Sapphic Voices Fantasy

Hallowed Crossing

Conclusion

Ownership: This Story is not meant as an infringement of any copyright. Any relation the characters within the following Story have to other people (or True Born) living, dead or fictional is purely coincidental. All characters, the Story idea and the Story itself are the sole property of me! This Story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this Story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.

Copyright © 2001 by Hunter Ash. All Rights Reserved.

Alt Fiction/Sex/Language/Violence: The Story assumes a loving and sexual relationship between people of the same gender and of the opposite sex. If this offends or is illegal for you, then please leave. Come back when you are older, have an open mind, moved, or changed your laws. Additionally, the Story does contain graphic action scenes and some adult language. So, if cutting off vampire heads or biting and sucking on someone’s neck bothers you, then please move on. Rating: R

Feedback: Always welcome and I do respond! carrkjar[at]yahoo.com

Setting/Summary: This Story is in today’s world, specifically around Halloween, and is based in a small town somewhere in Northern California. Annie meets Cerys, an alternate universe being, who draws her into a battle between good and evil vampires.

Conclusion

Annie drove cautiously and pulled onto a side street and parked. Cerys pulled out her glock pistol and checked it once again and patted her coat pocket, checking for the extra clips. The writer knew there was a long, lightweight sword behind the seat and a shotgun. The shotgun was for her, the sword for the Warder.

"I don’t see anyone," Annie frowned.

"We’re expecting Warders and Watchers," Cerys growled. "They’ve been trained for this."

"So the plan is I kiss you, let you go and watch you go to the portal," Annie whispered. "Hoping nothing jumps out of the bushes at you and then wait for some Watcher to pick me up, right?"

"Annie, I’m sorry," Cerys resisted pulling the young woman into her arms. The Warder knew she just might break down and tell Annie to drive to anywhere but a portal. "You have to mentally accept this and break whatever it is that ties us."

"I thought I could," Annie fought back the tears and leaned her head on the steering wheel. "I really did but that was before you came back."

"I know but we have to try," Cerys said, her voice strained.

The Warder reached up with a small pocket knife and snapped the light cover off the inside dome light and pulled the bulb out and replaced the cover.

Annie shook her head, amused. "Clever."

"That’s us," Cerys tried to smile and then shook her head. "Let’s get this over with."

"We haven’t even talked much," Annie complained, her hand restraining Cerys’ arm. "You haven’t told me about what you’ll do in your land."

"Annie," Cerys closed her eyes against the emotional pain. "You’re not crossing over. You have a son to raise; a smart, handsome and very small boy."

"I know but maybe someday, when he’s older?" Annie whimpered.

"No!" Cerys said firmly, hating herself and everything. "Break it now! No thinking of a future in my world or yours! We’ll both die if we don’t."

Annie threw the car door open and opened the back door, grabbing the shotgun without a word. The slamming of the car doors confirmed to Cerys that Annie was upset.

Cerys swore a curse to several of her deities and opened her own doors and retrieved the sword. She stuck it inside her coat, unsheathed and ready to use. The Warder knew the next few minutes were going to be the worst in her life. It didn’t matter that there might be a dozen vampires, Warders and Watchers waiting to kill her between the car and the portal. The hardest thing would be saying goodbye to Annie and breaking that connection.

Cerys didn’t want things to end on an angry note but if that’s what it took to keep both of them alive, Cerys would do it. Jeannie had told her how bad Annie had gotten in her absence and the Warder wanted to prevent that. The healers in her world might be able to keep her alive but Cerys knew that the Terrain doctors wouldn’t have a clue as to how to help Annie.

Cerys had to break the connection between them, even if it meant spending the rest of her life grieving and alone in her own world.

Annie’s body language said that she was still angry and Cerys’ resolve broke. She walked around the car and grabbed Annie up into her arms, kissing her passionately.

At first Annie resisted and then melted into Cerys’ arms.

After a moment, Annie leaned against the tall warrior.

"If our souls are bound, wouldn’t we be together in an after-life?" Annie whispered, finally asking the question Cerys had been expecting and dreading.

"I think so, whether it’s yours, mine or somewhere we don’t know about," Cerys said gently. "Again we have the problem that I won’t let you leave Travis."

"I know, I was thinking when we’re old and gray that we might meet," Annie bit back her tears. "Let’s get this over with."

Annie turned out of her arms and Cerys fought her own tears.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Annie let her body and mind go into automatic, shoving aside emotions as she followed Cerys.

They had parked on a side street just behind the hotel, across from Sutro Park. Cerys moved quickly down the well worn trail leading to the statue of Diana from the bus stop with Annie behind her. They stopped momentarily at the statue, both of them reaching out to touch the base as they glanced around. There was only two ways to approach the portal door, from the ruins of the Sutro Baths or from the stairs leading down from the parking area.

Since they knew the Watchers had no idea where in the area the portal was, they expected to find teams watching any likely spot, including the ruins and the park.

Cerys ducked low, keeping her profile along the base of Diana.

"There," she whispered. "At the gates, behind the lions."

Annie could see two figures behind each lion statue that guarded the gates. She and the Warder looked around. They had looked at maps earlier and knew the likely places for portals, therefore, the likely places to find Watchers and other Warders waiting for them.

"If they don’t intend on stopping you, why not just go down, do your Quantum Leap thing and be done with it?" Annie hissed.

"Because we don’t know if they’ll just let me go," Cerys complained. "There’s always the risk I could come back and foul up their nice little treaty and plans."

"You think they want to kill us," Annie ventured.

"Yes, they killed Jeannie," Cerys pointed out. "That doesn’t exactly make me trust them."

"Okay, the trail through the upper parking lot?" Annie suggested. It was a rough trail in the dark but all the other routes to the streets overlooking the ruins were in the open.

"They’ll be on us the moment we hit the main walkway down there," Cerys pointed out. "You know there’s bound to be more up on the ruins of the house."

"I know and I know when we hit the bottom of the trail at the ruins I have to leave you, I know, I know," Annie muttered.

"I love you, Annie," Cerys said softly. "You will haunt my every waking thought and every dream."

"I thought you were a warrior, not a poet," Annie grumbled and then closed her eyes. "I love you too, enough that I want you to live and not as a vampire. I scouted the way the other day."

"I’ll follow you then," Cerys nodded, pulling out her pistol and watched as Annie checked her own pistol but kept it in her belt. "You’ll need that."

"I have to live here, remember?" Annie said calmly. "It won’t be easy to explain shooting someone just because they were walking along in the park. I won’t shoot unless I know it’s a vampire or I know a Watcher is about to kill me."

"If someone shoots at you," Cerys began to growl.

"If someone shoots at me then they’re asking for it and it’s called self defense," Annie argued. "I love you, let’s do this."

Annie turned and fairly launched herself off the rise where the statue of Diana stood, hitting the ground at a run down the small embankment. She was across the pavement in a flash and moving to her left for the underbrush. The writer and tomboy heard Cerys behind her and then shouts from the park gates as someone spotted them.

Annie saw flashlights coming to life but she was in the trees with Cerys before the beams caught them in the open. The blonde wished they could risk a light of their own, it was suicide to try and make it down what little trail existed in this tangle. Annie knew that the park service had been clearing out a lot of the growth that had existed for years but it was still thick enough to hide a body for quite awhile if you wanted to.

Seeing a flashlight beam cut across the brush in front her, Annie dived to the left and heard Cerys diving to the right. Annie ended up under some bushes and bit her tongue to keep from crying out as her face was cut.

Flashlight beams and legs came pounding down along with curses and shouts.

"Where the fuck are they?"

"Hiding in this goddamn mess!" a second voice snapped.

"Keep your eyes open!" Someone shouted from the main trail above. "We still don’t know where the portal is!"

"Let the fucking vampire escape then!" the first voice suggested.

"Those two are too dangerous," the second voice argued as they worked their way down the hill.

"Cer?" Annie called softly as the voices below reached the parking lot.

"I’m here," Cerys called back, just as softly.

"They’re between us and the portal," Annie grumbled.

"I know, change of plans. Let’s get back to the car, drive right to the steps and I’ll dash for it," Cerys suggested. "Hopefully you can get the car back out before they catch you."

"Okay," Annie agreed.

Going down an embankment in the dark when you weren’t worried about noise was easy. Getting back up without making noise was harder. It took twice as long to cover the short distance back to the main walk way of the park. They both crouched down behind a bench and watched for movement for several moments.

This time no one seemed to notice their mad dash across the pavement and up to the statue of Diana.

They knew the dash up to the street was in the open but it would take too long to stick to the underbrush. Cerys nodded and led the way.

Once again, luck seemed to be holding with them and no shouts or flashlights followed them as they reached the car.

"Think this will work?" Annie asked as she started the car.

"Best chance we got," Cerys nodded. "They now think we’re on foot and in that thicket back there. They’ll be calling in the foot teams to search the area, probably the entire park."

"Let’s hope they pull them back from the Bath ruins," Annie muttered and pulled the car out onto the street. She headed back towards the city until she could make several turns onto Geary. The main thoroughfare of this part of the city, it led right between Sutro Park and the ruins of the Bath and circled down to Cliff House. Another car coming down the road from that direction wouldn’t draw much attention.

Annie hoped.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cerys closed her eyes and said a quick prayer. She had no idea why her mother had crossed over or if there was some kind of plan in action except to get her through the portal before she was stuck in the Terrain realm as a vampire.

The Warder knew she didn’t want to leave Annie. No, she couldn’t leave Annie and live. She knew that crossing back over would mean her death. Even if Annie could break the connection enough to exist in this realm, Cerys knew she couldn’t live without the writer, even with the help from the healers. Once back in her own world, she would continue as a Warder, fighting her brother’s mad schemes and training new Warders until she fell to her grief or in battle.

Cerys knew it wouldn’t take long. Fighters without a will to live didn’t last long.

The car moved along at a decent speed and Annie made no motion that she was interested in anything in the area until she skidded to a stop at the stairs at the Cliff House side of the ruins.

"I love you, Annie," Cerys growled and dived out of the car and hit the stairs in a mad dash downwards, skipping every other one.

Annie pulled the car away quickly, watching for any cars following her. She could see flashlights in the upper parking lot and on the upper street that wound around to the Veteran’s Hospital.

The writer whipped the car around the corner at Cliff House and put it into a spin at the bottom of the hill, heading the car in the opposite direction, back the way she came.

"Sorry, Cerys," she muttered. "I have to make sure you’re safe."

Annie saw several figures crossing the road with flashlights and drawn guns and sped her car up, the men barely dodging out of the way in time to avoid being hit. One of them fell heavily to the pavement, clutching his ankle and howling in pain.

The writer twisted the wheel of the car and spun into the gravel parking lot and opened the car door. Annie grabbed the shotgun and headed for the stairs heading down to the tunnel, to the portal. She stopped and blinked.

She could see Cerys down at the ruins, on top of one of the old walls, fighting off four vampires. Male vampires, which meant they weren’t Warders.

Annie spun with her gun drawn as someone began pounding down the stair behind her.

"Stop!" a female voice shouted at her. Annie’s eyes narrowed as she took in the sight of a very tall female carrying a sword. A sword that matched Cerys. "Friend!"

"Janska?" Annie asked.

"Yes," Janska nodded and rushed down to join Annie. "I’m going to help Cerys, you get to the portal and wait for us."

"The Watchers?" Annie questioned as they began rushing down the slick stairs.

"We had a talk earlier, they won’t interfere," Janska promised. "They were followed by servants of my son; the Watchers don’t like being used by vampires on either side."

"It was a trap?" Annie demanded, trying to keep her footing on the wet wood.

"Yes, they followed me through last night and followed the Watchers. All the vampires had to do was wait in the shadows watching the Watchers and wait for Cerys to show up," Janska explained as they ran. "I’m going over here!"

Janska vaulted over the railing and began a descent down the rest of the mountainside. Annie nudged herself mentally to keep moving, knowing that Janska wasn’t going to make it, only a deer could get down that cliff side!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cerys growled and ducked the backhand stroke from one of the male vampires and dived over the slash from a vampire below the fragment of wall. The Warder landed hard in a puddle of pooled sea water and lashed out with her own sword, catching one vampire across the chest. Not enough to kill him but enough to drive him back for a few moments.

The other three were on her before she could blink. They were good, professional assassins, she surmised as one got through her defenses and cut her left leg deeply. Cerys howled in pain and slashed back but missed the vampire.

The Warder could hear Terrains at the top of the stairs, shouting at each other and at her but ignored them. She had no idea how or why there were four assassins waiting for her when she hit the ruins, all Cerys knew was that she was fighting for her life.

She got a good slash in on another one, taking his left arm off just below the elbow. He howled and pulled back in pain. Cerys grimaced as another sword found it’s mark along her upper arm.

Cerys had always known it would probably end like this, going down fighting her own kind in this weird dimension and accepted it. She just hoped Annie wouldn’t see it.

The Warder screamed a war cry and reversed the sword in her hand and thrust backwards, ramming the blade through a vampire’s chest. She ducked a sword strike from one in front, causing him to decapitate his mate.

Cerys turned the sword back in her hand in time to parry a sword blow as the vampire behind her crumbled into dust.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Annie saw something crashing out of the bushes at her from the cliff side and brought her shotgun up, catching a vampire under the chin as he dove for her. A shot to the head and he was dust. Annie kept running.

Another figure jumped onto the steps in front of her, grinning confidently as she skidded to a stop. The writer brought the shotgun up only to hear a futile click as the gun jammed. Annie turned, as if to flee, dropping the weapon.

When the vampire grabbed her by the shoulder, catching her easily, he was stunned when she whipped around with a machete in her hands. He tried to get his hand up to protect his throat, only to lose the hand and his head.

Annie smirked as the dust spread to the wind. "May not be a sword but it works," she growled and began running down the stairs again.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cerys caught the one armed vampire by surprise when she leaped over his crouching body onto the wall again. She lashed downwards with her sword before he could scamper away. She back flipped off the wall as he turned to dust. The two male vampires dived over the wall and one wasn’t fast enough to get his sword up and Cerys rammed hers through his lower spine. She kicked him off her sword and blocked another stroke from the first vampire. As the other vampire fell forward, she jumped on his back and slashed with her sword again.

Cerys grunted with the sudden and unexpected feeling of a sword sticking through her. The Warder reached down and grabbed the blade, snapping it off before the vampire could pull out of her. He growled in anger and pulled his broken blade out and moved to take her head with what was left. Cerys, hands bloody, raised her sword, one hand on hilt and the other on the blade, stopping his strike.

The Warder twisted, slashing with her sword as the vampire’s kneecaps. As he fell with a scream, she slashed back in the other direction, taking his head.

Cerys tried standing up and fell over against the wall. She used the wall and sword to stand up and began working her way towards the portal. This was going to be a common sight, she thought, me coming through half dead and wounded.

She was near the stairs when three more vampires jumped her, knives flashing. Cerys thought she heard Annie scream from somewhere far away.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Annie made it down to the door that would soon be opening as a portal and leaned over the railing, watching Cerys try and get to the stairs that would wind their way to Annie.

The writer couldn’t help but scream when three vampires dived out of the bushes, taking Cerys down under them.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cerys realized she was able to move and looked up from the rough sea rock she was pressed against and saw a figure throwing one of the male vampires over the side into the small grotto below. Cerys grinned, wondering how he liked his crab and if the crabs liked vampires.

From his screams, he wasn’t amused to have his crabs alive and crawling all over him.

The figure, dressed in a long black trench coat, pulled out a sword and spun in a graceful move that Cerys recognized instantly and her Warder mother. The sword cut through a vampire’s neck easily. The remaining vampire looked at Janska as she extended her arm to her daughter. He looked into Janska’s eyes and at Cerys’ bleeding chest and ran.

"Mama," Cerys whispered, leaning against her mother for support.

"We have to reach the portal now!" Janska shouted over the waves. "You have to jump!"

Cerys opened her eyes and shook her head. It was too far, even for a vampire.

"You have to!" Janska insisted, shoving her daughter lightly.

"I’m wounded," Cerys protested.

"Do it!" Janska shouted, "your answers are on that side!"

Cerys growled at her mother, her fangs flashing in the moonlight but she backed up, giving herself a little bit of room to run.

The Warder could see Annie’s disbelief as the writer realized what Cerys was about to attempt. Cerys launched herself into the air and knew at the last moment she was short.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Annie almost threw herself over the railing reaching for her lover. Cerys hit the railing hard and clutched at it as Annie grabbed for her coat and arms. The writer leaned over and latched onto Cerys’ belt and yanked her lover over the railing, both of them falling onto the cold and wet stone.

A moment later Janska landed next to them, swearing about cold oceans.

Annie felt her hackles rising as the energy of the portal began building.

"You’re here to take her back, aren’t you?" Annie demanded, shouting over the waves.

She pulled Cerys into her arms as the Warder held her ribs.

"No, I’m not!" Janska shouted back.

Cerys opened her blue eyes wide in surprise.

"What?"

Annie shielded her eyes, covering Cerys face with her arm as the portal opened and someone leaped through. The writer hoped they were friendly because Cerys wasn’t up to facing any more vampires and she wanted answers from Janska, not Cerys’ mother in the middle of a fight.

Cerys looked up and blinked, trying to sit up as blood began flowing from her mouth from a lung wound.

"Rysla and Kirklyn?" she asked.

"Who?" Annie demanded. They looked like something out a King Arthur movie, Annie complained to herself. "I thought only women came through!"

"Kirklyn isn’t a Warder," Janska shouted. "He’s a Mage."

Rysla looked annoyed and raised her hands in a commanding gesture and Annie almost fell over on her backside when the sound of the ocean waves crashing mere feet away from them fell silent. She could see the waves crashing but there was no sound coming through.

"I’ve created a sphere where we may talk and work," Rysla explained.

Kirklyn knelt beside Cerys and ripped away her shirt to examine the sword wounds. Annie noticed that it was warm inside the sphere. The mage looked up at Janska and shook his head.

"It must be the hard way," he said as Cerys’ eyes closed.

Janska knelt by her daughter’s head.

"Cerys! Open your eyes, daughter!" she snapped. "I need you both to listen very carefully. The Watchers will be heading this way to ensure that you cross back over. We don’t have much time for the portal to stay open."

"So take me through already," Cerys grumbled.

"What would you do to remain here, Warder?" Rysla asked calmly.

"Anything!" Cerys said fiercely, looking up into Annie’s green eyes.

"Would you accept someone else’s sacrifice for you?" Rysla asked.

"What do you mean?"

"The reason no Warder has ever been able to stay on this side of the gate," Rysla began. "Two mages must perform a dangerous spell. It transforms the Warder into something more than Terrain, something less than Warder vampire. It requires the willing sacrifice of someone."

"The cost has always been too high," Kirklyn stated. "No one would give up their life for another to stay in this realm and they couldn’t find two mages willing to do it either."

"A mother would," Janska said easily, looking down into her daughter’s face. "We have to hurry, she’s getting weaker."

"Mother?" Cerys whispered. "No, please!"

"For my daughter, yes," Janska said firmly. "It’s dangerous for everyone. One or both of you might die and I will."

"No, Mama, please," Cerys begged.

"How?" Annie demanded. "She’ll be able to stay and the Watcher will let her?"

"She won’t be a vampire and she won’t be a threat to them," Rysla answered. "She’ll actually be able to help them."

"How does it work?" Annie snapped, noticing Cerys’ eyes closing.

"It requires not only the willing sacrifice of a Warder but the willing blood of a Terrain, the soul mate," Rysla continued.

"That’s easy, she’s had my blood before," Annie said calmly.

"No, it works a little differently than that," Kirklyn countered. "The sacrifices must be together."

"Explain that," Annie said slowly, glancing over at Cerys’ mother. What the hell were they talking about?

"Janska takes your blood and then Cerys takes Janska’s blood," Rysla continued. "Janska will almost kill you and Cerys will kill Janska."

"This is too weird," Annie complained. "You’re talking about the daughter drinking the mother’s blood until she dies?"

"Well, we really don’t have the equipment for a blood transfusion but the end is the same," Kirklyn smirked.

"It is my choice and I made it before we ever crossed here," Janska said, placing her hand on Annie’s arm. "Let me do this for you, your son and my daughter. She’ll die without you."

"I can’t live without her," Annie admitted.

"We must act now!" Kirklyn said, pointing at the flashlights working their way down the stairs at both ends of the ruins.

"Okay," Annie nodded. "She’s unconscious, how can Cerys do this?"

"Once the blood hits her lips, she’ll feed," Kirklyn said casually.

"You guys are freaks," Annie muttered and nodded to Janska.

The older Warder walked behind Annie and slowly knelt behind the girl as she held Cerys’s head in her lap. Annie tried not to shudder as Janska pulled her hair to one side and placed her hands on Annie’s shoulders from behind.

Rysla and Kirlyn stood up and held their arms out in an invocation stance and began chanting.

Annie’s breathing quickened as she felt Janka move close to her.

"You’ve been through this before," Janska said softly.

"Yes, just not with my lover’s mother," Annie countered.

"Ah, the sexual arousal worries you," Janska smiled behind her.

"Well, it’s a little kinky on this side of the portal, thanks," Annie complained.

"Don’t worry, the spell takes that away, you won’t feel aroused," Janska promised.

Annie frowned. "What will I feel?"

"Like you’re dying and it’s painful," Janska said honestly.

"Then get it over with," Annie countered.

The writer screamed and jerked back into Janska when fangs sank into her neck. Without the magic surrounding the bite, it was painful.

Janska caught Annie’s wrists as the girl instinctively flailed. The Warder’s vampire strength kept the girl still enough so she could continue to feed. Janska felt a tear escaping her eyes as Annie struggled against her body.

Without the magic, it felt like something was being ripped from Annie’s body as her blood flowed out of her neck and into Cerys’ mother. She quickly became light headed and felt her hands and feet growing colder. The bite was hurting, like having a dog grabbing a foot or a hand and refusing to let go. Annie heard someone screaming and realized it was her own voice she was hearing.

Janska wrapped Annie’s arms around the writer along with hers and she continued to feed, holding the girl close as her heart sped up to an alarming rate. It was a delicate process, the judging of where the point of death came. Too many vampires misjudged, getting lost in the feeding, in the taste and joy of the blood and went too far. It was why Warders only choose willing donors and never took enough to cause danger.

Already the girl was barely conscious and hovering near that point. Janska pulled back, gauging the girl’s strength and life-force. The call of the blood was so strong; Janska could feel the life of the girl in her hands. She lowered her fangs once more.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cerys felt someone pressing some liquid to her mouth and snarled against it until the blood hit her tongue. The Warder wasn’t quite conscious and little more than "alive." She sank her fangs into the offered wrist and began drinking.

The blood was so sweet, a Terrain’s blood mixed with vampire blood, she knew. There had been times when she had drank the blood of other vampires when fighting them and she knew the magic and the sweetness of their blood.

Cerys started to pull back but someone grabbed her by the back of the head and held the wrist in place.

"Take it," a familiar voice urged. "Take it all, it’ll be alright. Trust me, young one."

Cerys, reassured by her mother’s voice, continued feeding, ignoring the chanting somewhere near her. She continued until the pulse became too faint to feel or hear.

Cerys opened her eyes and sat up slowly. Rysla and Kirklyn lowered their arms slowly as the Warder looked around.

"What?" she whispered at the sight of her mother and Annie, neither one of them moving. The Warder spotted the fangs marks on Annie neck and similar marks on her mother’s wrist. "No," she whispered.

Cerys got to her hands and knees and crawled to Annie’s still form and quickly checked for a pulse. "No!" she whimpered when she couldn’t find one at the writer’s wrist and only a faint one at her neck.

Then she scampered to her mother’s side and found no sign of life in her vampire mother. "No!" she screamed and turned to Rysla and Kirklyn.

Before she could confront them, Cerys felt an incredible pain hit her stomach, doubling her over. It was then that Cerys realized she no longer had any wounds, not even a scratch from the looks of her skin in the moonlight.

The Warder screamed and fell to the ground, clutching her stomach as every muscle in her body began convulsing and contracting.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cerys opened her eyes slowly and tried to jump out of wherever she was as sunlight lit the room from open window shades.

"Easy!" a voice insisted and hands gently held her down. "The sun won’t hurt you!"

Cerys looked up at a strange man holding her down and glanced around. A quick assessment told her hospital and a fancy one at that. Comfortable easy chair, wooden tray instead of the typical steel. A thick curtain separating her from, what, probably another bed.

"Who, what, where, when and how?" Cerys demanded in one breath.

Breath, Cerys felt her breathing quicken in anxiety. "Breathing, I’m breathing. I’m human?"

The Warder quickly held two fingers up to her neck and was surprised to find a steady pulse. She glanced around the room again.

No, it was a Terrain hospital, complete with television mounted on a bracket to the wall.

"You’re not quite human but you’re not vampire either," the man explained. He pulled back and sat down in the easy chair, watching Cerys closely.

"I’m Jason Richards, Watcher Council Elder," he announced. "We found you unconscious and Annie almost dead at the ruins of the Sutro Baths. Watchers called for an ambulance as one of your kind explained things."

"My kind?"

"Your race, whatever," Jason shrugged, his disdain for Alterians clear.

"And what did they explain, where’s my mother and where’s Annie?" she demanded, frowning at the IV in her arm, leading to a bag of clear liquid.

"That," Jason said, following her gaze, "is fluids to keep you stable."

"My mother, Annie, and the others?" Cerys demanded.

"Your magician, Rysla said that the spell they did and whatever happened to your mother and Annie changed you somehow," Jason said bitterly. "You’re not quite human but you’re not vampire either. We’ll have to do some testing to figure out exactly what you are and how you fit into this world. All the medical tests show that you’re human but you have a healing rate that is triple that of a normal human and who knows what else."

"Annie!" Cerys growled, ready to spring out of the bed and yank the man out of the chair by his throat. The former Warder had the feeling she had the strength to do it.

Jason Richards stood up and walked around her bed to the curtain.

Cerys tried to get out of the bed when she saw Annie lying in a similar bed. The former vampire whimpered at how pale and frail Annie looked.

"Annie!"

"She’s still unconscious," Jason informed her. "First, you’re in a private hospital run by Watchers for Watchers, Warders and our friends."

"Or prisoners?" Cerys asked, holding up her other wrist, the one handcuffed to the bed rail.

"That was precautionary," he shrugged but made no effort to remove it either. "We weren’t sure what you would be like mentally. Next, your magician took your mother’s body back to your side of the portal. One of them stayed here and will talk with you tonight about what your new life is."

"Annie?" Cerys asked softly.

"She’ll live, barely. Apparently, to work the spell, your mother drained her almost to death and then you drank her blood," Jason snarled. "The effects are permanent so it looks like you’re stuck on this side."

"As long as I’m with Annie," Cerys said firmly.

"Ah, true love wins out over all?" Jason questioned, his voice bitter.

"I take it that it didn’t in your life, Watcher?" Cerys snapped.

"No, it did," Jason said, his voice low. "We were walking along in Sutro Park when someone jumped us. A vampire broke both my arms and then tormented my wife and killed her very slowly in front of me. A passing police car startled him before he killed me. I was approached in the hospital by the Watchers."

"I’m sorry, Watcher, but I’m not your killer," Cerys said calmly. "I fight vampires like him."

"Want to keep your job?" Jason offered, surprising Cerys.

"What do you mean?"

"We’re not sure what you are but your mage says you’ll be faster and can sense vampires," Jason explained. "You’re already a trained warrior and know more about the Altercaulf realm than we do. Become our Vampire Hunter."

"Annie?"

"She’ll be your Watcher and your partner," Jason said. "Annie has already proven her worth in a fight."

"Jeannie and my mother?" Cerys demanded.

"The Watcher Elder that ordered Jeannie’s death has been eliminated, he overstepped his authority ordering that attack," Jason frowned. "I am sorry about that, Jeannie is irreplaceable."

"No kidding," Cerys growled. "She has...had children, damnit!"

"The kids and husband will be taken care of. That’s all I can offer," Jason said slowly.

Cerys nodded, it was better than she expected and they still had Tech and the Rrom to fall backon if the Watchers were lying to them again.

"Let me think about it, talk it over with Rysla and Annie," Cerys said and Jason nodded, as if expecting that response. Cerys didn’t bother asking to be uncuffed and the Watcher didn’t offer.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was well into the night before Annie opened her eyes. Instead of the panic Cerys went through, Annie smiled as she looked up into blue eyes.

"It worked?" she whispered.

"Yes, my love," Cerys said softly, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks. "You almost died, my mother is gone but it worked."

"Your mother loved you very much," Annie whispered as Cerys leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. "Where?"

"A private hospital run by the Watchers," Cerys explained. "I think its cover is an insane asylum. I’ve been offered a position with the Watchers and so have you."

"What?"

"Well, they don’t know what I am yet except that I seem to be beyond human but not vampire," Cerys smirked. "They want me as their weapon, less than a Warder at times but better since sunlight doesn’t hurt me and I don’t need to drink blood."

"Darn," Annie smiled. "I liked the fangs."

"Annie!" Cerys squeaked as Annie grinned at her.

"Less explaining, save it for tomorrow," Annie demanded. "More kissing."

Cerys was more than glad to obey her lover and bent to meet the lips she thought she had lost forever.

If you have enjoyed Frau Hunter Ash's "Hallowed Crossing - Conclusion", then please be certain to e-mail her at  carrkjar[at]yahoo.com  and thank her for posting this Story.

Click here for a list of all of Frau Hunter Ash's  Stories and Poetry at  Sapphic Voices Authoresses.