you; she's gone. A strange man came in whispered something that terrified her and took her out the backdoor!" Mom pointed toward the kitchen.

Colin now sprinted toward the back! This time the front door opened and a man with Gabriella came in and without a word, he lunged at me. With strength I never knew a man could have, he pulled me to him, opening his mouth where I saw the fangs. The four at the top like Gabriella had, the two longest ones by his front teeth and two shorter, but long next to the long ones, but longer than other teeth and the two below. I felt the sharp pain as he bit me on the right side of my neck as Mom, Gabriella, and others at the party were screaming! I felt the skin of my neck rip as he bit down and sucked. I now knew what Colin said about the rush and forcing blood to flow. My head swam as I suddenly had an erection in my pants as he continued to suck.

"No!" Colin screamed as he came back in a run.

"Stop!" The man holding me shouted pulling a knife out placing it against my neck. "Come any closer and I end his life right now!"

Colin froze, but his face held shock as he looked at me and saw the bite. "Oh, Devon."

"We have unfinished business, Colin Wentworth." The man said and now I could smell him. It was dirt and the smell of a corpse. "It's too late for this one." He smiled at me, his tongue coming out and running up my bleeding neck. Colin was about to move again, but the man held the knife closer to the unbitten side of my neck. "No. I haven't finished." He bit again and sucked more and then let me go. "I'll be back!" He said and hurried out the front door much faster than a normal man would go.

Mom was suddenly at my side as I slid to the floor. "What on earth!?" She looked at Colin. "Call an ambulance! Call the police! Call someone!"

Colin came to me and now he was crying. "Oh, god, Devon." He looked at his daughter. "Get my serum! Now!"

Gabriella nodded and hurried to the room that Colin and I shared.

"What are you doing?" Mom practically screamed. "He's dying!"

Colin ignored her. "I'll fix this." He said to me. "I swear I will." He pulled his phone out and hit a button I assumed was a speed dial. "George! Brett Marshall has bitten Devon..." he waited. "...just now, only a minute ago."

Gabriella came back with the vial, alcohol swabs, needle, and tourniquet. She reached down and took my mother's shoulders. "Please, Betty. Let Colin work."

Mother looked at her like Gabriella was crazy. "That man...he looked like...he bit Devon!" But her mind was struggling with what she'd seen.

Gabriella nodded. "Just as he did with Colin and me."

"What!?" Mom asked in disbelief.

Colin didn't waste time, he pulled my shirt open, cleaned an area over my heart, got some of the serum in the syringe and plunged it in my heart. "I've done it!" He told George and then pulled his shirt off and used that to stop bleeding further from my neck.

"What are you people?" Mom screamed.

Gabriella nodded patiently to my mother. "I am the same woman you knew at the hotel and several weeks since moving in. Colin is a man that loves your son. Right now, he's doing everything to save Devon's life."

The serum was working a little different than it had with Colin or Gabriella. The difference being that my heart never stopped, but the venom was beginning to work to change me. The serum was working to stop the venom from stopping my heart and now I felt every beat. And there was the pain!

"When will you get here?" He asked George. "We'll be ready!" the party and the party goers were forgotten by Colin as he lifted me up and carried me upstairs followed by my mother and Gabriella.

"What's going on?" My mother shouted.

"Your son was bitten by a vampire," Gabriella said sadly.

Mom looked again like Gabriella was crazy, but her mind told her she'd seen it herself. She had to believe it, but her mind was fighting it. "That's impossible! Vampires are just stories."

Gabriella nodded but cocked her head. "Is it? I'll tell you what you need to know, but Colin is a vampire...and so am I."

The pain in me was mounting as the venom was trying to work, but the serum was attaching itself to the venom. It was truly agony!

"Colin was bitten a long time ago. I was bitten later, but Colin isn't my cousin..." Gabriella smiled. "Well, he is, but distantly. He's my father." She explained about the serum and how it would work and how that would let me lead a pretty normal life. Just as it did for Colin and herself.

There was a knock on the bedroom door. "Police! Open up!"

Gabriella opened the door as two police officers came in, their hands on the butts of their guns, but hadn't drawn them. "He's over there, officers." Gabriella waved to me.

"We got a call about an assault here." The one officer said looking at me. "Was he assaulted?"

"A crazy man came in during the party and attacked Devon," Gabriella reported. "We've stopped the bleeding and the man who did it got away."

The second officer, a woman, frowned. "We should have the EMS come up here, it looks pretty bad."

Colin had been crying since he saw the attack but shook his head. "He'll be alright soon. They can come up and check him out. He has seizures and the medication is having an effect, but he'll be fine." He leaned down to my ear. "I know it hurts but try to hold on. I don't know since I got the serum in you before you changed fully but let them check you out."

I nodded but didn't have the energy to speak much. "Okay."

Colin cleaned up the wound on my neck that was already begun healing.

An EMS team came and checked me out asking me what happened. Being a medic had its advantages of some medical knowledge. They asked me what I took for these "seizures."

I told them the side effects and what happened since I'd gotten out of the Air Force, and it was to counter post-traumatic stress syndrome and shock.

"And you don't know the man who attacked you?" The first officer asked.

I shook my head. "I'd never seen him before."

Colin nodded. "I'd known him in the past before I moved away some years ago, but I just moved back here, I don't know where he lives. His name is Brett Marshall. He's from Mid-Atlantic Georgia, I believe. He's always been disturbed."

The second officer nodded. "Someone said they thought he was a vampire?" She laughed a little.

Colin snickered, too, but he pulled my collar down to show teeth marks, that weren't the two pricks movies showed on the neck, but a bite!

"He almost took a chunk of his neck, but no. The bleeding has stopped, he didn't do as much damage as he intended."

"A vampire wannabe?" The female officer asked her partner.

"I've heard of worse." The male officer shrugged. "That's usually at Halloween. He should have dressed as Krampus. It is Christmas." He looked as the EMT finished with his observations removing the blood pressure cuff and stethoscope. "So, will he live?"

The EMT nodded. "His blood pressure is up, but that could be from the medication he described. He seems fine." He looked at me. "We can take you in for a more thorough exam."

I smiled. "Colin knows what to do," I said patting Colin's arm knowing that what I said was the truth about what Colin knew to do.

The police asked for a description which Gabriella was glad to give. Mom had been watching and listening but didn't know what to say. It was a few minutes more when the police and EMT left.

"You knew?" Mom asked me. "You knew Colin was a vampire?" She pointed at Colin. "None of this is surprising to you?"

I nodded. "Yes," I said sighing as the pain was drifting off. "From day two, but how did I explain it to you?"

"So, what happens now? He grows fangs and drinks blood?" Mom asked Colin and Gabriella. "I've seen you two eat! A lot...and moving around in daylight."

Gabriella nodded. "Because of Dr. George Holms. Daddy and he met in the..." she looked at Colin. "...the 1940s?"

Colin nodded. "At the end of World War II."

"But that's..." she was going to say impossible, but that didn't make sense now. "...you'd be in your eighties or nineties!"

I chuckled. "He's far older than that."

Gabriella nodded. "So am I."

Mom looked at Gabriella incredibly. "How old are you?"

Gabriella laughed with little humor. "A lady never tells her age, but my father and I were born before the war...the Civil War."

"Dr. George Holms is coming," Colin said. "No one has received the serum so soon after being bitten. I don't know what will happen. He doesn't either." He wiped his face of the tears. "I knew this would happen."

"What!?" Mom shouted. "You knew he would be attacked?"

"No, he didn't, Mom!" I shouted trying to get up. "He didn't KNOW it would happen. He never lied to me. He's a victim of that vampire's attack the same as I am. He was afraid it MIGHT happen."

Colin stopped me from getting up. "You're weak, baby."

"I'll be fine." I smiled at Colin. "We have a house full of guests that..."

"No, we don't." Gabriella shook her head. "After the police came they began trickling out. There's no one downstairs now."

Mom shook her head hearing we were worried about the guests. "You were bitten by a VAMPIRE!" She waved at Gabriella and then Colin. "They are vampires! I need to call..."

"Who, Betty?" Colin challenged crossly and loud. "Who knows how to treat a case like this? I mean without using the booby hatch!" He was upset, but he was thinking. "I never wanted this for Devon. I swore to him I would never do it, I can't now even if I wanted to. I hoped Brett was dead, but clearly, he isn't. I would never do this to Devon." He shook his head. "George knows more about what's happened than anybody. What other doctor would be able to help?"

"I'll be fine," I said to Mom, but I wasn't sure. I'd been bitten by a vampire. Was I a vampire now? Did I have a future? Colin and Gabriella were up walking around. I was given the serum so shortly after I was bitten. Would that be different?

Had I wanted this? To become a vampire? Perhaps, but I never dreamed it would ever happen. Mom was calming down, but still worried. She was my mother; the worry was part of the job. "Shouldn't he be screened for things like HIV or something? That man broke the skin."

Colin nodded. "Brett wasn't HIV positive, Betty." He smiled but looked at me. "I'm so sorry, Devon."

I touched the area where the bite was, it wasn't hurting nearly as much as it had. I looked at him and saw his face was holding guilt. "You didn't do this, Colin. You and I discussed that possibility." I shrugged. "I went into this relationship with you with my eyes wide open." I sighed. "This wasn't your fault."

Colin nodded. "It was." He shook his head putting his forehead in a hand as he sniffed. "I should have stayed in New York. I should never have come back."

I slid off the bed and moved toward Colin putting my arms around him. "Then Brett wins! He almost defeated you before. He destroyed your family by making you and Gabriella vampires. He forced you to live underground..." I looked at Gabriella. "...and in the dark. You didn't give up. Don't give up now."

He looked with pain in his eyes. "I'm waiting for George." He shook his head again. "Everyone I touch..."

"I love you, Colin."

"You shouldn't have," Colin said bitterly.

"Well, I do!" I stated firmly. "If you back out now, Brett wins!"

Then I saw a look on his face I'd never seen. It was pure hatred. "I've never felt this before, but I will kill him." He said with determination. "I will kill him!"

I nodded. "But we do this together, Colin. You're not alone. You have Gabriella and me now. Don't be afraid anymore. We will stop him."

It was just before dawn that the doorbell rang. Gabriella opened the door to let George and seven others in and took them upstairs to me and Colin. My mother refused to leave me. George came in carrying some equipment. The others carried everything from a cooler and more equipment. George smiled at me as he sat down on the bed beside me. "It seems you are in a unique position, Devon." Mom looked at the men who began setting up equipment. A microscope and other items that were medical for centrifuging blood. "You're the first that has been bitten and gotten the serum so quickly."

"I felt the serum working as the venom was trying to do..." I waved at no one, "...what it does to make a vampire."

George nodded, smiling more. "That was what it was intended to do." He looked in my eyes closer. "Your eyes are clear. I'm going to do some tests to see what's happening, okay?" He went to the cooler. "I brought with me enough blood the same type you have to refill you from head to toe three or four times. I'll begin flushing your system."

"What does that mean?" Mom asked. "Is he a vampire?" The hope was clear in her voice.

George looked at her. "I'll look and see. The venom hasn't had time to get in his very cells. The serum will latch onto the venom. I'm going to flush the old blood out and put new blood in. That's kind of like sucking venom from a snake by sucking the wound and spitting it out. If we get it soon enough..." he shrugged. "He could skip that part."

For the next few hours, he took more blood samples as well as tissue samples and examined them carefully. The dawn came and he still worked. Colin never left me, neither did Mom. Gabriella did give in as she took her serum and went to bed. Colin had to give himself his. It was noon when George smiled at last and came over.

"You did it," George said to Colin. "The blood samples I took first had the venom in the blood. The serum was administered in time to attach itself to the venom and it didn't have time to rewrite your DNA."

Colin let out a breath of relief. "So, he isn't a vampire."

George shook his head. "As of now, no." He grinned at me. "You are the first person to be bitten who didn't either die or be turned." Then he raised a hand to hold off the celebration. "I will continue to monitor you for a while, but unless we've let some slip past..."

Mom let out a sound of extreme gratitude as she sighed. "Thank God."

My reaction was two kinds, relief, and disappointment. I was relieved I hadn't been turned, but disappointed that I wasn't. That didn't make sense. Understand, my disappointment was due to the idea that Colin and I wouldn't be spending an extremely long life together. I mentally shook my head. There was no guarantee if I were turned I would live, so we were no worse off.

"As I said, I'll monitor for now," George said cautiously. "Whether you missed this bullet, we'll have to see." He rubbed his stomach. "I'm hungry."

I chuckled. "We need to do something about that." I looked at the other two with him. "Who are these gentlemen?"

George grinned at the two men working with him. "This is Gavin." He introduced a blonde man in his thirties. "And this James." He introduced a dark-haired man that was losing a battle to keep hair on the top of his head. "They've been with me for several years." He waved out of the room to the rest of the house. "There are five others I brought, they will be standing watch and looking through some records and events to locate Brett Marshall." He looked out the window as daylight streamed in. "I think we're safe a while. I'll tell you about what I have as...disflavor for your blood..." he chuckled. "If it works, it will make you less attractive to any other vampire."

Colin came over and hugged me. He was showing the release of some anger but was still...he wasn't acting like Colin. I pushed him away a little. "Colin, is this new event going to change things with you and me?"

Colin looked confused, but he didn't really answer.

"Do you still love me?" I demanded.

"I don't want you in danger," Colin confessed.

"If you break things off with me to protect me, you WILL be in danger! From me!" I said angrily. "I know you have regrets; I've stuck by you. I think I've proven I won't leave. Are you thinking of leaving me?"

Colin's face showed a conflict. "If I put you out of harm's..."

"This is bullshit!!" I shouted. "Don't you dare leave me! You asked me to marry you! I said yes. I knew what you were when you asked me. You cannot leave me! Damn it!"

Colin looked so frustrated. "I don't want to." He said softly hugging me again. He looked at George. "Will this...stuff this disflavor you call it, will work in Devon's blood?"

George gave a shrug and nod. "Theoretically. We won't know until we try it."

"Can you give it to him now?" Colin asked.

"Let's do another purge and see if the venom is really gone. We'll try it after that." George nodded.

I looked at George. "Will that work for Colin? Replacing his blood..."

George shook his head. "No. He's been a vampire so long; it's written in his body. He's keeping himself a vampire now. What would be needed is his original DNA. He and Gabriella are vampires."

I watched as Colin staggered a little. "Colin?" I asked holding him up.

Colin smiled allowing me to put my arms around him. "I forgot to eat. I told you...I have little storage, so I eat to keep my strength up."

I kissed him gently. "Then we better get you something. I'm not losing you."

He chuckled. "I'm not losing you, either."

Colin ate with not a lot of his usual gusto, but I wondered if it was because he'd waited too long to eat.

Mom was now more relaxed. "This Brett Marshall moved very fast, and he was so strong."

George nodded as he munched. "He's a predator. A vampire is all about feeding and staying alive." He sighed. "The venom changes a man into that perfect hunter, he's faster and stronger to overcome his prey."

I also noticed Colin wasn't looking at me much. "Are you feeling better, Colin?" I asked. He just nodded but didn't look at me. I waited until he'd finished, then put my napkin down and rose from my chair. "Excuse us. I need to speak to Colin alone. Right now." I said taking Colin's hand and led him upstairs. In our bedroom, I shut the door and locked it. Turning around I pushed him back onto the bed and straddled the top of him. "I don't know what's going through your mind, Colin, but I don't like it. Since I was attacked, you're distant and won't even look at me."

Colin frowned. "I've just thinking how to protect you..."

"Protect me by being with me, Colin. You didn't do this! Brett did." I pulled my shirt off. "We're going to make love. I mean you to me and me to you. I won't let Brett ruin what I've found to be the most perfect human being alive for me. I love you, Colin." I said looking in his emerald eyes. "You can sense me. You know I'm telling the truth." I began unbuttoning his shirt. "Tell me what you feel for me."

Tears were welling in his eyes. "I do love you, Devon. I never stopped. I'm worried! I could get you killed!"

I shook my head as my heart broke. "No, you could not and would not, baby," I assured kissing him tenderly. "You could never do that to me. You broke out of this...horror you lived in and let me into your heart, don't shut me out now. Please. I'll do whatever you say, but don't shut me out."

He nodded returning my kiss. It took only a few seconds before he was kissing like before, deep and consuming as his hands were running over me, across my back and up my sides. He did want me. He rolled us over, so he was on top, allowing my hands to come across his chest, letting my fingers run through his chest hair I loved, feeling his strength and warmth. We spent the next hour or more reconnecting with each other as I loved him, and he loved me. Afterward, I felt I had my Colin back.

That evening Colin gathered everyone in the family room.

"In light of Brett's return." He said softly. "Until he's caught, I think it best that we...Gabriella, Devon, and Betty go to New York. It will be Christmas in a few days. We can spend Christmas there and be safe for now." His arm was around me and he grinned at me. "I almost let Brett win. I won't make that mistake again." He looked at George. "Can we leave tonight?"

"We'll go as soon as you're ready." George nodded. "That's a good plan." He looked at the five he had brought with him. "They can stay and look for Brett."

The men nodded.

That idea was a good one, but I didn't like it. "What about your families? It's the holidays."

One grinned and shrugged. "I'm Jewish. Hanukkah is over."

Another shrugged as he pointed to another man. "We'll be with family. He's my brother and that's all the family I have." Then I saw the family resemblance.

"I think finding this man is a little more important." The last one said. "Consider it a Christmas present. I know we will."

We flew out landing as the sun was rising soon and we were in Newark again and flew to Manhattan.

Colin had a three-bedroom apartment there, but I hated that it wasn't decorated for Christmas. Gabriella and I had worked to get the house on Tradd Street fixed for the Holiday. I'd have to see what we could do here.

I got Colin's serum ready, we almost missed a dose, and I gave it to him. He had the pain again, to which I now knew some of what that was like now. I had been told there was a serum for me, and I was to take it until George was sure I didn't have some residual venom lurking in my system. Colin gave me the serum, but I felt no pain at all this time. I did have a raging hard-on.

Colin chuckled. "We could put Viagra to shame with this." He shook the vial.

"Let's not waste it!" I grinned tackling him. "I am going to marry you, Colin Wentworth."

Colin nodded. "Yes, you will." He kissed me in his usual consuming way. "I'm sorry I was an ass about...what happened."

I smiled at him as we began our cuddling. "You care about me. I care about you. We will promise each other right now; no one is breaking us apart. Deal?"

He nodded. "Deal."

The good thing about being this far north, it would snow! Big deal? It is for me! We only had one white Christmas when I was a boy in Charleston and that was because the weather was messed up after we'd had that hurricane in September, so I was told. I barely remember it. Colin took us to Rockefeller Center to ice skate, which I determined wasn't natural. You had to have strong ankles for that, and I wasn't doing it enough to develop those. We went to some stores including Macy's, which was an experience for me because we didn't have department stores like it in Charleston and got some decorations. I wanted a real Christmas tree but settled for a relatively life-like artificial tree. The other great thing was it was delivered! To the building, it seemed they wouldn't let them take them to our apartment. With Colin and Mom helping, Gabriella and I had the apartment decorated before Christmas Eve! Mom even made her famous Holiday Christmas Spice Tea.

Colin smiled at me as I came with a steaming cup for him and me and sat by him on the sofa while he was cruising the internet. "Well, the good news is..." he said taking his tea. "...the only news printed about what happened is crazed lunatic attacks Christmas Party in downtown Charleston." He smiled. "Now, as long as no one at the party saw too much, and even if they did, as that officer said, he was a vampire wannabe." He sipped the tea. He grinned. "This is good, Betty."

Mom smiled as she curled up on the sofa with hers. "I've done it many years." She seemed more at ease now. "I want to apologize to you, Colin. I judged you harshly. You're a good man."

Colin nodded. "Because of what I am. I understand."

Mom shrugged. "Finding out what you are...you and Gabriella...I was frightened. Now that I've spent time with you two, I realize none of this is your fault. You aren't evil and I know you love Devon. I won't make that mistake again. I'm sorry I did."

Colin smiled putting his cup down and went over, sat by Mom, and hugged her. "I'd die without Devon. I will protect him with my last breath. I really do love him."

Mom smiled. "I really know that now."

Gabriella came in with a DVD. "Who's up for Its A Wonderful Life and the original Miracle of 34th Street?" She asked knowing Mother had said they were hers. She put the DVD in and pressed play.

At nearly midnight Colin and I went to our bedroom, but he lit the fireplace and opened the curtains and turned off the lights on the patio so we could watch it snow. I gave him his injection and he gave me mine. Afterward, he didn't begin any sex yet. He grinned at me as he opened a drawer on his bedside table. He handed me a little box wrapped for Christmas.

"Merry Christmas, Devon."

You can't hide a little box like this without the receiver knowing what it had to be. "We said no presents!"

Colin chuckled and looked sheepish a second. "Well, it's not really a Christmas present, I'm just giving it to you at Christmas."

I opened the package and opened the box. As I suspected, it was a gold ring. A man's ring, wide, but it had a deep-set diamond in the center. Even in the dim light, the blue-white diamond sparkled. I took it out of the box.

"There's an inscription." Colin pointed to the ring.

Looking at the inside, it read: I'll love you forever. Colin.

I smiled as I put it on. I didn't blubber for no real reason, but my vision was getting blurry. "But I didn't get you anything."

Colin smiled even more. "You did." He pulled me down to him. "You've given me the best present I've ever gotten. True, unwavering love. You gave me your heart. I'm showing you; you've got mine. You have my very soul. I will love you forever."

"And I will love you forever." Making love this time was especially nice. It was slow and we were making promises to each other. Nothing would tear us apart.

It was the week between Christmas and New Year's when George came to the apartment.

"We got him." He said without even really saying hello when Colin opened the door. "Brett Marshal came back to the house on Tradd Street and broke in. The men there subdued him and are flying him back here. He should be landing tonight."

I felt intense satisfaction hearing this. I could see Colin was smiling, but he had that look again of pure hatred.

"What are your plans for him?" Colin asked.

George looked at Colin seriously. "I'm leaving you to determine what to do with him."

Colin nodded, thanked him and looked at me. "It will be over soon."

I didn't like the way Colin said it, but Brett Marshall had done everything to destroy Colin's life. I'd leave whatever he determined to do with Colin.

Colin told Gabriella and Mom.

I watched as Colin paced those few hours waiting for word that Brett was here.

It was ten that night when the phone rang. I answered and was told Brett was here and where in the building he was being held. Hanging up, I looked at Colin. "He's here."

Colin nodded and was about to leave, but stopped and smiled at me, holding his hand out to me. "We do this together." He didn't tell Gabriella as she didn't want to see Brett.

I told Colin what floor and room and we rode the elevator. This all was new to me in this building, but they had a room like a police interview room. It was all cinder brick with no windows to the outside. They weren't taking chances with Brett. There was one person standing in the room with one door in or out. There was a window, but it was from this room to the other so someone could see and speak with the person in the room without jeopardizing his own safety. The creature in the room was dressed in clothes that were very old by design and wear. He might have been good looking when human, but what I saw was clearly not human anymore. He was looking around anxiously, and he tried the door again, there was no doorknob, but a little hole no finger could get in. I figured it was for a key that would open it from the inside.

George came in. "You can talk to him if you push this button." He pointed to a panel on the wall. "You can even adjust the volume on it if he can't hear." He grinned as he said that pointing at the two buttons, one pointing up and the other down. There was a mute. "He might be swearing at you loud, but he can't out talk that. You can listen to what he says pressing this button. He can't see you and he can't get out."

Colin nodded to George, who merely nodded back and left. Colin went to the switch to talk. "Hungry I see."

Brett stopped trying to get out and looked for the source of voice he heard. "Where are you, Wentworth?" He had a Southern accent that was definitely from Georgia.

"Safe from you for the first time in 160 to 170 years," Colin said sadly. "Where you never will hurt anyone again, not me, my loved ones."

"Where are you?" Brett spat again.

"In a position where I was given how your life ends," Colin replied softly. "You destroyed much of what I had, but you never destroyed me."

Brett was insane before he was turned, it seemed and now he was starting to shout, but Colin muted Brett's voice off causing Brett to shout at nothing. Colin turned the volume up for his own voice. "You can hear me even though you're shouting," Colin said evenly, and I watched Brett cringe and cover his ears at the volume. "I know how sharp a vampire's hearing is. You hear the scrape of a shoe stepping on feathers and even the heartbeat of a victim." Brett stopped shouting and listened. "You had your last meal yesterday. In the morning, you and I will be on the roof of this building. The sun will rise, and you will either burn or jump. This is a sixty-story building so you will die from the fall or the sun, but you will die."

"You'll burn, too!" Brett said, he didn't need volume to read his lips on those words.

"No, I won't." Colin chuckled. "I'm not like you are anymore. I never really was. I've been out in daylight and love it. Your whole family has been one big failure. You are a failure. You failed as a plantation owner, you failed to kill me, and you failed to turn the man I love into a vampire. Devon is fine. He didn't turn. He'll be on the roof with us.

You'll see, the only one that burns...is you." Brett started screaming something as he lunged toward the window, which was strong glass. We didn't even hear him bang on it with his hands, but Colin had turned him off. He turned to me. "You know it has to be done."

I nodded. "He'll never be anything, but a killer. It ends at sunup." I pressed my lips to Colin's lips. "I love you. No regrets this time. Agreed?"

Colin nodded. "I always wanted to know why, but..." he shrugged. "Now, it doesn't matter. His family is dead and in the morning he will be, too." He wrapped his arms around me, bringing me close to him. "But I won't feel right until it's finally over."

"Then we'll wait right here," I said motioning to the few chairs. "You can keep your eyes on him until it's time."

Colin nodded and sat down but patted the chair next to his for me to sit. "Stay?"

"I insist," I said sitting next to Colin.

It was Winter now and the sunrise wasn't as early as we wanted, but about a half an hour before sunrise when George came in.

"It's almost time," George said as he looked and we saw the door to the interrogation room open, which Brett charged, but drew back as a guard shone a light in Brett's face. "That's a sunlight flashlight," George said. "It gives the same ultra-violet light as the sun." He chuckled. "A sun gun?" He watched as the guards cuffed Brett's arms behind his back and put a black cloth over his head so he couldn't see. "He hasn't fed, so he's weak. There is not much of a fight in him now."

Brett was taken to an elevator where he would ride to the roof. We took a separate elevator. On the roof, I saw all of Manhattan in the twilight before the dawn. I looked at the glow appearing on the horizon. It was cold up on that roof. There was a ding and we turned to see Gabriella come out.

"I realized, I'd never have peace until I KNEW it was over," Gabriella said softly taking her father's hand. The wind this high up was billowing hers and Colin's hair. I realized it was for me, too. The wind up here was freezing! "I needed to see it was really over."

Colin nodded. "In just a few minutes. It will be."

George nodded to the four guards that surrounded Brett and one of them took the cover off Brett. He looked at the horizon and then at Colin.

"We'll die!"

Colin shook his head. "Not we. You will die." He corrected. "If you had ventured out in the world, you would have found it has moved on, you did not. All you did was seek revenge and kill. Gabriella and I will be in the sun in its refreshing light and going back downstairs to warm up with some coffee."

I bounced with a smile. "Or hot chocolate."

Gabriella smiled nodding. "Oh, that sounds good!"

"You failed, Brett Marshall," Colin repeated. "Now face the wrath of God!" He said as the first beam of light burst the horizon and Brett began to panic as I could see the skin on his face quiver. "You're a failure, Brett. You failed as a man and as a vampire. You failed as a simple human being! Pray there is no God, for I have no doubt the burning has just begun if there is. You were a piece of SHIT!" He said shit very loud. "Die, you horrible piece of SHIT!!!"

It was like he was in this intense microwave as his skin began to bubble up. No smoke, but he was literally burning. He let out a scream. He reached up to claw his face and skin just peeled off in his hands and now his whole body was bubbling. The sun rose higher.

Colin turned toward the sun. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Gabriella smiled, putting her head on her father's shoulder, but she was looking at Brett as he was dying. "It's the nicest thing I've ever seen."

Brett was now writhing in pain as he looked for an escape and then sprinted to the side of the building and jumped.

George came over. "You know, they have those safety nets in case we did have a jumper?" He said simply.

Colin nodded. "Yeah, but he didn't know that. He'll be ash soon." We walked to the edge where we looked over. In the safety net, Brett still screamed clawing his body and then lay still. "He'll be ash and blow away! We don't have to clean up!" He said brightly pulling my head toward him kissing me on the head. "I think this is going to be a great day!!"