Fate's Design Reserved

Ariel growls in anger and covers her mouth as the smell of wet dog filled her nostrils. "He is putrid. A disgusting creature. If he thinks I am your long dead wife then he is stupid. Because unlike her I can fight back. And I cannot be fooled." She extended her nails into claws. "Judas this old friend of yours is quite large. I won't be able to take him down by myself. Do you have my back in this fight?

Judas moved to her and lifted her claw-like hands to his lips. He kissed them tenderly and smiled down at her, "I will always have your back." He told her before nodding to the door, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall, my love."....

Ariel looks at him with a smile before going outside the tomb. The air outside the tomb was thick with the wet dog smell. She covers her mouth and nose. A male voice says from the darkness, "Well you do look like Talia. But you are better than her." She growls as the shadows of the night made it too hard for her to locate where he was. She says to him, "She and I are our own person. Don't compare us to each other." A hand grabs her in the darkness. Before she can make a sound darkness surrounds her. She tenses up as she is pressed against something hot enough to burn her skin. She says growling, "This is not a normal darkness." She screams in pain as she pulled tighter against the heated object. A hand goes around her throat and he says stroking her cheek, "You will adjust to my flesh soon enough." He pulls her through the shadows. "Judas!!!!"

Judas was out there and hunting Ramon down the very second he heard Ariel's voice. His eyes burned red with fury and vengeance and he wasted no time in following the wet dog smell and his beloved into the shadows. "Fight him!" He yelled in the blackness, "Devour his energy and his soul, my love!" He kept searching until he began to feel heat to his left. He immediately turned to face it, knowing it was Ramon and reached out his hands. He felt soft skin and silk, Ariel and he grabbed on with all he could. "Fight him, Ariel!" He demanded, knowing she was more than capable of it.....

Ariel looks around trying to figure out where Judas was. Ramon was holding her by her neck. She was screaming because of the heat of his flesh. She knew that she had to fight but she was also scared of fighting too hard and hurting the babies. She pushes Ramon away using the energy in that she has collected with the souls she absorbed into her body. He screamed in agony as the energy went through his body like daggers. Ariel got away from him and went with Judas. She was upset that she was putting the children at risk. But she didn't know what else to do. She focused the energy at their enemy's heart. It formed like a blade and plunge deep into his heart. He let out one last scream before falling to the ground dead. The darkness disappeared within seconds of his death. There were more wolves around them but they instantly backed away once their cover was blown. Ariel fell to her knees as her nose begin to bleed.

Judas watched on with pride as Ariel not only managed to escape her captor, but then kill him with serious style and skill. When the darkness vanished, he took her into his arms and regarded the lingering wolves around them. "Attack and you will join your Alpha." He said to them and they backed off further still. With both arms around Ariel, he opened his energy to her and held her close. "Well done, my love, well done. You are stronger than you think."

Ariel looked up at him weakly. Clearly he did not understand what she did to get free. She took a moment to think of a way to explain what was happening now. She says to him, "Yes I managed to kill him. But it cost me all the energy that I have gathered up since I started using my gift again. That feels rather draining. And I won't even get to be able to drain his soul. The energy I released destroyed it. I will have to start all over again in order to go strong once more. In order to be able to carry your children safely I needed that energy." She did not take any of the energy that he offered her. Because she could see that he didn't have anything to spare for her right now. He was starving inside and she did not want to make him worse. She slowly stands up and looks around for prey for the both of them.

Judas could see that she was starving inside and though she didn't take any of his energy, he could understand why. He had been staving himself too, too busy protecting her and fighting his own battles with her family and the council. It was time, he decided, to concentrate on building Ariel up ready for the birth. He nodded in understanding and helped her stand. "Then we hunt." He said to her quietly and led her from the graveyard.

On the boundary of town, Judas could just taste the people and it didn't take him long to feel that lust rise in him. "Go my love." He told her, "Go hunt and quench your need. You will find me again waiting for you back here when you are done." He obviously wouldn't need the amount she needed and so it wouldn't take him as long to fill up....

Ariel let him go on his own and she did the same. By the end of the night, she had drained and absorbed the souls of 50 people. Her skin practically glowed blue with energy. She knew that they would have to move soon. News of her father's death would spread like wildfire through this town and all the other towns of all the other council members. If they stayed here they would be in big trouble. She goes back to do Judas's side before walking home to pack up her things. Revenge on the others would have to wait at least until the baby or babies as her instincts were telling her was born.

In response to Ariel's 50 dead, Judas' kills were relatively minor, with only a dozen to his name that night. He waited patiently for her to return and when she did, she looked so beautiful and satisfied then, that he felt proud of her. However, he knew also they wold have to move on now. The death of Mustang would not go unnoticed and the count from Ariel would never be brushed away.

He watched as she packed up everything, and decided where they should head next. "I hear West City is nice this time of the year." He offered, "And it's such a large city, we could go unnoticed for years, providing we can be careful in our kills." He came to her and took a shirt she was folding. He put it down and turned her to face him. "And perhaps the best healthcare for you and my children. What say you, my beloved wife?"

Ariel listens to him as she packs not looking at him until he makes her look at him by taking away the shirts that she was folding. "West City sounds like a good idea. I have never been out of this little town so anywhere sounds like paradise compared to here. We just have to be careful. The council members will be looking for us for awhile. So we will have to lay low when we are not out feeding." Her voice was steady despite her panicked nature. She just wanted to get out of here before they got into trouble again. She was thinking of the future of her children. Of their children. "But your presence alone will bring out the other creatures of the night to wherever we go. How will we be able to stay low profile?"

Judas smiled and lifted her chin with his finger and thumb, "My love." He cooed at her, "The city will be big enough for all and those that are drawn to me will make little impact on the true millions of mortals within its boundaries. Trust in me, my love, we shall be fine and those that come to us will protect us, for we are their royals. We are the reason they continued to exist and they will pay tribute to keep it so." He smoothed some hair back over her head and leaned down, kissing her softly....

Ariel look at him calming down as he kissed her. She kisses him back gently and wraps an arm around him. "That is true my love. And I will trust in your judgement. I guess I'm just a little frantic right now." she got their bags closer to the door. They would need to make good timing tonight if they wanted to reach cover before daybreak it was true that they could travel during the day. But it would make them even more tired if they did not rest during the day. Part of her did miss the Sun and it's warm embrace. But she knew that this with her life from now on. And she could not help but be thankful to him. He may have gone about it the wrong way but he did grant her more freedom than anyone ever did when she was human. She would not change a thing.

Judas helped her finish packing and then collected all the bags up at the door while Ariel took her last look around. "We will return one day." He said, "And finish what we began. Until then, rest easy knowing that we will be safe and our children will be safe and healthy." Pulling the door open, he stepped out into the ageing night and made a quick check to make sure it was all safe and quiet. It was and he started throwing the bags into a car he had conned from a victim in the town. He would drive for as long as it took to reach West City and he would not rest until she was safe in their new home....

Ariel knew he was doing the best he could for her. She took one last at the home that has always given her safety. She says quietly, "Goodbye for now..." This place was the only thing she would miss about this little town. She then left the house and looked at the car and him a moment. She asks with a smile, "Do you even know how to drive my love? They were not exactly around when you were human." She puts her bags in the back and puts herself in the passenger's seat knowing she would not be able to drive.

Judas grinned and got into the driver's seat. "I had the previous owner drive me around for a while and show me what to do." He said to her as he put the key in the ignition and fired up the engine. "And I had him fill it up too, so it should get us there in one go. Sit back and just enjoy the ride, my love." He put the car in drive and pushed the pedal down. The car moved away smoothly and they were off.

Ariel smiles at him and lays her seat down so she is more comfortable. "That was a smart idea." She looks out the window and says, "But make sure to take breaks when you get tired. Don't need you going into a blood lust because you are too tired." She smiles some as she can hear the heart beat of their child growing inside her. It was music to her ears.

Judas turned his head some as Ariel made herself more comfortable for the journey and he smiled as she reminded him to take rest breaks. "Yes dear." He said with some mild sarcasm. He'd been wanting to say that ever since he'd heard a henpecked husband agree with his irritating wife. However, he didn't mean it with malice or ignorance, just mild amusement for his wife giving him orders.

Once on the highway, Judas set the car on autocruise and relaxed some. He reached across with one hand and carefully placed it on Ariel's lower stomach, right where his child was and smiled as he felt and heard the heartbeat.....

Ariel looks at him with a smile. She did not mind that he had a little sarcasm and into the mix of his submission to her order. He sounded like any other husband that was trying to please his wife. She thought it was very cute. She smiled when he heard the heartbeat of the unborn child within her body. She says to him, "Our little one is very strong already. I'm quite curious of how strong he or she will be once they are born into this world. I have a feeling that he or she will keep us on our toes for a while."

Judas laughed and nodded some as Ariel mused over their unborn child. He let his hand linger a while on her and then settled back to make the long drive to the city. As promised, he took the rest breaks, but not for very long, for they still had a ways to go and he didn't like Ariel being so exposed by the highway. However, after a number of hours on the road, Judas felt himself growing weaker and he knew he had to stop for at least a few hours and sleep. He pulled into a small motel by the roadside and paid for a room.

It seemed that Ariel had fallen asleep, so he lifted her from the car and carried her inside so as not to wake her too much. She needed a bed too, far more than he did.....

Ariel fell asleep in the car because of the long ride. But as soon as he picked her up, her right eye opened a little. She wraps her arms around his neck. She says softly in his ear, "I am sleepy..." Within moments she was out again. She was pale and weak. The baby was taking more blood than she has in her. When he put her to bed, she instantly got on her side and whimpers in pain,

Judas knew that something was very wrong when he put her to bed and when she whimpered in pain, he knew what he had to do. He knew that there were five other rooms taken for the night and she would need every last person in them. "Hold on, my love." He whispered to her, "I'll see you right again shortly." And he left her briefly.

Within half an hour, he had every resident of the motel in a trance and heading to his room, including the half witted receptionist. He led them in one by one and made them kneel before the bed. He then had them lean over and crane their necks to make Ariel's feeding as easy as possible for her. "Take your fill, my love." He told her as he stroked her hair.

Ariel looks at him and the people he brought in. She looks at Judas. "They are a good gift but I know that I will kill them." She looks at their throats a moment. Her fangs extended to full length. She says, "I don't want to kill them." She bites into each of their necks feeding from each of them until they can no longer move. She lets each of them go slowly so they are not get hurt.

Judas nodded in understanding, "As you wish, my love." He told her as he cupped her cheek. Some of her colour had returned, but he could tell she needed yet more to regain her strength. With the victims still in their trance, Judas ordered them back to their rooms to sleep and forget everything they had seen and heard and done that night. He then checked Ariel was comfortable before he went out hunting further. In only an hour, he returned with no less than ten more people that he had taken from the road. He led them in under the same trance as before and had them kneel before his beloved....

Ariel looks at the next batch of people Judas brought to her. She shakes some as the need for blood was getting stronger. But she turned her head away from the people. She says softly to Judas, "Get them out of here." Her eyes are blood red as her hunger growing. She didn't want to kill them to get what she needed. She didn't want to kill unless she had to.